What We Learned From the First Weekend of College Football

While there were games played this Labor Day weekend, what did we learn?

While the SEC, ACC, and Big-XII prepare for their upcoming college football seasons, several other schools took center stage over the Labor Day weekend to kick off the 2020 college football season in the face of a pandemic. 

What exactly did we learn from this first weekend of college football, and is there anything those schools who have yet to play can learn from it? 

There was some fun and entertaining games played- or maybe we were just so football deprived that they seemed entertaining- but the headlines from off the field gained as much attention as any final score recorded. 

CANCELATIONS/POSTPONEMENTS 

Two games, including the TCU-SMU matchup scheduled for Sept.11, has been postponed because of multiple positive test results for the TCU program. 

SMU played on Saturday, but now must sit and wait because of the situation in Fort Worth. Will this become a trend where one team might play a game and then be forced to sit and wait because other programs are dealing with positive tests and players being quarantined? 

It certainly seems a possibility since we are seeing it in the first week when teams are still on their campuses and dealing with the numbers of cases among their entire student populations. 

Tulsa-Oklahoma State has also postponed their September 5 matchup to September 19. While there has been some confusion as to the exact reason, on Monday, the University of Tulsa released a statement on the postponement. 

The statement released by Spots Illustrated's Pokes Report read in part that "In attempting to deal with COVID-19 protocols effectively, the Tulsa football team has been limited in practice sessions since the beginning of preseason camp on August 7. Tulsa had a nine-day pause due to multiple positive tests and was limited to seven practices in the 17 days of preseason camp." 

MORE POSITIVE RESULTS/CONTACT TRACING

Things in Knoxville took a turn for the confusing on Saturday when it was confirmed that as many as 44 University of Tennessee football players were being forced to miss a planned team scrimmage because of positive test results for some players and contact tracing of others. 

The Vols reportedly powered through practice with those players that were clear. Still, it cost them valuable scrimmage time as the coaches attempt to put the finishing touches on starters and any game planning for the coming season opener. 

Other schools in the conference, including Vanderbilt, have dealt with positive test results, though it seems that we have heard less of the large numbers recently, until the Tennessee situation. 

Still, there is no right way to handle this situation as a coach. Do you isolate your players, or allow them to live as regular college students and deal with the fallout?

There are no easy answers, and when it comes down to it, what we learned from this first weekend is that games can be played, but others might be missed. Players are going to test positive. It's going to be a continuing battle, but we will have football in some shape and form this season. 

It's also likely to be a season, unlike anything anyone could ever imagine.