Tag: LSU coronavirus

LSU LB Travez Moore shares coronavirus experience

Moore went public with the details of his experience with the virus.

The issue of COVID-19 has affected sports in a number of ways, but the pandemic has hit a little closer to home for some members of the LSU football team like senior linebacker Travez Moore.

Moore appears to be the first player on the team to have publicly shared his experience with coronavirus, taking to Twitter this week.

He wrote he had dropped from 256 pounds to 229 pounds, lost his appetite, sense of taste and smell and had difficulty breathing — all of which are considered serious symptoms of contracting the virus.

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Multiple LSU football players were reported to have tested positive for coronavirus back in June, when Sports Illustrated reported that no less than 30 players of the Tigers’ 115 were in quarantine due to either a positive test result or coming in contact with someone who had tested positive.

Coach Ed Orgeron later said the number reported was too high and said his team’s case numbers were “way down.”

College football players have to option to opt out of the season amid the pandemic, but so far, no one on the LSU team has done so.

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LSU CB Derek Stingley Jr.’s versatility could be especially important for 2020 college football season

Could we see Stingley on offense in 2020?

The coronavirus pandemic has already taken an extensive toll on college sports — one which has now extended into the fall to affect football.

Granted SEC teams do play, one thing programs will constantly have to monitor is new cases and a potential outbreak. If LSU sees a spike at some point in the season, it could mean that the roster slims down quickly.

In that case, LSU could be forced to have players come on the field to play both offense and defense.

One player to watch in that case is cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who is coming off of one of the most impressive true freshman seasons we’ve ever seen.

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In an a radio appearance with WWL back in May, Tigers coach Ed Orgeron hinted that we could see Stingley play both ways in the future.

“During recruiting, I promised him two years on defense and then the next year, the third year, I think you’re going to see Derek play both ways for us,” Orgeron said.

Regardless, Stingley is going to play a large role on the defense in several different aspects in 2020.

“I think this year you’re not going to see us just use Derek in man free coverage, I think you’re going to see him blitzing, I think you’re going to see him use his talents in some places where we need him on defense,” Orgeron said. “I think Bo’s going to mix it up where he’s going to have our corners doing different things.”

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Stingley was a steady factor in 2019, totaling 38 tackles, 31 solo, 15 passes defensed, six interceptions and one fumble recovery, also contributing on special teams with 17 punt returns for an average of 9.6 yards per return in 2019.

Based on Orgeron’s comments, it sounds like the 2021 season would be the ideal time to give Stingley a role on the offense.

But it’s reasonable to assume we could see that happen sooner rather than later depending upon how the Tigers fare through the pandemic.

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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey not giving up on 2020 season

There’s still hope for the upcoming football season.

There’s a lot of uncertainty across the 2020 college football season with the rapidly changing situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made an appearance on the “Marty & McGee Show” on ESPN Radio earlier this week and expressed concern about the upcoming season.

On Monday, Sankey joined the “Paul Finebaum Show” and reiterated his concerns.

“My comments over the weekend on ‘Marty and McGee’ are an indication the trends are not what we desire, not what we experienced a bit earlier in the summer, very much in the wrong direction,” Sankey said. “That’s problematic. That doesn’t mean that’s the finish line and things won’t change. We’ve seen the news around COVID-19 alter itself in different ways over weeks.”

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Sankey made it clear that he wasn’t ready to make any decisions right now about the 2020 season, despite the Big Ten and Pac-12 canceling all out-of-conference games last week.

He noted the ACC and Big 12 were approaching the 2020 season much like he was, noting there was no need to make an immediate decision and will instead reassess the situation at the end of July.

“What we‘ve identified is an opportunity in late July for an important check-in to see what our public health reality is,” Sankey said.

With just over two weeks remaining in July, there’s still hope for college football this fall, especially in the SEC.

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Ed Orgeron: LSU has COVID-19 under control, still preparing for college football season

Orgeron gave a strong answer when asked about the situation in Baton Rouge.

The Ivy League has cancelled all fall sports and Ohio State has suspended voluntary workouts until further notice after multiple positive COVID-19 tests.

It goes without saying the outlook for a normal college football season — of having one at all — continues to darken by the day for programs across the country, including LSU.

In a recent radio appearance on the WWL 105.3 FM radio show “SportsTalk with Bobby Hebert & Kristian Garic,” Orgeron tackled a question on the issue of this football season.

He hardly hesitated, and gave a strong answer as to where the team’s mindset is right now.

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“We are planning to play,” he said. “The other stuff is out of our control.We have the full staff in here. We’re planning football/school, we’ve made our practice schedules for August, we put them in all of our scripts, we’re doing all about gourds. We’re going on as usual. We’re playing.”

Orgeron noted that LSU did see a spike, but seems confident in the way the staff handled it.

“We had a little spike, [the trainers and medical staff] handled it well, our numbers are way down,” Orgeron explained. “That number 30 was not correct, it was inaccurate, I don’t know who said that, it wasn’t that high but we did have a little spike. Now it’s going down, I think it’s under control. I think that so it’s a fairly low number right now that we’re very pleased with and it looks like everything is going smooth for us.”

LSU’s total number of cases centered around a group of five or six players, according to a report from The Advocate. Each case showed only mild symptoms and no players were hospitalized.

Obviously, the situation and restrictions surrounding COVID-19 seem to change by the day, so it will be interesting to see how the projected future of a college football season in Baton Rouge continues to evolve as the Sept. 5 start date nears.

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