Georgia athletic Greg McGarity woke up Friday morning thinking Saturday's home finale against Vanderbilt was good to go.
It wasn't until later that morning that he found out this was not the case.
"To be on a call at 11 a.m., 11:30, when there’s no word earlier, you feel like, if you get to Friday morning, or close to Friday noon with no news, no news is usually good news," McGarity said in a telephone interview with UGASports. "In this case no news was bad news."
Indeed.
Just after noon, the SEC announced it was postponing Saturday's game—a game set to kick off at 4 p.m.—after Vanderbilt fell below the roster minimum requirements, consistent with SEC Covid-19 protocols.
The game will be rescheduled for Dec. 19. Should Georgia qualify for the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 19, the game would be be declared a no-contest and Georgia would represent the Eastern Division in the SEC title game.
This is the second game cancellation for the Bulldogs, following the season’s earlier-scheduled game at Missouri. The Bulldogs and Tigers will make up that game Dec. 12 in Columbia, Mo.
"We're all beat up. We’re all tired of this, and to have the rug pulled out from underneath you so close to game day, is just frustrating," McGarity said. "I feel so sorry for our coaches, our players, and our support staff. They’ve proven you can deal with Covid effectively if you follow the guidelines that Ron (Courson) and Kirby (Smart) have preached to these young men, and these young men have listened, and they really avoided Covid all fall.
"Really, the only reward for that is their own health. Unfortunately, there’s not a reward on the flip side from the competitive standpoint. So, we’re having to adjust schedules because others struggle in handling their affairs on campus."
Unfortunately, McGarity said he was not surprised.
"The only thing I can relate that to is here on campus. We’re just like every other of the 13 SEC schools—and I congratulate South Carolina. Their season ends tomorrow, so some schools have proven than you can get through a season without being affected by severe spreads, and kudos to those schools," he said. "But there are some that haven't, and unfortunately, for whatever reason, that really hurt everyone else who is doing it the right way. That’s the tough part to deal with, when you’re dealing with teenagers and young people."
McGarity said he was the one who informed Smart of the decision, after it was made official by the league office in Birmingham.
As one might imagine, Georgia's head coach was not a happy camper.
"He was very upset, just like I was when I first got the call. When I’ve got to call Kirby and tell him about it, naturally he’s just … very upset, as he should be, as we all should be," McGarity said. "It’s tough for him to deal with because he’s got to navigate through this – morale, last-minute changes. Football in the fall is usually a very regimented activity, you kind of get in a routine, and when that routine is altered, some can handle it better than others.
"I just feel so bad for the parents who had already made the trip up here for Senior Day, and the concessionaires and the people who had gotten field prepared; it’s looking as good as its ever looked. You just feel so bad for them, but as I’ve told others, there’s no fairness in the Covid world, there’s just no fairness."
