Texas A&M has its highest ranking of the Jimbo Fisher Era; its best in eight years and now is having to hit the pause button on all football activities.
The fifth-ranked Aggies have had multiple positive tests from its Sunday testing after their win Saturday at South Carolina. A&M officials said the Aggies had one student-athlete and one student-worker test positive after they defeated the Gamecocks, 48-3.
The Aggies are scheduled to make their first-ever trip to play at struggling Tennessee this Saturday in a contest scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. broadcast on ESPN.
“We have paused practice activities for the day,” Fisher said during his Monday press briefing. “Had a couple of positive cases after we got back (from Columbia, S.C.,) and tested on Sunday.
“We suspended activity today for safety protocols while we do our contact tracing. Have retested the team and staff today, trying to prevent spread and keep them as safe as possible. We will make accommodations based off of testing results and contact tracing procedures.”
The Aggies (5-1), winners of four-straight SEC games by a combined 73 points, have emerged as a fringe College Football Playoff contender. Their only loss was Week 2 at Alabama.
Sources in Knoxville told FootballScoop there is some concern the game could be postponed. However, since neither the Aggies nor the Vols has had a game have to be rescheduled this fall due to COVID-19, the two teams both have open their Dec. 12 dates – a week before the SEC's scheduled championship game.
"Right now, everything's full go," Fisher said. "We'll meet and plan on things and see how quarantine, tracing and the other tests that come back are."