Coming off a narrow 41-38 loss to Texas A&M this past Saturday, the Florida Gators are looking to get back on the winning track against the defending champion LSU Tigers next week.
The team might not have that opportunity moving forward. At least, for this coming week. It was reported earlier in Tuesday that five additional members of the Gators’ football program tested positive for COVID-19 in the latest results. That brings the total number up to six.
We now have some further information from the Gators themselves. It’s not great news.
Florida pauses team activities due to COVID-19 outbreak
“The University of Florida football team has experienced an increase in positive COVID tests among players this week. Out of an abundance of caution, team activities are paused as of Tuesday afternoon,” the program announced, via its official website. “Head coach Dan Mullen has been in communication with football players and their parents, and I have had conversations with the Southeastern Conference office, last week’s opponent Texas A&M, and this week’s opponent LSU.”
An update will be made official on Wednesday after another evaluation from the UF Health and Athletics department, the program went on to announce.
2020 Florida Gators football schedule
As we have seen with other college football programs around the nation, an outbreak of COVID-19 can create multi-week stoppages in play. Given that the SEC was late to start its season, this could end up becoming an issue. Here’s a look at Florida’s remaining schedule.
- Oct. 17: VS- LSU
- Oct. 24: VS- Missouri
- Nov. 7: VS- Georgia (Neutral site)
- Nov. 14: VS- Arkansas
- Nov. 21: AT- Vanderbilt
- Nov. 28: VS- Kentucky
- Dec. 5: AT- Tennessee
As you can tell, there was no bye week built into the Gators’ schedule for the 2020 season. This could create some wide-ranging issues should Florida have to postpone a game or two due to the ongoing outbreak within the football program.
The implications are not just SEC-related, either. Florida ranked No. 4 in the nation heading into last week’s game against Texas A&M. Its Nov. 7 outing against Georgia could very well have College Football Playoff ramifications.