Dmytro Nayda

The Nittany Lions will once again be taking the field. After much deliberation, the Big 10 conference rescinded its decision to postpone the 2020 fall season. This was a debacle that took just over a month.

After the initial news on August 11th, the decision was met with much backlash from coaches, to players. Even President Donald J. Trump weighed in: “[It’s] crucial for colleges and universities to stay open, we hope that they do indeed stay open,” and “We want to see Big Ten football, we hope it’s coming back.” Big 10 commissioner Kevin Warren decided to act and formed a subcommittee to delve deeper into figuring out what will happen with the season.

The research of the subcommittee resulted in changes in the current COVID-19 response protocols. According to the Big 10, student-athletes, coaches, and trainers will have to take daily antigen tests. Each institution will hire a Chief Infection Officer who will record and manage all testing. After a positive result players must be quarantined for 21 days and must be cleared by a cardiologist before they can play. During those 21 days, anybody that tested positive must be subject to labs and biomarkers, Echocardiogram, and a Cardiac MRI. Only then can they be cleared to play.

After a little over a month of meetings, discussions, and discovering  new information about COVID-19, the Big 10 reached a decision on September 15. The Big 10 presidents and chancellors had a vote which resulted in a unanimous decision. The season opener will be on the 24 of October. Our very own Nittany lions will be taking on the Indiana Hoosiers, so get your blue and white ready Penn State fans; it’s game time.