How USM football is working to overcome a coronavirus outbreak before game at Liberty
Interim Southern Miss football coach Scotty Walden said Monday he is optimistic about his team’s chances playing this weekend after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases within the program.
The Golden Eagles have had their last two games postponed due to the coronavirus. Their Oct. 10 home game against FAU was called off after the Owls had 18 players test positive. Then, its Oct. 17 trip to UTEP was postponed because USM had its own COVID-19 issues. Southern Miss is scheduled to play Liberty on the road Saturday at noon.
After testing players for coronavirus every day last week, Walden said USM (1-3) was down to 44-45 scholarship players at the end of preparations for the UTEP game due to coronavirus and contract tracing protocols.
“You have to realize that not every single person that would have been out for the game last Saturday received a positive test. Contact tracing comes into play,” Walden said Monday. “We would have been without 20-plus players and that would have affected all different position groups. That is not 20-plus positive tests.”
Taking COVID-19 seriously
Walden said he thinks about 85-90 percent of his players have been diligent in following COVID-19 guidelines, but the staff has felt the need to enforce stricter guidelines.
“We’ve adjusted team meetings to where nobody is sitting is right next to each other,” Walden said. “If you want to get a meal, you’ve got to have a mask on. We’ll continue to address our protocols.
“We’ve had it so good for so long and it finally punched us in the mouth. We’ll keep trusting our protocols and finding little ways to change things. That might involve a position group meeting going to a zoom meeting.”
USM senior offensive lineman Arvin Fletcher said he has seen his teammates taking COVID-19 even more seriously than previously.
“Everybody is wearing a mask and keeping their distance,” he said. “At the end of the day, we all really want to play.”
Along with depleting its roster, COVID-19 also hit the team’s support staff last week.
“We would have went into the game short-handed from a coaching standpoint,” Walden said. “I’m an old small-college guy so I’m used to wearing different hats, but it gets to a point where safety is the No. 1 thing.”
Some players could leave quarantine
Preparing to take flights to road games is a complicated process during a pandemic and the Golden Eagles is scheduled have to fly again this week to Lynchburg, Virginia against the undefeated Flames (5-0).
“Once one person gets it, it spreads like wildfire,” Walden said. “Before we play, we’ve got to beat COVID first. We’ve got to beat COVID first before we whoop our opponent. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”
Walden said the main reason he is upbeat about his team’s chances of playing this week is that several players are on pace to leave quarantine in time to get back on the field.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll get depth back at certain positions,” he said. “You have to understand that if you get one person on a plane who has it, you could end up suffering for it.
“Everybody is dealing with it, but I feel good that we’ll be getting on the plane in a good spot. We tested today and we’ll test every day this week.”
