Column: College football whiffs in tackling the coronavirus

A Nebraska fan stops to look at a giant inflatable football player standing in front of the Husker Hounds sports apparel store in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. It was put up Wednesday after the Big Ten conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to begin its NCAA college football season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. Each team will have an eight-game schedule. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2019, file photo, Indiana tight end Turon Ivy Jr. (84) and place kicker Nathanael Snyder (99) celebrate with the Old Oaken Bucket following an NCAA college football game against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Memorial Stadium's north stadium video board projects the news of the return of Big Ten NCAA college football, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Lincoln, Neb. Less than five weeks after pushing fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the Big Ten conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to open its football season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. (Francis Gardler/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2019, file photo, Minnesota football players hold up the Governor's Victory Bell after winning 31-26 against Penn State during an NCAA college football game in Minneapolis. Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs, File)

University of Illinois athletic facility attendants Tyrone Washington, left, and Shawn Hannan, right, renew the line markers of the schools football practice field in Champaign, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. Less than five weeks after pushing fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the Big Ten conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to open its football season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette via AP)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2019, file photo, Northwestern celebrates with the Land Of Lincoln trophy after beating Illinois 29-10 in an NCAA college football game in Champaign, Ill. Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this July 19, 2019, file photo, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz responds to a question during the Big Ten Conference NCAA college football media days in Chicago. Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 23-24.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019 file photo, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron reacts after a LSU touchdown in the first half of an NCAA football game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. This is the rare SEC team whose schedule might have gotten a tad easier by playing a conference-only slate. The SEC opponents added to LSU’s schedule last month were Missouri (6-6 last season) and Vanderbilt (3-9). LSU had to drop a scheduled home date with No. 14 Texas, though its other non-conference games would have been lackluster matchups with Rice, Nicholls and Texas-San Antonio. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)