7 — Friday, April 10, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The complications of playing football this fall

Of all the people within 

college football, Chip Kelly 

provided a font of wisdom on 

Thursday.

“The 

governors 

of 
the 

states and 

mayors 

are going 

to be the 

ones who 

tell 
you 

whether 

we can (come back),” the 

UCLA coach told reporters 

Thursday. “Because the NCAA 

can say, ‘Hey, you guys are all 

going back,’ and if (California) 

Governor 
(Gavin) 
Newsom 

says, ‘We’re not going back,’ 

then we’re not going back.”

Through 
the 
muck 

of 
inarguable 
fact, 
that 

underscores the only hard 

conclusion anyone can have 

right now regarding college 

football’s eventual return and 

the 
ever-present 
possibility 

of its delay: Playing games 

in September is going to 

be an immense challenge. 

And anyone trying to speak 

authoritatively on the subject is 

either lying or delusional.

This 
would 
include 

Oklahoma State coach Mike 

Gundy, who said this week 

that he aims to have football 

employees come back by May 1, 

with players following shortly.

“They are 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 

years old and they are healthy 

and they have the ability to fight 

this virus off,” Gundy said. “If 

that is true, then we sequester 

them, and we continue because 

we need to run money through 

the state of Oklahoma.”

Setting aside the obvious 

stupidity and tone-deafness 

of that suggestion (which 

was quickly scuttled by the 

Big 12), it gives a window into 

why college football can’t take 

the same route professional 

leagues 
have 
reportedly 

looked into: bring players and 

staff back under quarantine 

from the general public, put 

them all in the same place 

and have them play games 

on practice fields or in empty 

stadiums. 

As the people who run college 

sports are quick to remind us, 

athletes are students. This, 

we’re told, is why they can’t be 

paid in accordance with the 

millions of dollars they bring 

in to universities. And this is 

why they can’t be treated any 

different in the face of a global 

pandemic.

If it’s not safe for thousands 

of students to return to campus 

in the fall, then unpaid athletes 

certainly can’t be forced to 

come back and play. So rule that 

option out. 

For the sake of argument, 

let’s suppose that by the fall, 

COVID-19 is under enough 

control that classes can happen 

in-person. When it comes to 

football at the University of 

Michigan, you then run into 

a refrain that gets repeated 

when you ask around about the 

subject: Are you going to feel 

safe going to a stadium with 

100,000 people in September?

OK, well, let’s say you play it 

without fans. Are people still 

tailgating? Is that considered 

dangerous? 
What 
about 

people watching at bars and 

restaurants, 
which 
would 

surely grow in number if 

nobody can attend games in 

person?

It should be pointed out that 

these concerns are fairly deep 

in the weeds. Logistically, they 

fall behind questions like, what 

happens if one state gives the 

OK and another doesn’t? Or, 

what if traveling and staying 

in hotels every other weekend 

still 
constitutes 
risk? 
Let 

alone, could the system handle 

a player or coach getting 

coronavirus without shutting 

down entirely? 

And 
that’s 
without 

mentioning the obvious: If 

people are still dying in large 

numbers, it’s not appropriate 

to have a large sporting event 

where anyone might be put at 

risk. If playing requires testing 

everyone on the field, and such 

testing takes resources away 

from hospitals that need it, 

forget about it.

The financial incentive to 

play college football, even with 

no fans, with a delayed season 

or both, is massive. Michigan, 

along with every other FBS 

athletic department, makes 

most of its money from the 

sport. Without it, non-revenue 

sports 
will 
be 
drastically 

affected. Jobs will be lost. 

So will scholarships. College 

careers that people worked 

their whole lives for, ruined.

ESPN’s 
Adam 
Schefter 

reported Thursday that there 

is a “strong conviction” among 

people in college football to 

play this year, in some way, 

shape or form. That’s much of 

the motivation as to why.

But Schefter tweeted that 

at 4:10. At 4:15, Illinois Gov. 

J.B. Pritzker said, “I think 

everybody needs to think 

seriously about canceling large 

summer events. From my 

perspective today, I don’t see 

how we’re going to have large 

gatherings of people, again, 

until we have a vaccine, which 

is months and months away.” 

At 4:25, Los Angeles public 

county health director Barbara 

Ferrer said, “We’re going to 

come out at the other end in a 

matter of weeks,” but that of 

course comes with the caveat 

that Newsom, the governor in 

her state, shot down the idea of 

sports returning anytime soon 

just a few days ago.

This decision is not just 

going to be made by people in 

college football.

This is to make two points. 

First, there is a myriad of 

opinions 
and 
information, 

and it’s going too fast for 

anyone to keep up. Making 

a 
coherent 
prediction 
out 

of that is impossible, but on 

aggregate, 
it 
doesn’t 
look 

good. Second, having college 

sports requires everyone — 

the federal government, 50 

state governments, localities, 

school administrators, coaches, 

athletes themselves — to be on 

the same page.

Does that seem likely to you 

right now?

Sears can be reached at 

searseth@umich.edu 
or 
on 

Twitter @ethan_sears.

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Playing college football in 2020 could be difficult, with or without fans.

How Zach Charbonnet fits into a crowded running backs room

It only took one game 

for 
running 
back 
Zach 

Charbonnet to draw lofty 

comparisons.

Last August, the most 

impressive 
statistic 
from 

Charbonnet’s college debut 

wasn’t his 90 rushing yards. 

Rather, in Michigan’s 40-21 

win over Middle Tennessee 

State, 
it 
was 
the 
true 

freshman’s 
pass 
blocking 

that stood out most. He 

picked up nine blitzes in as 

many tries, showing strength 

in an area of the game that 

often keeps highly-touted 

freshmen off the field.

He became the program’s 

fourth true freshman to start 

at running back in the season 

opener since 1944, and he 

left a lasting impression in 

doing so.

“I don’t think we’ve had 

a back get nine pickups in a 

protection since we’ve been 

here, one single back,” coach 

Jim Harbaugh said at the 

time. “And to be 100 percent, 

nine out of nine, that’s like, 

‘Wow.’ That’s really good. … 

He just was handling it, with 

not even a misstep. That’s 

rare.

“I’ve had pro guys that 

don’t 
understand 
the 

protections 
as 
well 
as 

(Charbonnet) in this game.”

When tight ends coach 

Sherrone Moore touched on 

it later that week, he likened 

Charbonnet to a former 

college teammate of his own.

“I’ve only seen one other 

freshman back block like 

that, and that’s a guy I played 

with,” Moore said. “That was 

really impressive to watch, 

nine-for-nine 
in 
pickups, 

just go up and strike people 

and never back down and 

know who to block with all 

the exotic pressures (Middle 

Tennessee State) brought.”

The 
other 
freshman 

back? 
That 
would 
be 

future NFL Hall-of-Famer 

Adrian 
Peterson, 
who 

played alongside Moore at 

Oklahoma 15 years ago.

For 
Charbonnet, 
pass 

blocking was only one bullet 

point on a long list of tests 

he aced as a true freshman. 

After rehabbing a surgically-

repaired 
meniscus 
last 

spring, 
his 
11 
rushing 

touchdowns 

set 
a 
new 

program 

record among 

freshman 

running 

backs. 
On 

his 
way, 
he 

also 
showed 

glimpses as a 

receiver 
and 

an ability to 

get it done in short down-

and-distance situations.

Just 
days 
after 
being 

the subject of praise from 

Harbaugh 
and 
Moore, 

Charbonnet 
followed 

through with another big 

game. 
In 

week 
two, 

he 
posted 

100 rushing 

yards 

and 
three 

touchdowns, 

the 
last 

of 
which 

helped 

Michigan 

escape 

unranked Army in double-

overtime.

The performance earned 

him a Big Ten Freshman 

of the Week nod, but the 

33-carry workload took a 

clear toll on his recently-

repaired 
knee, 
deviating 

from 
the 
Wolverines’ 

preferred 
running 
back 

by 
committee 
approach. 

Charbonnet carried the ball 

more than 15 times just once 

over Michigan’s remaining 

11 games, even though the 

Wolverines’ coaching staff 

insisted he was in good 

health.

While Charbonnet’s ideal 

career 
trajectory 
would 

include a major bump in 

usage this fall, it’s difficult 

to 
see 
that 
coming 
to 

fruition. He proved himself 

as 
a 
capable 
workhorse 

back while at his best last 

season, but the improvement 

of 
converted-linebacker 

Hassan Haskins and the 

return of suspended running 

back 
Chris 
Evans 
could 

put a dent in Charbonnet’s 

workload.

Over Michigan’s last five 

games 
in 
2019, 
Haskins 

logged 62 carries compared 

to Charbonnet’s 40. And 

with the stakes at their 

highest against top-ranked 

Ohio State, it was Haskins 

(12 rushes) who emerged 

as the go-to guy — not 

Charbonnet (four rushes).

In offensive coordinator 

Josh 
Gattis’ 
up-tempo 

system, 
having 
multiple 

starting-caliber 
running 

backs 
works 
in 
the 

Wolverines’ 
favor. 
Even 

if 
his 
carry 
totals 
dip, 

Charbonnet’s 
efficiency 

stands 
to 
benefit 
from 

another offseason in the 

weight room, the experience 

of starting as a freshman 

and 
additional 
time 
to 

recover from last year’s knee 

surgery.

“You could just tell by the 

way Zach carries himself,” 

Moore said last September. 

“He’s all about his business, 

very mature for his age. 

And, obviously, he’s a special 

talent.”

In Charbonnet’s case, it’s 

the little things that can 

keep him on the field. And in 

2020, all it might take is an 

extra blitz pickup.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet ran for 726 yards and 11 touchdowns as a freshman in 2019, impressing Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

He was just 
handling it, 

with not even a 

misstep.

ETHAN
SEARS

