Texas Football: KU game called into question amid more COVID-19 positives
Three more positive COVID-19 tests for players and staffers of the Texas football program emerging on Dec. 8 do not provide a good outlook for the KU game.
After the Texas football program got through a round of novel coronavirus testing on Dec. 7 without any reported positives emerging, their luck wasn’t so good on Dec. 8. According to a report from Horns247, the Texas program saw two more football players and a graduate assistant come up with positive COVID-19 tests on Dec. 8. That means that football activities are to be paused likely for at least a day further than they already were this week.
Texas also had five reported positive COVID-19 tests over the weekend, three among players and two among staffers. Those tests were reported following the Longhorns dominant 69-31 win on the road on Dec. 5 over head coach Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats.
This now brings the Longhorns up to five players testing positive for COVID-19 since the weekend, and three staffers. Texas is likely getting very close to not meeting the threshold that the Big 12 requires, position-by-position, to take on the winless Kansas Jayhawks and head coach Les Miles on the road in Lawrence on Dec. 12.
The Big 12 reportedly requires 53 players on the roster for teams to play each weekend. More specifically, Texas will need to have seven offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen, and one quarterback (at the very least), active and ready for the Kansas game for it to actually transpire next week.
The Kansas game already had to be delayed once thanks to COVID-19 related issues last month. The last chance that Texas and Kansas would have to face each other this season, if the Dec. 12 matchup is to be delayed, would be on the same weekend as the Big 12 Championship Game (Dec. 19).
And since the Longhorns are already effectively eliminated from contention for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game this year, the delay could still work out in the end. Still, it would be good if the Longhorns can pull a team together to face the Jayhawks on Dec. 12.
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Texas carries a record of 6-3 (5-3 Big 12) into the originally scheduled Dec. 12 game (with kick off time set for 2:30 p.m. CT at David Booth-Kansas Memorial Stadium) against the Jayhawks. This would be their de factor regular season finale.