Jumbo Package: BYU opener in Tuscaloosa reportedly a go if SEC green lights season

Happy Tuesday, everyone. News out of Utah says that Alabama does in fact have some sort of agreement in place with the Cougars.

Speculation continues to swirl that BYU’s first opponent will be Alabama, perhaps on Sept. 5 in Tuscaloosa. A source close to the Alabama program told the Deseret News on Friday that if the Southeastern Conference decides it is going to play a full slate of games, or even a conference-games-plus-one model, the BYU-Alabama game is a go.

If there is an actual commitment from Alabama to play given SEC permission, that is certainly newsworthy. There is some good news surrounding the virus in the SEC footprint.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said Monday that officials are starting to see a leveling-off of cases in hard-hit states due to people “stepping up to the plate.”

“It’s due to the fact that people are actually wearing masks. They’re wearing their masks. They’re social distancing. They’re engaging in good personal hygiene,” Azar said on “Fox and Friends.”

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, also said Monday that hot-spot states in the Sunbelt region of the U.S. are starting to plateau in the number of new Covid-19 cases.

May this trend continue.

So, Skyler DeLong was removed from Alabama’s roster and returned.

After briefly being removed from the roster, the sophomore punter was added back to it Monday evening.

247Sports reported though that DeLong’s removal from the roster didn’t happen by accident and that it remains possible he could move on from the program.

Your guess is as good as mine.

If you want a little comedy today, here you go.

Kirby Smart’s tenure as Head Football Coach at the University of Georgia has raised the bar in terms of expectations around the program. Both internally and externally it is no longer acceptable just to compete for championships and make it to Atlanta. Kirby Smart, the coaching staff, the team, and yes the Georgia fan base expects to win each and every game.

Success, true success, can only be claimed by winning the national championship, a feat that has eluded UGA for 40 years. Today, we at Dawgs Daily on SI.com explain what a national championship season in 2020 would look like.

If Georgia fans have officially replaced national championship hopes and dreams with actual expectations, Kirby’s seat is going to start getting warm.

If you look up “football coach’s dream player” in the dictionary, I’m pretty sure that Minkah Fitzpatrick’s photo will be there.

“The way that I want to define my NFL career is by being a consistently successful guy,” Fitzpatrick said during an appearance on the “Around the 412” podcast this month. “There’s a lot of guys that can claim that they were a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro or whatnot, but there’s not a lot of guys that can say I did it every single year of my career or almost every single year of my career.

“I think those are the guys that are looked at as the Hall of Famers, those are the guys that are looked at as the all-time greats, guys that really separate themselves. There’s the good, the great and the elite, and I’m trying to put myself in the elite category. In order to do that, there’s still a whole lot of meat left on the bone for me.”

Kid was a DPOY finalist in his second season and is nowhere near satisfied. Good for him.

Sadly, the news is not good for Reuben Foster.

The active/PUP list can be used for players who are unable to start training camp because of a football-related injury. Players can be taken off the list and join practice immediately when they receive medical clearance.

If a player stays on active/PUP all the way to the start of the regular season, he can be moved to the reserve/PUP list. That designation prohibits a player from practicing with the team for the first six weeks of the season, but it also keeps him available for later in the season without taking up a spot on the active roster.

Get well, Reub.

Dont’a Hightower has decided to opt out of the 2020 season.

Good for him as well. Dont’a has made a lot of money and can afford to stay home. Can’t begrudge anyone for making that choice.

There were 105 players invited to the NBA Combine, and both John Petty and Kira Lewis, Jr. were included.

A full 40% of those on the list will go undrafted. We will see what John decides to do. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is August 3.

Last, Vinnie Sunseri is the latest coach to enroll in the Nick and Bill exchange program.

Good luck, Vinnie.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.