Amid playoff stakes and COVID-19, Orange Bowl is a business trip for Georgia, Michigan
The Michigan Wolverines and Georgia Bulldogs made the point clear Monday: Their time in South Florida is a business trip.
The second-ranked Wolverines and third-ranked Bulldogs play Friday in a College Football Playoff semifinal, with the winner advancing to the national championship in Indianapolis to face either No. 1 Alabama or No. 4 Cincinnati.
So while they’re enjoying the South Florida heat in December and the team activities that go on in the week leading up to the game — players from both teams went on a mini cruise Sunday night and they have beach outings and team dinners scheduled for later in the week — everything leads up to that 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Friday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I think the balance kind of gets a little bit thrown off when you hit the College Football Playoffs,” said Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who played in the 2007 Orange Bowl while at Wake Forest. “The Orange Bowl of my days aren’t quite exactly the Orange Bowl of today because it means just a little bit more when you’re in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to constantly remind ourselves we’re here for a reason,” Gattis added. “This is purely a business trip. We’re afforded the luxury of being in Miami, in such a great hotel and have all the hospitality around us, but it doesn’t matter if we’re playing this game in Ann Arbor, Athens or Miami, we’re here for a reason, and the College Football Playoffs is that reason. We’ve got to remain focused because once you hit the playoffs, you’re playing the best of the best. As we know, we’ve got a tremendous challenge. We’re excited and we are accepting of it, and we’re looking forward to going out and displaying everything that we have on Friday night.”
Another factor impacting the balance of work and play for the two teams this week: The continued increase in COVID-19 cases and the repercussions that could come if either team has an outbreak before game day.
The College Football Playoff announced last week that teams competing in the semifinals would have to forfeit if they are unable to play on Friday due to the virus. The semifinals will not be rescheduled.
“Definitely we’re excited to be in Miami and everything, but as we all know, it’s a hotspot for COVID,” Georgia All-American defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “We just have to make sure that we protect ourselves and wear our masks and just enjoy the moment. Obviously bowl week is a great time for team chemistry and getting to another each other a little bit better than we already do, and we’re just excited to be here and have fun in Miami.”
What the threshold is for a team to forfeit, however, remains unclear. The CFP’s release only says “if an institution determines that it is unable to compete,” which basically leaves it up to the teams to decide if they have enough healthy players to compete. Anyone with access to the playing field has to either be fully vaccinated or have tested negative within 72 hours of kickoff.
“They just stress to us to be safe and make good decisions,” Georgia safety Chris Smith said. “COVID is pretty much everywhere right now, so you can’t really dodge it or anything like that, but the things we can do as players, coaches, as a whole team is just try to be safe because it’s getting really crazy out here.”
Double duty for Dan Lanning
Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning has been pulling double duty the last two weeks. During the day, he’s preparing the Bulldogs for the Orange Bowl. At night, he’s prearing for his next job as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, a job he accepted Dec. 11.
“I went out one time [to Oregon] initially right after getting hired. Really excited about what we’re putting together there,” Lanning said. “My focus — the good thing is the West Coast being three hours behind us has given us the opportunity to be able to really focus on Georgia early on during the day, and then later on at night, able to get a lot of things accomplished there with our team in Oregon and our staff as we’re piecing that together.”
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