With High Vaccination Rate, LSU Football Can Expect More Leniant Protocols for 2021 Season
For months, one of the questions circling LSU and college football has been what the COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season would be. That question has only become more complex in the last few weeks as the Delta variant of the virus becomes a prominent part of society.
On Monday, The Advocate reported that over 90% of LSU's football team had been vaccinated, which puts the Tigers on the right side of more leniant team protocls from the SEC. Commissioner Greg Sankey said in his press conference earlier this week with media members that SEC teams with over 85% vaccinated wouldn't be subject to routine COVID testing or be required to wear masks in the facilities moving forward.
Of the 14 conference teams, Sankey said six had met those requirements and with LSU's reported 90% vaccination, the Tigers fall well within those parameters. According to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, Alabama also falls under that 85% or more vaccination list and Georgia is also a part of that group through other reporting.
One of the interesting revelations from Sankey on Monday was the possibility of teams having to forfeit games due to not enough players being available because of contact tracing.
Like last season, there is a roster minimum that exists of 53 players, including a quarterback and at least seven offensive linemen and four defensive linemen. With not much room for error in terms of pushing games back, Sankey said that forfeiting games could be a possibility this season.
“You hope not to have disruption, but ‘hope is not a plan’ is the great cliche. We still have roster minimums that exist, just like last year," Sankey said. "What I’ve identified for consideration among our membership is we remove those roster minimums and you’re expected to play as scheduled. That means your team needs to be healthy to compete, and if not, that game won’t be rescheduled. And thus, to dispose of the game, the ‘forfeit’ word comes up at this point."
LSU had a couple of close calls throughout the 2020 season as its game against Florida was postponed to the end of the season and the team nearly went a month in between games against Auburn and Arkansas. Sankey strongly encouraged players to get the vaccination throughout his press conference so these sorts of scenarios aren't even possible.
