No need to do a double-take. Yes, spring college football is happening in SC
When a disappointed Furman team walked off the field after a 42-6 loss to Austin Peay in the 2019 FCS playoffs, the Paladins knew the defeat would sit with them for a while.
As it turns out, the wait to play another game was much longer than they ever could have imagined.
That game was Nov. 30, 2019 and would be the last one for Furman until Saturday’s matchup with Western Carolina — the team’s first time playing in 448 days.
The universities of South Carolina, Clemson and Coastal Carolina played through the COVID-19 pandemic this past fall, but the majority of FCS schools in the state did not.
The Paladins and Wofford instead started spring seasons this weekend and will soon be joined by several other South Carolina schools. Benedict, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, Erskine, Limestone, Newberry, North Greenville, Presbyterian and S.C. State are all set to hold limited spring seasons in 2021.
Yes, spring football has a new meaning in 2021 for colleges in South Carolina and across the country. It’s normally a time for 15 or so practices, player development and a few intrasquad scrimmages. This year, spring football is actually football for some teams — real games against real opponents, and stats that will be counted toward the records books.
Many of the leagues that opted against playing through the COVID-19 pandemic are instead holding a shortened season over the next few months — and will still play their normal schedules this fall.
Was it the right choice to postpone the season last fall? Opinions vary. Southern Conference commissioner Jim Schaus told The State that the decision was “the right move.”
Furman coach Clay Hendrix isn’t so sure.
“I think we probably could’ve played in the fall. We wanted to play in the fall,” Hendrix said.
Either way, everyone is happy to be playing now.
“It’s been a long journey ... but we’re excited to be starting,” Schaus said. “It looks a little different, but our conference schedule still is eight games. We’re still going to have our regular season champion and they will go to the FCS playoffs. We’ll have access to an at-large bid. So yeah, we’re very excited to have student-athletes and coaches and fans to be able to participate in another season.”
What happened in the fall?
Schaus sticks by the league’s decision to postpone the fall season until the spring, saying now that there were simply too many unknowns six months ago.
When the decision was made in mid-August, there were questions nationally about whether or not schools would be able to have in-person classes for an entire semester. Two days before the SoCon revealed it would not play fall football, the Big Ten and PAC 12 announced they were postponing their seasons until the spring as well.
Ultimately, the Big Ten and PAC 12 reversed course and joined the SEC, ACC and Big 12 in playing game this past fall. While there were some hiccups along the way, the season was completed with Alabama winning the national title.
Other college sports have resumed, including basketball, which the Southern Conference is taking part in. Baseball and softball are among the sports that have also started back.
“Individuals are not getting sick from competition. They’re not getting sick by going to a game and getting sick from an opposing team or officials. We’re testing. That’s not really occurring,” Schaus said. “Individuals or student athletes are getting the virus from their own personal time. ... We’ve learned so much since (the fall) about social distancing and all of our protocols that I think we’re able to do it in a much safer environment.”
While the SoCon did not have a fall season, teams were allowed to practice and could play up to four out-of-conference games. The Citadel was the only FCS team in South Carolina to take advantage of that, playing against South Florida, Clemson, Eastern Kentucky and Army.
The challenges
While Power 5 schools had plenty of challenges this fall trying to navigate through a COVID-19 football season, it’s much harder for the smaller schools such as Furman, Wofford, S.C. State, Benedict and Allen to do so, according to Hendrix.
These schools don’t have the resources that Clemson and USC have. There’s no large football facility with plenty of space for meetings and meals. Furman football players eat their meals in the student dining hall.
Furman can only have 24 players in its weight room at a time, so the strength and conditioning coach has to do four different weightlifting sessions. Hendrix hasn’t had a full team meeting in person in nine months.
“It is different because at some of those bigger schools they can take classes online. They can kind of isolate themselves. They can eat at the facility. They can really almost take on an NFL model,” he said. “We don’t live in that world. That’s not our reality. Our kids are going to be in the dorm with other students. They’re going to be going to class with other students.”
COVID testing is also different.
FCS schools can’t afford to test three times or more a week the way that Power 5 schools did this fall. Furman and Wofford are both testing Wednesdays. Only testing once a week offers fewer opportunities to catch players who have COVID-19 and to isolate them, but it’s the only option for athletic departments who have already taken a major financial hit during the pandemic.
“Money plays a big part in a lot of the decisions we make around here,” Hendrix said.
What’s next?
Furman, The Citadel, Wofford and other Southern Conference teams are scheduled to play eight-game regular season schedules this spring. For Furman, Saturday’s game was its first in February in school history. The last time Furman played a football game this early in a calendar year was 1890 when it faced Wofford on Jan. 24 in Spartanburg.
Across the rest of the FCS level in South Carolina, Presbyterian College is scheduled to play seven games, Charleston Southern is playing four and S.C. State will play a to-be-determined number of games. The Bulldogs are playing despite their conference opting to not hold a spring season.
At the Division II level, Erskine and Limestone are playing eight games, Newberry is playing six, Benedict is playing four and North Greenville has two scheduled.
While teams have a plan for now, there is still plenty that can change. During the fall, 139 regular season games were postponed, and there are sure to be disruptions in the spring. Games could be added and subtracted.
“I really have tried just not to look too far ahead, just because of everything that’s been going on,” Hendrix said.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I know there’s some people that probably aren’t as excited to play as we are within our league and around the country. But I’ve never doubted our kids wanting to play.”
That’s a concern for Wofford coach Josh Conklin as well, who wonders if a slow start might affect a team’s motivation to make the sacrifices to play games.
“If you lose two or three games and you’re not in the conference hunt, I saw that happen this fall. ... And then guys kind of become a little bit more lax and it’s not as important because they’re not playing for something,” Conklin said. “Those are all conversations that you’re going to have to have as the season goes on and depending on where this thing goes in the next month or two.”
Looking even further down the road, there’s another fall season set to begin in a little over six months. Teams won’t have a typical offseason to heal up and regroup.
The FCS playoffs will take place April 18 to May 15, then fall camp will begin late in the summer.
“We’ve had to do some things completely, really radical, a lot different than we typically would, just in terms of trying to keep our guys healthy,” Conklin said. “I look at it like this: We’re not only looking at the spring season of eight games. We’ve gotta look at the totality of maybe 20, 22, 23 games if you’re playing really well, in a calendar year. That’s something that I think you’ve gotta be cognizant of. This game is not basketball, it’s not soccer. It’s a collision sport. It takes a toll on the body.”
Making sacrifices is something everyone has become accustomed to over the past year, and college athletes are no different.
The typical college experience is something football players can’t have right now. A positive COVID test followed by contact tracing can deplete a roster, and a game can be postponed just like that.
Skipping out on social gatherings, always masking up and getting dressed in the locker room in phases — they’re all been done to get to game days.
And game day finally arrived again Saturday for FCS teams.
“I’m really excited to be scrapping it up with the boys one more time,” Furman offensive lineman Jordan Harris said. “I’m not taking this opportunity for granted at all.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 4:07 PM.
