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Low numbers and illness from tests at Arkansas probably like everywhere else

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If you’re sitting around waiting on anybody in charge of anything to point out the obvious numbers, well, you’re probably going to be waiting around awhile.

Hunter Yurachek might have come as close as anyone will Thursday afternoon.

“There has been zero transfer of that virus within any of our athletic facilities,” he said in a Zoom press conference.

Nationwide, no players have died. While there are no guarantees, you can rest assured if a player anywhere died from the covid-19 virus it would be huge headlines. To a lesser extent, we haven’t seen any stories of any players being really sick.

“The majority — if not all — of the student athletes and staff that contracted the virus had very few — if any — symptoms that kept them down for no more than about 24 hours,” Yurachek said.

Which pretty much are the numbers we see not just nationwide but around the world. People under the age of 25 years old are more likely to get killed in the street by an automobile than die from covid-19. Look up the numbers.

The data coming out now shows people in school don’t transmit the virus to adults (teachers). While many say they are being guided by “the science,” well there is nothing in the numbers to justify not having school or playing athletics.

Even the consensus in “the science” reduces the chances of surface transmission to negligible. In an outdoor setting, the odds of catching it by droplet transmission reduces even more (social distance if you’re close to somebody longer than a couple of minutes).

No, “the science” says the risks to players and coaches is minimal, at best … if they can keep them from going somewhere else.

“The one thing I will tell you about each of the cases that we’ve had,” Yurachek said. “We’ve been able to trace them to a student-athlete or staff member traveling out of Northwest Arkansas and bringing that virus back.”

Yes, the virus is real and can be serious for the elderly or those that have some sort of underlying medical condition. Yes, there will be exceptions that prove the rule.

But in Arkansas if you test positive for covid-19, you have a 98.9% chance of living regardless of age or medical history. That’s higher, by the way, than some medical procedures considered routine.

Exactly why no one bothers to look at anything beyond positive test results is interesting.

The Hogs’ guidelines are working. Those will also become tighter as the NCAA issued guidelines Thursday for sports.

“As we look to our fall sports, football, volleyball, soccer, cross country, beginning practice the first week of August, our testing protocols will be enhanced at that point in time with rapid response testing on a weekly basis with participating student-athletes in those fall sports,” Yuracheck said. “You may have seen and hour or so ago that the NCAA released kind of a third version of their guidelines and recommendations. They included testing at least 72 hours prior to competition and we’re prepared as an institution and as a conference to fall in line with those plans.”

Yurachek said he feels they reacted to quickly back in March and could have gotten some of the spring sports schedule in. You had the feeling when they shut everything down that was a feeling he had.

Now he’s ready to get things moving forward.

“At some point in time, I feel like we have to move on with our new norm,” Yurachek said.

Which is what college athletics is going to have to do.

Mainly because “the science” doesn’t say anything different.

Holt says Fulmer not showing at SEC Media Days one of biggest memories

Longtime Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt recalled Phillip Fulmer’s no-show at the annual gathering one year as a strong memory on Halftime with Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis on ESPN Arkansas on Thursday.

Steele thinks Briles can build Razorbacks’ offense to Franks’ strong points

Phil Steele’s college football magazine is out for 2020 and he talked about the national picture, the SEC and the Hogs with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas on Thursday morning.

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast — Rakeem Boyd Doak Walker, Phil Steele joins and more!

Tye & Tommy on Rakeem Boyd on the Doak Walker Award watchlist, pressure on Franks, Phil Steele and more!

College Football Analyst Phil Steele joins The Morning Rush

College Football Analyst Phil Steele joins The Morning Rush to discuss the 2020 CFB season, his thoughts on Sam Pittman, and the difficulties of putting his annual magazine together during the pandemic. Check out the interview now!

King on comparing Sankey with predecessors Slive, Kramer, is a tough task

Nashville Sports Radio’s Bill King talked to Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis (Halftime) on ESPN Arkansas about comparing SEC commissioner Greg Sankey to Mike Slive or Roy Kramer.

Apparently Pittman, coaches, being cautious as Hogs start practice

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Nobody gets to see Arkansas’ practices, but now we at least have some photos from drills released by Arkansas Communications and it’s clear the coaches are being careful.

As the college football world is collectively doing a lot of head-scratching these days trying to figure out what’s going to happen, the phrase most often uttered is “safety of the players and coaches.”

The numbers, at least now, do not indicate the risk is high for players and coaches at all. Especially the players.

Sam Pittman was wearing a mask, which wasn’t that surprising. As excited about getting his first head coaching job at the school he wanted , he probably would wear a hazmat suit all day long.

At least the SEC is waiting and apparently exploring every possible angle. In California they cancelled the Rose Parade on Wednesday for the first time since World War II. That’s correct, they have shut down an event on Jan. 1 in the middle of July.

Since work on some of those floats for the next year starts the day after the parade pulling the plug now saves folks some time and expense. Other than adjusting some television schedules it really won’t affect much around here.

But Pittman likely isn’t the only coach wearing a mask. That’s probably going to be standard protocol during a season that’s going to be different than anything we’ve ever seen.

However it looks, though, there should be a season.

Hogs’ Boyd named to watch list for top college running back award

Rakeem Boyd has been placed on the Doak Walker Award watch list to honor the top running back for the second straight year by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.

Boyd has emerged as one of the leaders for Arkansas as they have started conditioning drills with coaches and he’s sporting a little bit of a different hair look.

The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back and is named after three-time All-America RB Doak Walker.

It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.

Boyd, a senior from Houston, Texas, was the team’s leading rusher for the second consecutive season, totaling 1,133 yards on 184 carries, scoring eight times in 2019.

He ranked fourth in the SEC and 27th nationally with an average of 94.4 rushing yards per game and ninth in the conference with 6.2 yards per carry. He ran for 100+ yards in five games, posting a season-high 185 yards against Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, his most rushing yards as a Razorback.

His five 100+ yard performances brought him to a total of eight over two years, making him one of 16 Arkansas running backs in school history to do so.

Boyd recorded 100 or more rushing yards last season in games against Portland State (114), Colorado State (122), Kentucky (134), Mississippi State (114) and Western Kentucky (185). Boyd also hauled in 160 yards through the air on 19 catches in 2019.

He ran for 734 yards on 123 attempts in his first year with the Razorbacks in 2018 with two touchdowns. Boyd earned the inaugural Darren McFadden Running Back of the Year award from the Little Rock Touchdown Club for his performance in 2018.

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name 10 semifinalists in November, and three finalists later that month.

The committee will cast a second vote in December to determine the recipient, which will be announced live on the Home Depot College Football Awards.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.