West Virginia puts program on hold, will not play Sooners in season finale

Citing a surge of positive COVID-19 cases and contact tracing in the program, West Virginia paused all football activities for the next seven days and will not play host Saturday to No. 13-ranked Oklahoma.

Mountaineers athletic director Shane Lyons said the game will not be rescheduled.

The next game for the Sooners (7-2) instead will be the Big 12 Conference championship game against No. 10 Iowa State (8-2) Dec. 19 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 19.

“Our intent is to get this spread under control as soon as possible for the health and safety of all involved,” Lyons said. “We are beyond disappointed not to play our final home game of the season and honor our seniors, but we need to act now and reevaluate our situation after Dec. 17.”

The Mountaineers are 5-4 overall, so a bowl game likely would be their next game.

Utah State

Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson resigned to take over at Utah State. Arkansas State announced Anderson’s departure . In seven years with Arkansas State, Anderson won 51 games and won consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles in 2015 and 2016. Utah State fired coach Gary Andersen after an 0-3 start to this season.

Elsewhere

The Southeastern Conference’s signature mid-afternoon Saturday game will move from CBS to ABC starting in 2024 as part of a new 10year contract announced with ESPN and the powerhouse football league. The deal makes ESPN the exclusive media rights holder of SEC football and men’s basketball, and will end the conference’s relationship with CBS after three decades. CBS has been airing the league’s Saturday afternoon centerpiece game and football championship since 1996. The SEC football championship also will air on ABC. The SEC and ESPN already are in the midst of a 20-year deal that includes a partnership on the SEC Network.