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ATHENS – Kirby Smart said he starts every football meeting in Georgia with a real-life example of COVID-19 risks, and that he hasn’t had to look long lately.
Georgia soccer team canceled their game last week against Missouri due to COVID-19, Bulldogs tennis coach Manny Diaz tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, and now the coach Arkansas chief and former UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman has tested positive.
Razorbacks defensive coordinator Barry Odom will serve as interim head coach while Pittman is away from the squad. Arkansas plays in Florida on Saturday.
To date, Georgian football has not had to postpone a game as it has had players testing positive.
But more and more of the Bulldogs’ opponents have had a relationship with COViD-19, and it has put Smart’s team at a disadvantage every turn.
The Gators had only played one game in three weeks leading up to their 44-28 victory over Georgia last Saturday in Jacksonville and certainly looked like the freshest, healthiest team throughout the action.
The Bulldogs will travel to take on a team from Missouri at noon on Saturday, which was on leave last week due to how the SEC has reorganized scheduled work to bypass the two-week COVID-19 crisis in Florida.
News broke Monday that the Mississippi State-Auburn game scheduled for this Saturday will be postponed until December 12. This means that when the Brown Bulldogs come to Athens for their game on November 21, they will go out for a week off.
Smart has said throughout the season that any coach fears with COVID-19 is that anytime, any day, enough test results could come back to jeopardize a game or force players in crucial positions.
With all the players Georgia sidelined with injuries, it wouldn’t take as many positive COVID-19 tests to force the Bulldogs to postpone a game as it did at the start of the season, when more players were in good health.
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