MOMENTUM GAINING FOR SDSU, MW TO PLAY IN FALL
Football program talking to county about practice limits, just one of obstacles in way
The Mountain West is moving closer to playing fall football, although there remain far more questions than answers.
In an era of social immediacy, conference developments are coming at glacial speed by comparison.
Progress made this week was evident in a social media post from San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke on Friday which read, in part:
“The past several days, the Mountain West Conference coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioner have had encouraging talk regarding how to safely conduct a football season. Advancements in technology are providing us with opportunities that we did not have a month ago.
“I am excited about the possibility of playing this fall and competing for our 22nd conference title as well as the New Year's Six bowl games.”
If the Aztecs and their Mountain West peers are to compete for a confer
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ence championship and NY6 berth, though, the conference needs to get moving.
“It’s good to be discussing it,” Hoke said Friday afternoon. “I would think there would be some sort of decision, I don’t know, I would guess in 10 to 14 days. Something like that.”
Others were more hopeful that a decision could be made when the Mountain West Board of Directors meets next week.
Either way, it makes the timeline tight if the MW is to play an eightgame, conference-only schedule and stage a championship game.
“There is some sensitivity time wise if we want to get going,” Hoke said.
One of the breakthroughs cited for returning is the availability of rapid-response testing for COVID-19 in which results now can be made available in minutes rather than days. That also could be cause for the delay in the MW’S decision as its members attempt to line up such testing.
If the MW were to start Oct. 24 — the date the Big Ten announced it will begin play — that allows for eight Saturdays before a championship game on Dec. 19, the day before playoff and bowl announcements. The Pac-12, which also appears intent on playing this fall, has considered starting Oct. 31 or even early November, so what exactly schedules will look like remains in question.
Over the summer, the NCAA membership determined a six-week window would be sufficient to progress toward playing. That allowed for two weeks of workouts and four weeks of fall practice.
Oct. 24 arrives in five weeks, so delaying a decision will result in less practice time or fewer games for MW teams.
If there is a fall season, an SDSU spokesman said the Aztecs’ home games will be played at Carson’s Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Aztecs announced on Tuesday that no more games would be played at SDCCU Stadium, determining that demolishing the 53year-old stadium sooner rather than later would both reduce maintenance costs and accelerate development on the site of their new stadium.
A significant roadblock for several Mountain West teams has been state and local restrictions preventing normal practices and games.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said there was nothing preventing teams from playing games, although state guidelines released Aug. 7 prohibited practices with more than 12 players at the same time.
The governor now has referred schools to their local jurisdictions.
Hoke said SDSU is currently working through practice issues with San Diego County Health officials.
“Those are talks that are going on,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not involved in them because I’m not a doctor or a scientist.
“But those talks have been out there the whole time, and we’ll keep trying to have those conversations.”
Asked if there is a sense when SDSU could have a normal practice that includes blocking and tackling, Hoke said, “I can’t answer that with any kind of expertise.”
SDSU just returned to workouts on Thursday following a two-week pause brought about by an outbreak of coronavirus cases on campus.
The Aztecs are optimistic that a return to normal practices could coincide with an announcement from the conference that the fall season is back.
Questions remain whether all 12 MW football programs will participate in a fall season. A social media report from Stadium’s Brett Mcmurphy raised questions about the participation of Air Force, Fresno State and Hawaii.
The Bulldogs could be on board, according to a story Friday from the Fresno Bee, which reported that the school is seeking approval from local public health and CSU officials by the end of September to return athletes to campus for Mountain
West competition.
Hawaii’s governor announced Thursday that the state’s 14-day quarantine period will be lifted on Oct. 15, which opens the door for the Rainbows to play.
The biggest question is with the Air Force Academy, which, although funded with public dollars, apparently does not entitle taxpayers to transparency.
The Falcons had already been given special permission to practice for games against Navy (Oct. 3) and Army (Nov. 7), but it is not clear if they will participate in conference play.
On Thursday, Air Force declined to answer questions from the Colorado Springs Gazette on the matter.
That led to speculation from the newspaper that perhaps the Falcons do not want to play a full fall schedule because reportedly 40 of their players returned home (for various reasons) for the fall semester.
Among those unavailable is Air Force starting quarterback Donald Hammond. In July, the school issued a statement that said Hammond was no longer in “good standing” and not a member of the team.
During the pandemic, there were also questions about participation for Colorado State, Nevada, UNLV and New Mexico, but the pathways for those schools now appear to be clear.
Like SDSU and Fresno State, San Jose State also is working toward practice approval from its local health authorities.