PULLMAN, Wash. — It’s certainly been a tough few days for Washington State University head football coach Nick Rolovich and company, but hopefully his team has stopped the spread.
A year ago, if I said that, I would’ve been talking about a spread offense. Obviously, that’s not what I’m talking about now.
"You just feel for these kids because they’re on such a rollercoaster ride," said Rolovich of his team's COVID-19 outbreak.
Hopefully for WSU, that rollercoaster ride has stopped at the station.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stop soon enough, as the Cougs had to cancel the Apple Cup on Sunday, only two days after having to cancel their contest against Stanford.
"I really appreciate the guys trying to do the right thing. Trying to practice and play with all of the distractions they’ve had. This one was probably up there as far as disappointment," said Rolovich of the Apple Cup cancellation.
WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun said on the coaches show Tuesday night the football team currently has 12 players in the COVID protocol, which means those players have either tested positive or come in close contact with someone who has tested positive.
He also said that it became clear on Sunday that the Cougs couldn’t play in the Apple Cup.
Rolovich added later on in the show that the team hasn’t had a positive test "in a couple of days", so it would make sense that the team has been in the clear since Monday. Rolovich told the media that the team didn’t have anyone test positive on Wednesday, so that’s why they elected to practice.
"With what transpired this weekend we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t put anybody else at risk. Let’s get a handle on where we’re at with this thing. We weren’t going to really start until we got a good idea of how far this had gone," said Rolovich.
Rolovich did say that he's confident the Cougs will be ready to go in a week-and-a-half against USC.
As for the Apple Cup, a make up date hasn’t been set yet. UW’s head coach Jimmy Lake did say on Tuesday that if his team doesn’t make the Pac-12 Championship game, he’d be up to play it on December 19.
"From what I understand, it’s a high priority. I know it is on our side. I know Jimmy and a couple of his coaches. I think it’s a game they want to play also. I get the same feeling from the administration, but [it's] hard to play anything this season," said Rolovich.