Alabama confirms hip dislocation will end Tua Tagovailoa’s season

By John TaylorNov 16, 2019, 8:18 PM EST
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It’s officially official.

In a press release a short time ago, Alabama confirmed that Tua Tagovailoa has been diagnosed with a dislocated hip. While the school stated that the junior quarterback is expected to make a full recovery — that actually qualifies as positive news given the direness of the initial reports — it was also confirmed that he will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

Per the release, Tagovailoa “is undergoing further testing to determine the best course of treatment.”

Left unsaid is whether Tagovailoa, who will be eligible to enter the 2020 NFL Draft, has played his final down for the Crimson Tide.

Tagovailoa suffered the hip injury toward the end of the first half of the Mississippi State game, still in the game despite Alabama leading 35-7.  The junior quarterback, reportedly screaming in pain, was carted off the field and, after being examined inside Davis Wade Stadium, taken away via ambulance for further evaluation.

Tagovailoa was subsequently taken back to Birmingham via helicopter to undergo a series of CAT scans and MRIs to determine the exact extent and nature of the injury.  According to one report, the injury is serious and similar to the one that ended Bo Jackson‘s football career.  Another had him out for the season with the dislocated hip as well as “a posterior wall fracture.”

The Crimson Tide will turn over its playoff fate, at least under center, to Mac Jones.  The redshirt sophomore has completed just over 64 percent of his 67 passes this season for 595 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.  Coming into 2019, he had attempted 13 passes in his collegiate career.

Oklahoma suspends spring football practices out of coronavirus concern

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By Kevin McGuireMar 12, 2020, 6:52 PM EDT
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As the sports world and beyond continues to be rocked by the coronavirus outbreak, the University of Oklahoma has opted to play it safe. Like many schools around the country, and in accordance with temporary policies implemented by conferences such as the Big 12, Oklahoma has suspended all athletic competitions and practices.

In a statement released Thursday evening, Oklahoma announced the suspension of all out-of-season practices and workouts, which would include spring football for the Sooners. From the statement from the Oklahoma athletics department;

The University of Oklahoma Athletics Department announced today it is suspending all athletics competitions, as well as all out-of-season practices and workouts, until further notice. This rapidly developing situation has warranted consideration of many factors, and the health and welfare of people we serve is at the forefront of all of our deliberations. We will communicate updates as appropriate.

Oklahoma opened spring football practices earlier this week, on Tuesday, March 10. No decision has been made on the status of Oklahoma’s annual spring game, which is scheduled for April 18. A decision on the spring game will be made at a later time, if necessary. Penn State made a similar announcement to Oklahoma’s earlier today, leaving the status of the spring game to be determined later.

The Big 12 officially suspended all spring athletic activities.

MAC suspends all spring athletic activities in latest coronavirus response

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By Kevin McGuireMar 12, 2020, 6:26 PM EDT
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Another hour brings another conference taking action to fight the spread of the coronavirus. The MAC has officially shut down all spring athletic activities, including spring football practices.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the MAC outlined a few revised policies that are effective immediately. Among the revised policies is the suspension of all formal and organized practices until further notice. That means no more spring football practices for each of the schools in the MAC.

The decision by the MAC is similar to decisions made by each of the power conferences and more in the past 24 hours. It also comes as the state of Ohio has shut down all schools amid the outbreak of coronavirus. Six of the MAC’s 12 members are located in the state of Ohio; Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, and Toledo.

Earlier in the day, the Mountain West Conference announced the decision to continue or suspend spring football practices and games would be left in the hands of its members on an individual basis. Each of the power conferences — ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC — shut down spring athletics for various time periods. Although each conference’s decisions may have been slightly different, every conference has put recruiting efforts on ice. The MAC joins them in that decision.

Handful of spring football changes in Mountain West in wake of coronavirus outbreak

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By Kevin McGuireMar 12, 2020, 6:09 PM EDT
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Like their conference peers around the country, the Mountain West Conference has made the executive decision to shut down all spring sports effective immediately. With concerns about the outbreak of COVID-19, the spring sports season is likely

“Decisions with regard to the continuation of local practice activities in various sports (e.g., spring football) are a matter of institutional discretion depending upon local conditions.”

So, what are the decisions being made by those Mountain West Conference members?

Boise Stae, Fresno State and Wyoming all released statements echoing the decision by the Mountain West Conference, although no specific details regarding spring football were noted.

Nevada officially canceled its spring football game when it announced its athletics response yesterday.

New Mexico is already in the middle of its spring practice schedule and plans to continue with spring practices with some alterations to the procedures.

San Jose State is also continuing with spring football practices at this time.

UNLV is scheduled to begin spring practices on March 30, and no decision on spring football practices has been shared at this time. Recruiting, however, will be put on hold until the end of April.

Utah State has closed football practices through March 17.

Hawaii has suspended all spring athletics as well, but no official word on spring football practices has been shared at this time. Hawaii is scheduled to begin spring practices on March 27.

Air Force and San Diego State already completed their spring football practice schedules.

Big 12 suspends all spring activities in response to coronavirus outbreak

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By Kevin McGuireMar 12, 2020, 5:06 PM EDT
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Every power conference program in the country has officially shut down all spring athletic events, which includes football recruiting efforts. The Big 12 and the Big Ten made it five-for-five in responding to the coronavirus outbreak around the country and the world, with the Big 12 formally announcing its additional measures beginning immediately.

The Big 12 will suspend all regular-season competitions and out-of-season practices beginning on Friday, March 13. The suspension will run until Sunday, March 29, according to a released statement from the Big 12. That, of course, covers spring football practices throughout the conference, and that could likely lead to additional spring game cancelations at a later time. Each school can make their own decisions about spring games, barring any additional decisions made at the conference level to come later.

Earlier in the day, Baylor announced it was pushing back the start of spring practices from March 17 to March 23 as a precaution. The decision by the Big 12 will overrule that initial response by Baylor.

The ACC, Pac-12, and SEC also made similar decisions earlier in the day, as did the Big Ten. As is the case with basically the entire sports world, college football is effectively on hold for the foreseeable future.