It might be a bye week, but many Gamecocks don’t plan to go anywhere during the break
There aren’t a lot of chances to get home these months.
College football players’ lives are scheduled to the hilt. If South Carolina’s guys are from Columbia, they can probably sneak in a quick visit to see family, but even that doesn’t happen often once a season begins. If they’re from farther away, a trip home probably isn’t happening.
An off week is traditionally a chance to slip out of town. A few days of no activities are built into the schedule. Their coach, Will Muschamp, won’t tell them they can’t leave. But ask the current set of Gamecocks, coming off a loss to LSU, and a few don’t seem set on going home.
“I’m definitely not going home,” tailback Deshaun Fenwick said. “Probably catch up on some schoolwork, get ahead or just try and relax.”
Fullback Adam Prentice, who is from California, added: “I think if you left the state, we’d have to quarantine. I’m not 100% sure about that. But I’m planning to stay and I think a lot of guys are to get some necessary recovery.”
There’s a simple reality that going home takes them out of whatever “bubble” has been built for the team. The SEC has already lost multiple games between COVID-19 outbreaks at Florida and at Vanderbilt.
Muschamp said staying in Columbia isn’t required, but it’s mostly suggested, and anyone who leaves will get a warning of sorts about coronavirus precautions.
“I’m going to meet with the senior leadership group again,” Muschamp said last week. “A couple of those guys came to me about making sure that we have a certain outline of what you can and can’t do, and that was important to them, so we’ll address that again.”
The schedule will allow for a little bit of a break. Players will get Sunday off, rather than the traditional corrections practice, and then have a little bit of a different schedule for the week. They’ll go Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then get two days off.
They had that schedule put together last Sunday to help players and families plan.
“We talk to our team about being smart,” Muschamp said, “about how you handle yourself, the situations you cannot put yourself in, exposure to the unknown. And our senior leadership group guaranteed me that they were going to handle the football team.”
They’ll come back next week to a game week that leads into the second-toughest remaining opponent, a Texas A&M team that sits at 3-1 overall and has already handed Florida a loss.
That game will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at Williams-Brice Stadium on either SEC Network or ESPN.
“I won’t sit there and tell a guy he can’t go home,” Muschamp said. “But I am going to tell a guy that he needs to be very careful and don’t compromise himself and his teammates.”
