Cal road game at Washington State gets shut down by virus

A Cal football season that began with lofty hopes took another wrong turn Saturday when the Bears’ game at Washington State was canceled after another blow from COVID-19.

Barely 90 minutes before the Bears and Cougars were scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. in Pullman, Washington, the Pac-12 announced the game was canceled. Cal did not have the minimum number of available scholarship players after one player tested positive and others were put into isolation according to contract tracing protocols.

The game was declared a nocontest — Cal’s third canceled game this season — and left the Bears with a 1-3 record and far more questions than answers.

The biggest question: Is Cal’s season over?

The Bears were picked second in the Pac-12 North after going 8-5 last season and had designs

on challenging Oregon for the division crown. As it turns out, Oregon provided Cal with its only victory so far.

The Pac-12 today will announce matchups for the final weekend of the regular season, but it’s unclear whether the Bears will be able to play.

Cal did not make coach Justin Wilcox available for comment Saturday.

A spokesperson for the program said he expected the team to return home Saturday via its charter flight, but could not address the status of the player or players impacted through Saturday’s pregame testing.

According to the Pac12, the Cal player who tested positive apparently will travel back to the Bay Area separately from the team.