SEC won’t postpone Alabama-Georgia due to Nick Saban’s positive COVID test

The SEC doesn’t want to postpone the Georgia football vs. Alabama football game on Saturday.

Nick Saban’s positive COVID-19 test won’t stop Alabama football from hosting Georgia football.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Wednesday the game will go on as intended, as long as the Thursday and Friday rounds of testing don’t force his hand. Saban is convinced he can have communication with his team, despite not being able to coach in it. It may be news to him, but Saban is not going to have communication in this game on Saturday if it’s going to be played.

According to  Yahoo’s Pete Thamel, Sankey is moving forward with the game and it won’t be subject to a postponement like the Florida-LSU game.

“We’re still moving forward,” Sankey said via Thamel. “We have testing Thursday and results on Friday. I describe that as the ‘hold your breath’ moments. We’ll continue forward.”

With the Alabama-Georgia game moving forward, Saban admits he’s unsure how the communication will take place between him and the team, especially Steve Sarkisian who will be acting as the head coach.

Barring a major outbreak on either side, this game will be played on Saturday.

Players and coaches will test positive for the coronavirus. It has already happened and will continue to happen. Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles contracted the virus a few weeks ago and couldn’t coach vs. the Miami Hurricanes. Florida State got routed in that ACC rivalry game. Though that’s not happening when the Dawgs come to town, Alabama must adjust accordingly.

Sarkisian will call plays, as defensive coordinator Pete Golding will have to figure something out without Saban there to tell him what to do. Alabama is capable of offsetting this huge coaching loss without Saban, as Sarkisian is well on his way to his third Power 5 head-coaching gig. The issue comes with if he can outmatch Kirby Smart and Dan Lanning.

No Saban disciple has defeated him to date, although Smart and few others have given him trouble in defeat. Smart was Saban’s defensive coordinator for years before taking over his alma mater’s football program back in 2016. He and his defensive coordinator Lanning have the best defense in the Power 5. Sarkisian will have to figure out how to move the sticks on the Dawgs.

Given that this is the game CBS decided to flex the SEC Game of the Week to primetime, the SEC will do everything in its power to make sure this game goes on according to plan. CBS only gets to flex into a night game with the SEC Game of the Week once a year. They did it last year when Georgia hosted the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and got a huge number. CBS expects the same thing.

Alabama will be at a deficit, but a major player outbreak is the only way this game won’t be played.

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