Reports surfaced on Tuesday afternoon that Monday’s College Football Playoff Championship game between Ohio State and the University of Alabama faces a potential postponement due to COVID-19 concerns. Nick Saban‘s daughter, Kristen Saban Setas, responded to the news by taking aim at the Buckeyes. She “called BS” on the coronavirus cases.
Setas made the comment in a since-deleted tweeted. OutKick captured a screenshot that showed the message in its entirety. “If you’re not confident to play then SAY IT,” Setas tweeted. “I call BS on the COVID cases. They’re just worried about their QB and want him to have more time to heal. If he’s hurt put in your backup. You didn’t see us postpone the rest of the season to wait for Waddle. BYE.”
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The now-deleted tweet referenced an injury that Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields sustained during the Sugar Bowl. He took a hard hit to his right side from Clemson linebacker James Skalski during the second quarter of the game. He left the field for a play and later appeared to be in pain as he climbed on the exercise bike.
Fields returned to the field and finished the game with six touchdown passes during the 49-28 victory. He later said that his “whole right torso” was “messed up.” Fields also said that he was in pain after every throw and received a shot from the medical staff.
Reporters asked head coach Ryan Day about Fields’ injury on Monday during a Zoom news conference. He declined to comment on the injury’s extent and said that the team would have the availability report at the end of the week. However, Day said that he expects Fields to play during Monday’s title game.
“First off, when you saw the way that Justin finished the game, it was remarkable,” Day said, per 247Sports. “I thought that was one of the toughest performances I’ve ever seen in person. I leave all of the medical stuff to our medical staff, which is the best in the country. Justin is such a competitive guy, he wasn’t going to come off the field. And that’s just the way he’s wired. You’re going to have to pull him off the field. It was a pretty amazing performance.
“And it was good that the next day, his comment to me was he felt better waking up in the morning than he expected,” Day continued. “So, we’ll keep working through the week and have a great week of preparation and get ready to play Monday night.”
According to reports from Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports, Ohio State is dealing with coronavirus concerns that could potentially make an entire position group ineligible to play during the title game. The university is preparing to play on Monday, but the game could move to a later date. The likely option is Jan. 18.
