Independents Football

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins isn't the only signal-caller who isn't worried about COVID-19.

BYU quarterback Zach Wilson said Monday he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July following "a little gambling night" with teammates, per TMZ Sports. He cited Cousins when saying he isn't concerned with the long-term effects of the virus.

"Personally, for me, I'm kind of like what Kirk Cousins said a little bit," he said. "I know he got harped on for it, but I would rather play football than ever worry about any of that kind of stuff. I wear a mask to respect those around me."

Early this month, Cousins appeared on the 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt podcast (via Andrew Marchand of the New York Post) and said his concern about COVID-19 was a "0.000001" out of 10:

"For me personally, if you're just talking no one else can get the virus, what is your concern if you could get it, I would say I'm gonna go about my daily life. If I get it, I'm gonna ride it out. I'm gonna let nature do its course. Survival-of-the-fittest kind of an approach. And just say, if it knocks me out, it knocks me out. I'm gonna be OK. You know, even if I die. If I die, I die. I kind of have peace about that. ... My opinion on wearing a mask is really about being respectful to other people."

Norma Gonzalez of the Salt Lake Tribune noted the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the BYU football team with canceled practices and a postponed game against Army after players tested positive for the coronavirus.

Wilson said his symptoms were not severe.

"For me and the other guys that had it, it was just like a cold—minor symptoms and just tired, fatigued, all that kind of stuff," he said. "For us, it was nothing crazy. It was four days and we were ready to go again."

Wilson has been the quarterback for BYU since 2018.

He threw for 2,382 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions last year. He helped the Cougars to a 55-3 victory over Navy two weeks ago by throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

BYU (1-0) is slated to resume its season Saturday against Troy.

The BYU vs. Army college football game, which was scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, has been postponed after a "small number" of people within the Cougars football program tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, BYU released a statement, which read: "As a result of a small number of positive COVID-19 test results and the resulting tracing exposures within the BYU football program, a mutual decision was made to postpone the football game on Sept. 19 between Army and BYU."

Per the statement, BYU and Army will attempt to reschedule the game, and the team will hold "small-group workouts" between now and when the team is cleared to hold full practices once again.

The Cougars' next scheduled game is Saturday, Sept. 26 against Troy at home in Provo, Utah.

Like all other Division-I FBS schools who have opted to play football this year amid the pandemic, BYU's schedule has been adjusted and/or truncated, with the Cougars having just eight games on tap provided the Army game is successfully rescheduled.

BYU is scheduled to play every week from Oct. 10 through Oct. 31 before closing the year against North Alabama on Nov. 21. The Cougars are 1-0 after opening the season with a 55-3 road win at Navy.

Army is playing a full 12-game slate and started the year with two wins against Middle Tennessee State (42-0) and Louisiana-Monroe (37-7). The annual Army vs. Navy game is still scheduled to occur on Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. ET.

BYU vs. Army is one of numerous games that have been postponed or canceled amid the pandemic. It's also one of three games pushed back as of Saturday.

Memphis vs. Houston, which was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, has been postponed due to COVID-19 cases at Memphis, while Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, previously set for Sat., Sept. 19, has also been pushed back after COVID-19 concerns at Virginia Tech.

Notre Dame announced Monday that it will limit home-game capacity at Notre Dame Stadium to 20 percent or less during the 2020 football season as a safety precaution amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement explained any student who wants to buy a ticket will be allowed to do so, while any remaining tickets will go to faculty and staff. All those who attend must also wear masks.

"Beyond limiting the number of spectators at the game, the unique approach being taken by the University is designed to promote safety by limiting attendance to those individuals who are current members of the Notre Dame campus community," it said.

Head coach Brian Kelly expressed his excitement about the news:

Notre Dame is typically an independent program without a conference affiliation for football, but this year will be an exception.

The Fighting Irish joined the ACC, which is where they play basketball, as a number of teams and conferences postponed play across the country. The postponements, including those from the Big Ten and Pac-12, would have impacted Notre Dame's schedule and left it scrambling to fill the void.

Instead, it will play an ACC schedule and perhaps compete for a conference crown.

It plays Duke, South Florida (nonconference), Florida State, Louisville, Clemson and Syracuse at home this season. The clash against Clemson stands out considering the Tigers won the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last year and are still a powerhouse program. The Fighting Irish will at least have some fans in the stadium if everything goes according to plan.

Notre Dame will start its season Sept. 12 against the Blue Devils.

Notre Dame's football team will not practice Wednesday, and potentially Thursday, because of an outbreak of COVID-19 on the campus that has led to classes being moved online.

The university moved to remote instruction until at least Sept. 2 this week after there were at least 222 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on campus. A total of 1,287 people have been tested since students returned to campus, meaning about 17.2 percent of people tested positive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a positivity rate of no more than five percent before opening.

Notre Dame plans on playing an ACC schedule in 2020, and the conference to this point has remained steadfast in its push to play this season. North Carolina's campus has also moved to online learning after an outbreak of the virus on its campus.

The Tar Heels football team is currently slated to remain on campus and play the 2020 season, despite most students being sent home.

The fight over the status of the 2020 college football season has become increasingly fraught, especially as players and parents of the Big Ten conference look for answers as to why their season was canceled. Outbreaks like the ones happening at Notre Dame, especially if it winds up carrying over to the football team, could provide the conferences that proceeded with caution some hard statistical backing. 

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Walt Bell, head football coach at the University of Massachusetts, isn't handling the school's decision to cancel the 2020 season very well. 

While speaking with reporters Tuesday night, Bell compared the cancellation to the death of his parents, per The Athletic's Steve Buckley.

"I'll tell you guys the same way I told my players," he said. "You know, my dad passed away in 2008, my biological mom OD'd in 2012. And to be honest with you, this is probably a tougher day than both of those days."

Massachusetts athletic director Ryan Bamford announced Tuesday that the school "made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 UMass football season" after consulting with university, state and local health officials. 

Bell said it was a "devastating deal" having to look a group of "18-to-21-year-old kids in the face and tell them that their dreams aren't gonna come true."

The UMass football program operates as an independent, which made it increasingly difficult to schedule opponents as most conferences adjusted their schedules to include conference-only games. 

A number of conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-12, have announced this week they have either postponed or canceled fall sports due to health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Bell was entering his second season as the Minutemen head coach. He went 1-11 in his first year with the program in 2019. 

For the first time since 1927, Notre Dame and Navy will not play each other in football. 

Navy was left off Notre Dame's revised 2020 schedule, which was released Thursday by the ACC. The Irish are joining the ACC for the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has essentially wiped out non-conference games across the country.

The ACC is planning to allow its members one non-conference game. Notre Dame's will be against Western Michigan on Sept. 19.

Notre Dame and Navy have one of college football's longest and most storied rivalries, though the Irish hold an overwhelming 79–13–1 record in their series. This year's game was originally supposed to take place Aug. 29 in Dublin, Ireland before being rescheduled to Sept. 5 or 6 at Navy.  

"Obviously, many will be disappointed that our longstanding competitive streak with Notre Dame will be interrupted due to the scheduling circumstances imposed by the pandemic. However, we have agreed that Navy and Notre Dame will continue as one of college football's longest intersectional matchups through our extension and I appreciate Notre Dame making this a priority," Naval Academy Athletics Director Chet Gladchuk said in a statement.

The 93-year rivalry was the longest non-conference streak in college football.

Navy and Notre Dame are expected to resume their series in 2021. The two sides extended their series through 2032 as part of Thursday's announcement.  

The ACC is weighing a plan that would allow Notre Dame to compete for a conference championship in 2020, according to ESPN's Andrea Adelson. 

"Sources indicated that was only one of various scheduling models under discussion, and changes continue to be made to models and proposed schedules," per Adelson. "Any scheduling model needs approval from the ACC board of directors, made up of all 15 presidents and chancellors."

The Big Ten announced on July 9 it was adopting a conference-only schedule for fall sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pac-12 followed suit one day later.

Adelson reported those inside the ACC have had "no appetite" for adopting a conference-only format. Instead, teams would be allowed one nonconference game in addition to their ACC slates.

Notre Dame remains independent in football but joined the ACC for all other sports in 2012. Under the terms of the deal, however, the Fighting Irish plays roughly half of its football schedule against ACC teams.

Affiliating itself more formally with the ACC would make sense for Notre Dame, but Adelson noted the move isn't necessarily straightforward from the conference's perspective.

The Fighting Irish play Clemson, Georgia Tech and Louisville over their final three games. Those teams all have annual rivalries with SEC teams: South Carolina for Clemson; Georgia for Georgia Tech; and Kentucky for Louisville.

Adding Notre Dame to the schedule would then potentially jeopardize those encounters if ACC teams are allowed just the one nonconference game. Making the Fighting Irish a temporary ACC member would be a solution to that problem.

As an independent, Notre Dame would be significantly impacted if more Power Five conferences go the way of the Big Ten and Pac-12. The Fighting Irish have already lost out on marquee matchups with Stanford, Wisconsin and USC.

Notre Dame football's independent status has extended for more than a century, but the program might have to settle for what amounts to a marriage of convenience.

Defensive players Tayvion Land and Tre Clark each announced Monday they are planning on transferring from Liberty University because of racism by the school's leadership. 

Land made his announcement first: 

"My short time spent with the athletic department and most professors at Liberty University was much appreciated as it helped me improve my skills, gain new experiences, and meet a diverse group of friends. Unfortunately, due to the racial insensitivity displayed by leadership at Liberty University, I have decided to enter my name into the transfer portal and no longer be a student-athlete at Liberty University. I pray that I am able to be provided with an opportunity at a new school that respects my culture and provides a comfortable environment."

As Liz Roscher of Yahoo Sports noted, Clark announced his own decision a mere 10 minutes later: 

"I have decided to enter my name into the transfer portal and I will no longer be attending Liberty University. This decision has been well thought out and prayed on. This decision is simply bigger than football or the program. The program, staff, and teammates were a complete blessing to my live. Over this year I have developed relationships that I will forever cherish and bonds that will not be broken. However, due to the cultural incompetence within multiple levels of leadership, it does not line up with my code of ethics. So therefore I had to do what I felt like was right in my heart and I pray that you support me and pray for me as I find a new home to further my education and football career. Thank you!"

The reasons for the transfers echoes what basketball player Asia Todd said when she announced she was entering the transfer program. While she stressed her coaching staff and teammates on the women's basketball team were "amazing," she pointed to the "racial insensitivities shown within the leadership and culture" as reasoning for her decision:

Todd, Land and Clark did not mention specific instances but instead highlighted an overall leadership problem.

Liberty's president is Jerry Falwell Jr., who is the son of pastor and Liberty founder Jerry Falwell. In early June, Falwell Jr. tweeted a photo of a mask printed with an image of a person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe. After black alumni and religious leaders denounced the tweet, Falwell deleted it and issued an apology.

Scott Gleeson of USA Today noted Land was the highest-rated recruit to sign with Liberty. The 3-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings, was part of the class of 2019 and was expected to attend Maryland by a number of 247Sports' experts.

According to Gleeson, both Land and Clark were expected to start during the 2020 campaign.

The Flames went 8-5 last season as an independent program without a conference affiliation.

The Notre Dame vs. Navy college football game originally scheduled for Aug. 29 in Dublin, Ireland, has been moved because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The University of Notre Dame announced Tuesday that the game will likely take place Labor Day weekend, which runs from Sept. 5 through Sept. 7, and it will be played at Navy's Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

This year's game will mark the 94th consecutive year Notre Dame and Navy have met, and it will be the first time that one of their games takes place at Navy's home stadium. All previous meetings in which Navy was the home team occurred at neutral sites.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick released the following statement regarding the decision to move the game back stateside:

"Our student-athletes have had great experiences competing in Ireland and are very disappointed not to be returning to Dublin in 2020. The change of venue has been a very difficult decision for our colleagues at the Naval Academy, but we are in full support of their choice. We are also grateful for everything our partners in Ireland have done to make this a smooth transition. We look forward to going back to Ireland for a game in the not too distant future."

This year's game would have marked the third meeting between Notre Dame and Navy in Ireland after previously playing there in 1996 and 2012. The Fighting Irish won handily on both occasions.

The Irish have largely dominated their rivalry against Navy with a 77-13-1 record. They also won two additional games that were later vacated because of NCAA penalties.

Notre Dame owns a three-game winning streak over Navy, and it has won eight of the past nine meetings. Last year, the Fighting Irish decimated the Midshipmen 52-20 in what was a home game for Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Question marks surround whether the 2020 college football season will start on time and if fans will be permitted to attend games because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Notre Dame vs. Navy had been scheduled to be the first official game of the 2020 season, but if the season starts on time, that likely won't be the case any longer since other games are scheduled for Aug. 29.

Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.

In the event the 2020 college football season kicks off this fall, Notre Dame Stadium probably won't be at its usual 80,795-seat capacity. 

Notre Dame president Father John Jenkins wrote about how the school is approaching the COVID-19 pandemic in an op-ed for the New York Times.

Jenkins said the school believes the health of student-athletes can be preserved "with aggressive testing, hygiene and careful monitoring." He didn't have the same optimism about those attending games in South Bend, Indiana.

"Fans in the stadium, however, are a different matter," he said. "Fighting Irish fans regularly fill Notre Dame Stadium's 80,000 seats. I see no way currently to allow spectators unless we restrict admissions so that physical distancing is possible."

Last week, the NCAA Division I Council voted to allow for football and men's and women's basketball teams to bring students back for on-campus workouts starting June 1. That could allow for the 2020 season to kick off as scheduled Aug. 29.

However, games could lack their traditional electric atmospheres.

The sports leagues that have returned—most notably the KBO League and German Bundesliga—are doing so without fans. Even if the pandemic slows to the extent fans can attend events in the United States, packing them together in college football stadiums would carry an obvious risk.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said May 20 the Buckeyes believe social distancing could mean as few as 22,000 people entering Ohio Stadium. Relaxing distancing guidelines could increase the capacity to 40,000 or 50,000.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard wrote Tuesday the Cyclones are planning to cap Jack Trice Stadium at 30,000 fans—50 percent of capacity.

Of course, the regional nature of college sports will complicate matters. Building a uniform approach to the pandemic across all Division I schools is almost impossible.

Michigan president Mark Schlissel went a step further than Jenkins when he said the university wouldn't be comfortable staging football games unless the entire student body has been cleared to return to campus.

The Division I Council's vote represented a sign of progress, but a number of details need to be finalized before fans can expect to see college football in the fall.