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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ next football game could be in danger because of COVID-19 “issues” with its upcoming opponent.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin revealed Wednesday that a number of Rebels are out, presumably because of positive tests and subsequent contact tracing. Although he declined to go into detail on the exact numbers, he said they are “trying to manage it the best we can.
“We are dealing with our first COVID issues of the season, unfortunately,” Kiffin said. “We had it in camp, but had been great through three games, so that’s been a big challenge this week. We’re already banged up after a very physical, high-play-count game against a great team in Bama, so it’s going to be very challenging.”
The Razorbacks are scheduled to host Ole Miss for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
When asked if the game was on the brink of being postponed, Kiffin said it hasn’t reached that point yet. However, Ole Miss’ numbers could change after the final round of testing this week.
“I hope not,” Kiffin said. “If we were to play today, we could play, so hopefully it stays that way.”
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, the Rebels had not had a positive case since the final week of fall camp, which was four weeks ago.
The SEC established game cancellation and rescheduling policies last month, with a minimum threshold of at least 53 available scholarship players. That number must include at least one quarterback, four defensive linemen and seven offensive linemen - one of which has to be a center.
If a school dips below those numbers, it could chose to still play, but otherwise, the game will be rescheduled or declared a no contest.
This has already impacted two SEC games scheduled for Saturday. Outbreaks within the Vanderbilt and Florida programs has led to the postponement of their matchups with Missouri and LSU, respectively. Those games will be played Dec. 12, the conference’s built-in open week before the SEC.
Because Arkansas and Ole Miss have different midseason open dates, that is when the game would likely be moved to if it reaches that point.
