Season opener pushed to Sept. 26
UH, Army games called off for now as Owls maintain hope for football
Rice will delay the start of its football season until Sept. 26, the school announced Monday.
“Throughout the summer and up until this point, we’ve wanted to do everything that we can to give ourselves the best shot at playing college football this fall, and we feel like delaying till the end of the month puts us in that position,” athletic director Joe Karlgaard said.
The postponement impacts Rice’s Sept. 3 season opener at the University of Houston and its Sept. 12 home contest against Army. Karlgaard said he hopes to reschedule both opponents for this season — if this season is played.
“Throughout this process, our program has maintained an open line of communication with Rice athletics director Joe Karlgaard regarding our scheduled game for Sept. 3,” said UH vice president for athletics Chris Pezman. “We hope to reschedule our matchup with Rice at some point during the 2020 season and continuing our series with Rice in years to come.”
Rice previously lost a Sept. 19 game against LSU when the Southeastern Conference voted to play league games only. The Owls tentatively are scheduled to host Lamar on Sept. 26 in their first game of the season.
“We’ve got a bye week — I think it’s somewhere in early October — that we could potentially fit in one of those opponents,” Karlgaard said. “Although Conference USA has not moved our conference title game, we’re not quite sure whether or not there’ll be room at the end of the season. And then as you see different schools and conferences pulling out, there’s always the possibility that there’ll be more opportunities down the road that we don’t foresee in our schedule.”
He said the postponement gives the school more time to weigh its options and safety measures for student athletes. No decision has been made on other fall sports, including volleyball, soccer and cross country.
The school’s decision comes among a cascade of delays and cancellations in the college football season. On Monday, reports said the Big Ten was expected to vote to cancel its season, and Rice’s C-USA counterpart Old Dominion canceled its fall athletic season.
Last Friday, C-USA affirmed its commitment to its original conference schedule and gave individual schools the freedom to play nonconference games at their discretion.
“This team has shown great discipline following our protocols since they began voluntary workouts, and you can feel how excited they are for this season,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said. “Telling them we are on pushing back the start of practice was tough, but their safety and welfare come first. I’m confident the protocols and procedures that have guided us through our preseason workouts will continue to serve us well.”
Amid their three postponements or cancellations, the Owls are down two home games. But Karlgaard said he doesn’t expect the financial loss to be as great for Rice as it might be for more high-profile programs because it has smaller media contracts and attendance.
“We probably had a greater deal of confidence (about playing) coming out of the spring than we do right now, and I think that’s being reflected in the decisions that you’re seeing made by some conferences and institutions,” Karlgaard said. “Everybody’s taking this very seriously, and so we’ve just got to continue to try and fight the good fight if we can until we can’t any longer.”