Clemson Football: Tigers need contingency plan for Pittsburgh replacement

Nov 21, 2020; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Jaylon Barden (10) receives congratulations after scoring a touchdown from center Jimmy Morrissey (67) and quarterback Kenny Pickett (8) against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2020; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Jaylon Barden (10) receives congratulations after scoring a touchdown from center Jimmy Morrissey (67) and quarterback Kenny Pickett (8) against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson football needs a contingency plan for Pittsburgh Panthers

The Clemson football program would be wise to have a contingency plan in place just in case things went south with the Pittsburgh Panthers this weekend.

The Tigers are coming off two weeks without a game- one due to an open date and one due to a cancellation decision made by Florida State- are there are certainly reasons to be concerned about the potential for a third-straight weekend without a Clemson football game if you’re a fan.

The Pitt Panthers had a season-high 16 players out of their game against Virginia Tech this past weekend and, in an everchanging pandemic, you never know what that might mean coming into this week as far as contact tracing and other potential positive tests are concerned.

Though it still doesn’t seem that Pitt will have trouble meeting the minimum standards to play, we’ve learned especially from this past week that this doesn’t have to be the case for a game to be canceled. Because of that, Clemson football needs to have a contingency plan in place.

Clemson football needs to be reaching out to the ACC and other athletic departments about the potential for a backup option

It’s not as easy as just reaching out to a school that also has an opening and asking them if they want to play.

The ACC has to be on board. As a matter of fact, the conference would need to make changes to its procedures and guidelines if the Tigers were wanting to schedule a non-conference game. It’s also not likely that Virginia Tech- the only team with an open date- would move up their game with the Tigers to this weekend.

That being said, there still can be options and exceptions made.

What Clemson needs to do is just begin to have a contingency plan in place.

It’s not to say that they can work anything out in the end, but the last thing you need if you’re the Tigers is to go a third-straight week without playing a game.

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