Cal-Washington game canceled due to COVID case Syracuse’ s Williams leaves, to enter draft

The season opener scheduled for Saturday between California and Washington was canceled following a request from the Golden Bears because of a positive coronavirus test for one of their players.

The cancellation was a big blow for the Pac-12 as the conference prepares to kick off a sevengame football slate after league programs had watched other teams around the country playing for weeks.

California doesn’t have the minimum number of scholarship players available for the game as a result of the positive test and the need for other players to isolate under contact tracing protocols, the Pac-12 said in a statement Thursday.

Pac-12 guidelines require at least 53 scholarship players to be available for a game to be played. The conference said the game would be declared a no-contest.

The Washington-Cal game marks the seventh FBS game this week and the 44th since Aug. 26 to be postponed or canceled.

The service academy game between Air Force and Army scheduled for Saturday in West Point, N.Y, was also postponed Thursday because of an increase in COVID-19 cases at the Air Force Academy and the surrounding community in Colorado. The schools are working to reschedule the game.

Air Force can regain possession of the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy should it beat Army. The Falcons began the annual round-robin competition between the service academies with a 40-7 win over Navy on Oct. 3. The winning academy goes to the White House to receive the trophy from the president.

Earlier Thursday, the American Athletic Conference postponed the Tulsa at Navy game scheduled for Saturday because of positive COVID-19 cases and contact tracing at Navy.

Also Thursday, Minnesota announced defensive coordinator Joe Rossi would not coach Saturday against Illinois because he had tested positive for CO

VID-19.

Later Thursday, Saturday’s game between North Texas and Louisiana Tech also was postponed because of the number of COVID-19 cases and subsequent contact tracing. The teams are working together with Conference USA to reschedule the game and are hopeful it can be played the weekend of Dec. 5.

Syracuse junior defensive back Trill Williams is following former star safety Andre Cisco out the door.

Williams announced Wednesday night on social media that he’s opting opt out of the remainder of the 2020 season and will enter the 2021 NFL draft.

Williams played in 28 games for Syracuse and had 93 tackles, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and 3½ tackles for loss in his three seasons. He scored a remarkable touchdown in the season finale against Wake Forest last year, forcing a fumble and returning it 94 yards for the winning touchdown in overtime.

Cisco, a preseason All-American, opted out after playing the first two games of the season. He was injured in warmups prior to the third game and never returned. He also plans to enter next year’s NFL draft.