Season opener vs. Baylor called off
Contact tracing leads to Bears position group falling below the minimum number to play
WACO — The wait to begin the football season continues for the University of Houston.
In a decision that left players “heartbroken,” the Cougars’ season opener against Baylor on Saturday was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, the two schools announced Friday.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed that Baylor had a position group unexpectedly fall under the minimum threshold required by the Big 12 to play.
“COVID giveth, COVID taketh away,” UH athletic director Chris Pezman said.
Nearly a month into the season it has been entirely taketh with four UH games — Rice, Washington State, Memphis and Baylor — either canceled or postponed because of the unpredictability of playing a college football season during a global pandemic.
“Our team has been and remains ready to play,” UH coach Dana Holgorsen said in a statement. “I’m extremely proud of our kids, coaches and staff for working hard to meet both conferences’ testing protocols to compete this Saturday. We’ll be ready to play when the time comes.”
The decision comes almost a week after UH’s opener at Memphis was postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the Tigers’ program.
“We’re going to play football at some point,” Pezman said. “It’s going to go our way.”
Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades contacted Pezman late Thursday night about a COVID-19 issue on the Baylor roster, and the game officially was called off just after lunch Friday.
The two schools plan to honor a home-and-home series that was negotiated for Saturday’s matchup, a replacement game put together during an 18-hour window last weekend. Pezman expressed doubt about finding a date to reschedule the game for later this season. Saturday’s game was to
be the first between the schools since the final season of the Southwest Conference in 1995.
“In my mind, (it’s canceled),” he said.
SicEm365 reported that contact tracing led to the decision to call off the game. The Big 12 requires a minimum 53 active players, a combination of scholarship and walk-ons, to play. Minimum thresholds include seven offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen and one quarterback.
The Big 12 and American Athletic Conference testing protocols require three-times-a-week testing, which included Friday’s rapid-result antigen tests.
During this unprecedented season, Baylor’s list of canceled games includes Ole Miss, Incarnate Word, Louisiana Tech and Houston. The Bears’ next game is Sept. 26 against Kansas at McLane Stadium.
“The loss of this game is a devastating blow, but in the interest in health and safety of our student-athletes, we believe we made the necessary decision,” Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said.
UH players expressed disappointment for the cancellation on social media.
“Heartbroken,” senior receiver Jeremy Singleton tweeted shortly after the announcement Friday afternoon.
“I just want to play football with my brothers,” another tweet, by senior defensive end Payton Turner, read.
The next game for the Cougars is scheduled for Sept. 26, a nonconference game against North Texas at TDECU Stadium.
Talks continue with the AAC to reschedule the Memphis game. Earlier this week on SportsTalk 790 AM, Pezman said the AAC has fallback dates on Dec. 5 and 12 to makeup games and, if necessary, could push back the league championship game. UH also is exploring “a few other options” but prefers to play “sooner rather than later.”
“Nothing’s set yet,” Pezman said Friday. “Working with the league on options. We’d love to get that game locked in as soon as we can.”
There also remains a chance that a date can be found to reschedule the Bayou Bucket against Rice, which originally was set for Sept. 3. The Owls have pushed back workouts until the end of September and postponed games until Oct. 24. Priority is given to UH’s conference schedule.
“That is a game for us that is important,” Pezman said. “It’s for the Bucket. There’s meaning to it. Just right now there’s not any availability to make it happen.”
Asked if he was proactively looking to add games to the schedule, Pezman added: “No. Once we get into league games it gets really, really difficult.”
Pezman applauded the buy-in by UH players to adhere to safety protocols; UH’s entire roster was available for the Baylor game.
“We’ve been very fortunate to be healthy, and our kids are doing an incredible job,” he said. “We continue to get these testing numbers back, and it’s exactly what you’d hope. I only caution because it can turn quickly. I don’t want to jinx us and beat our chest, and suddenly, one mistake and it turns a lot bigger.”
The UH-Baylor game is among a handful of games scheduled for this weekend that were postponed or canceled. Sixteen games involving FBS teams have been impacted by COVID-19 issues this season.