Usually when Will Muschamp’s phone rings and Clint Haggard’s name pops up, it’s not a good thing. Usually it’s the Gamecocks’ head athletic trainer calling to tell the head coach a player is out because of contact tracing or testing positive for COVID-19.

But this weekend, after Vanderbilt’s game against Missouri was postponed because of positive tests, Haggard called with good news.

“Clint Haggard called me and said there was no contact tracing through the game. They checked that through some device they have,” Muschamp said. “We test a lot. We tested Sunday. We tested again this morning. I feel very comfortable with the protocols and things we have in place for our student athletes, our staff and our entire building.”

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Vanderbilt—South Carolina’s most recent opponent—played Saturday’s game with less than 60 scholarship players available because of injuries, positive tests and contact tracing protocols.

Since then the Commodores game against Missouri has been postponed and will be played on another date.

When the news first broke, questions about whether or not South Carolina’s home game against Auburn could be played came up, but luckily the Gamecocks won’t have any other players out because of contract tracing from Saturday’s game.

"Our athletics training staff has been notified by Vanderbilt, per SEC protocols, that no players on the Gamecock football team were identified as being a close contact that would result in quarantine,” South Carolina said in a statement Monday. “A close contact is identified as someone who is within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 cumulative minutes. We will continue to test our players as normal SEC protocols - three times each week."

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This week, as the Gamecocks prepare to host Auburn at noon on Saturday, they’re not changing up any of their routine and still plan on doing things like they have been all season.

The only real change, Muschamp said, was eating the team meal at the hotel Friday night instead of doing it at the stadium like they did prior to their season opener against Tennessee.

“Nothing than what we’re doing normally with the three-times test and to continue to emphasize social distancing while we’re under one roof and wearing a mask,” he said. “All of those protocols are still in place.”

The Gamecocks haven’t been immune to the struggles and challenges of playing football COVID-19 with Muschamp saying at times they’ve had players miss 14 or even 28 days due to contract tracing and quarantine protocols.

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“It’s nerve wracking every day. Every time my phone clicks with a text from Clint haggard or a phone call and you’re holding your breath. It could be anybody on staff, could be me, and could be a player. We’ve had a lot of issues with it,” Muschamp said.

“We’re going through a pandemic right now. It’s hard. But it’s the situation. We’re all dealing with the same things; nobody’s different as far as the protocols are concerned and the policies we have in place,” “we’re all dealing with the situation and making the best from it.”