GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 10 Florida paused all team activities Tuesday following “an increase in positive COVID tests among players.”
The move puts Saturday's home game against defending national champion LSU in jeopardy. A person familiar with the situation says the Gators had 19 positives following Tuesday morning testing. Athletic director Scott Stricklin says the decision to halt meetings and practices was made “out of an abundance of caution.” The shutdown came three days after coach Dan Mullen's eyebrow-raising comments about wanting 90,000 fans at Florida Field to create a better home-field advantage against the Tigers.
NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans Saints spokesman says the NFL club has begun discussions with LSU about holding future home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge so fans may attend. Saints spokesman Greg Bensel says the club prefers to play in the Superdome but notes that New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has not said when she might allow partial attendance in the dome. The Saints' request to allow a partial-capacity crowd for Monday night's game against the Chargers was denied. Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell says allowing about 20,000 people to congregate in an indoor space "presents significant public health concerns."
ATHENS — Third-ranked Georgia has shown impressive resiliency in second-half comeback wins over Arkansas and Tennessee. Coach Kirby Smart is proud of the come-from-behind wins. He just wishes the comebacks had not been necessary. Smart is hoping Georgia avoids yet another halftime deficit when it plays Saturday at No. 2 Alabama. Smart knows it will be far more difficult to rally against the high-scoring Crimson Tide. The Bulldogs trailed Arkansas 7-5 at halftime and 10-5 in the third quarter before winning 37-10 to open the season. Last week, then-No. 14 Tennessee led Georgia 21-17 at halftime before the Bulldogs won 44-21.
OXFORD, Miss. — Lane Kiffin’s first Mississippi team is many things, but boring is not among them. Quarterback Matt Corral is deftly leading one of the nation’s most prolific offenses. Receiver Elijah Moore and tight end Kenny Yeboah are putting up huge numbers on an offense that was mostly centered around the running game last season. A still-porous defense has led to the Rebels being involved in three consecutive shootouts to open the season while winning only one of them.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/10/947057/sec-notebook-gators-pause-all-activities-saints-ponder-games-at-tiger-stadium