Paul Chryst 'confident' Nebraska game will be played despite reported positive test
Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst says he doesn’t believe Saturday’s game vs. Nebraska is in jeopardy due to a coronavirus outbreak.
Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz reportedly tested positive for the virus on Sunday, but is awaiting a confirmation test to make sure it wasn’t a false positive.
Chryst is confident #Wisconsin's game against #Nebraska will not be in jeopardy from what he knows about the team's testing so far. So indicates no major outbreak at this point.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 26, 2020
News of Mertz’s positive test result came less than 48 hours after he threw for five touchdown passes in a win over Illinois.
If there does turn out to be an outbreak within the team, things would get complicated in a hurry. The Big Ten’s schedule does not have any open dates built in, so any cancelled games will be ruled a “no contest.”
Here’s the Big Ten’s policy on how many positive cases it would take to cancel a game:
“If a team positivity rate (number of positive tests divided by total number of tests administered) exceeds 5 percent or its population positivity rate (number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk) is more than 7.5 percent, the program can’t practice or play in a game for at least seven days.”
If Mertz does test positive, he’d have to sit out for at least 21 days. Chase Wolf is the Badgers’ backup quarterback while incumbent starter Jack Coan is out with a foot injury.
Assuming Chryst is correct, Wisconsin’s battle with Nebraska will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.