Gophers QB Tanner Morgan talks COVID-19 after Graham Mertz tests positive
Tanner Morgan #2 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers looks on before the start of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at TCF Bank Stadium on October 24, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by David Berding/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota football team doesn’t have to look very far to see how the COVID-19 pandemic can impact a season.
P.J. Fleck was put to the test Saturday night against Michigan, particularly on special teams. He was without kickers Michael Lantz and Grant Ryerse, punter Mark Crawford and another specialist. Down to a kicker still recovering from sports hernia surgery and a back-up punter, it forced Fleck and the Gophers into decisions he’s probably never had to consider.
They included short kickoffs, and a fake punt attempt that didn’t work.
“That’s what makes 2020 so unpredictable, that’s what makes it really difficult. That’s what makes it challenging in a lot of different ways, that’s why we’re seeing the football that we see,” Fleck said Monday.
News emerged early this week that COVID-19 has hit the quarterback group at Wisconsin in a big way. The Badgers, already without Jack Coan due to a foot injury in fall camp, started Graham Mertz against Illinois last Friday. Mertz torched the Illini, going 20-of-21 for 248 yards and five touchdowns in his first career start, a 45-7 victory.
Saturday, Mertz reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. A second test Monday confirmed that, and now Mertz is out for a minimum of 21 days. To complicate matters, No. 3 quarterback Chase Wolf has also tested positive. That means No. 4 quarterback David Vanden Boom likely gets the start for the Badgers Saturday at Nebraska, if the game happens. That’s a huge deal for the favorites to win the Big Ten West.
“Crazy things can happen, coach (P.J. Fleck) has said that from the jump. Our entire team is taking the protocols laid out by the state, by the Big Ten. “We’re taking it seriously because 21 days is a long time. That’s something that we really can’t afford,” Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan said Tuesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic is nothing to mess with in 2020, especially when it comes to keeping players and teams safe. Fleck and the Gophers, like other Big Ten teams, go through daily testing. They have several protocols in place, including distanced meeting rooms and wearing masks at all times.
Morgan says the Gophers have done their best to create a synthetic bubble on campus. Classes are done online via Zoom, players watch film and spend time together at the practice facility and limit the people they’re around outside of football.
For the players, it might mean less time with their significant others, and less time with friends who don’t play football. But if they want any chance at having a full season, it’s what has to be done.
“Nobody wants to sit out 21 days, point blank, period. I think our guys are taking it very seriously and doing all the right things outside the facility,” Morgan said.