LSU’s game against Arkansas this weekend could be in some slight jeopardy. Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman informed the media in a teleconference call on Thursday his program is running thin with its roster availability. Stressing the program’s desire to play LSU this weekend, Pittman cautioned it is unknown if the Razorbacks will have adequate personnel on the roster to do so.
Arkansas is awaiting test results from a round of COVID testing administered on Thursday. Pittman says he hopes the testing results will allow for a roster to be able to play this weekend, but he did so with a good amount of reserved hesitation.
Coach Pittman very honest about status of Saturday's game. They need good test results Tomorrow to play. pic.twitter.com/S5OcBrgcxZ
— Steve Sullivan (@sully7777) November 19, 2020
“We’re going to play Saturday as of right now. We’re gonna play,” Pittman said in his conference call with the media. “We have a test that we took today that gets back tomorrow, and I’m just going to tell you the truth. We’re running thin. We want to play the game but you have to have adequate numbers to play the game, and we are thin. If we have a good test tomorrow, we’re going to play the game.”
Pittman was already planning on making his return to the Arkansas sideline this weekend against LSU. Pittman was in isolation for Arkansas’ road loss at Florida last weekend after testing positive for COVID-19.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman plans to return to sideline vs. LSU after COVID-19 isolation
LSU’s game last weekend against Alabama was postponed due to a COVID outbreak within the LSU football program. The Tigers were on a scheduled bye week prior to that, which means the scenario of LSU having a third week off is officially in play.
Can you imagine if #LSU goes *three weeks* of no football with two unexpected open dates…
— Crissy Froyd (@crissy_froyd) November 19, 2020
LSU is currently scheduled to play a makeup game with the Florida Gators on Dec. 12. A COVID-outbreak within the Florida program forced the previously scheduled matchup to be pushed back to the week prior to the SEC Championship Game. There is still no confirmed date for a potential makeup date with Alabama after last weekend’s game was postponed.
If the LSU-Arkansas game is postponed, there is a decent chance it will not be laid at all this season due to the lack of scheduling options left to work with. LSU has faced Arkansas annually since 1992 when the Razorbacks joined the SEC.
Arkansas has yet to have a game rescheduled or postponed this season.
This upcoming weekend of college football has already seen a handful of cancelations or postponements. Among the games canceled this week include Maryland vs. Michigan State (Maryland head coach Mike Locksley was among those testing positive for COVID-19 this week), Texas vs. Kansas, Colorado State vs. UNLV, Utah State vs. Wyoming, Louisiana vs. Central Arkansas, USF vs. Navy, and SMU vs. Houston.