Advertisement
football Edit

With or Without Graham Mertz, Wisconsin Moves Ahead in Uncertain Landscape

MADISON, Wis. – With reports swirling about starting quarterback Graham Mertz having tested positive for the coronavirus, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst began his Monday press conference stating that he “will not, cannot and should not” comment on anything to do with his team’s testing protocols.

So, the large contingent of national and local reporters started to hit him with hypotheticals. He wasn’t a big fan of that either. Such is life in 2020 college football playing through a global pandemic and the challenges of managing a roster.

“You’re always managing it in some way, shape or form,” Chryst said. “Certainty there’s a new dynamic this year, but I don’t know if it’s any more challenging. It’s one more thing that can come in. It’s clear cut on what the protocols are, and you deal with it. Players, coaches know that, and then it’s what can we do as a team to one, not try to be in that situation. Easier said than done. But two, how do you respond? The one thing we can impact is your choice.

“We choose to be ready for it, we choose to put in the work and choose to get ready everyone we need to get ready. It’s an opportunity, one that we’re grateful for in order to play the game.”

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Chase Wolf may get the start this Saturday at Nebraska, depending on Graham Mertz's COVID status
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Chase Wolf may get the start this Saturday at Nebraska, depending on Graham Mertz's COVID status (Darren Lee/BadgerBlitz.com)

The believed situation with Mertz is among the first to involve the Big Ten’s new testing protocols, considered to be among the strictest in sports and was touted by the league when it announced its return to competition last month.

Individuals who are on the field for all practices and games undergo daily antigen testing. Athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through the daily testing must take a more accurate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the daily test.

While it is believed UW officials are waiting for the results of that test, the school issued a statement late Sunday stating that everyone who participated in Friday’s 45-7 victory over Illinois was cleared before the game.

Under the Big Ten’s guidelines, a PCR positive test would require the athlete to undergo a cardiac evaluation, be approved to return by a heart specialist designated by their school and miss 21 days of practices and games following the diagnosis. If Mertz is indeed positive, he’ll miss Saturday’s game at Nebraska, Wisconsin’s home game against Purdue on Nov. 7 and the road game Nov. 14 at Michigan.

Asked about the league’s stingy guidelines, Chryst defended the protocol.

“The number one concern for the league and I appreciate this, how do we best keep everyone as safe as possible regarding the virus,” Chryst said. “Then, how you manage the impacts of it once someone has it? Admittedly, they told us it was more conservative. If that helps one person, that’s a good thing for us.”

“For us to play, if that’s something that’s in the best interest of everyone involve, I completely support it because we’re getting the opportunity to play.”

The Big Ten also has a rule that teams must halt activity for at least seven days if its positivity rate averages more than 5 percent over a rolling seven-day period and its population positivity rate — the number of positive individuals on a team, divided by those deemed at risk — exceeds 7.5 percent. Wisconsin announced Sunday that it will not be releasing COVID-related testing information regarding any individual student-athlete, due to medical privacy. However, the state of Wisconsin has seen at least 3,000 new cases daily for the past 13 days, with roughly 2,000 new cases in Dane County over that same period.

“You try to plan as best you can, but part of that plan is to be flexible,” Chryst said. “Part of that plan is you have to trust that everyone is doing their part. We all try to remind each other and support each other. Then when something comes your way, you’ve got to plan whatever is best for the individual and for the group.

“We all knew going in that this had the chance to be a very different season, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. The worst thing is you can do is you can have a ‘woe is me’ attitude.’ We’re grateful as a group to be playing, and we know there’s going to be sacrifices involved if we want to play.”

Losing Mertz would put Wisconsin down a second quarterback. Senior Jack Coan injured his foot in a non-contact injury on October 3 and underwent successful surgery three days later on October 6. The likely starter for Saturday would then fall to redshirt sophomore Chase Wolf, who played in three games a year ago and finished off Friday’s win.

Anticipating his team will play this weekend, the Badgers could again rely on their “next-man-up” philosophy.

“There are opportunities that come,” Chryst said. “We saw that with Jack (Coan) getting hurt. It’s no different than any other position … I’ve appreciated what that whole room of quarterbacks has done and how they’ve approached everything. (Quarterback Coach Jon) Budmayr has done a great job but Jack, he’s a leader and shows a great way to approach the game. The number one thing that room does, they care first and foremost about this team.

“We brought them here for a reason, and we like them all. Whoever is underneath center, the number one responsibility is to this team.”



Advertisement