Notre Dame’s game this week against Wake Forest had to be postponed after positive COVID tests.
Notre Dame’s game at Wake Forest on Saturday has been postponed after positive COVID-19 tests landed 13 Fighting Irish players in isolation and another 10 in quarantine.
The seventh-ranked Fighting Irish said Tuesday the game would be rescheduled. Both teams are off Oct. 3.
Notre Dame said 94 football players were tested for COVID-19 on Monday and of those seven were positive. Those players were in isolation along with others who tested positive last week.
The school is pausing all football-related activities until further testing is complete.
“We managed an increase in positivity rates in August, and the players handled it wonderfully,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “We knew COVID would present challenges throughout the season, and we’ll always put student-athlete health and safety at the forefront of our decision making. We look forward to resuming team activities and getting back on the playing field.”
Notre Dame (2-0) opened the season with two home games and held several players out of last week’s victory against South Florida without explanation.
The game is the 18th involving major college football teams to be postponed or canceled by COVID-19 issues since Aug. 26 and the third Atlantic Coast Conference game (North Carolina State at Virginia Tech and Virginia at Virginia Tech were rescheduled).
Also Tuesday, No. 18 BYU announced that its next two games will be played without fans at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. The school said health officials in the state had moved Provo from low to moderate COVID-19 risks, which prompted the switch to no fans for Saturday’s game against Troy and the Oct. 2 game against Louisiana Tech.
BYU had to postpone its game last week at Army after having players test positive for COVID-19.
Mountain West, Pac-12
Mountain West university presidents moved up a scheduled Friday meeting to Thursday, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press.
It was unclear whether the Mountain West presidents would vote Thursday on any proposals, the person said.
Mountain West athletic directors are aiming for an Oct. 24 or Oct. 31 start for the football season. The conference is close to an agreement that will provide its 12 schools with the capacity to perform daily COVID-19 antigen tests on its athletes, the person said.
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson told AP last week the conference would not move forward on a fall football season without its schools having the ability to test daily.
The Mountain West postponed its fall sports season on Aug. 10, the day before the Big Ten and Pac-12 did the same.
The Pac-12’s CEO Group of presidents and chancellors is also meeting Thursday and is expected to make a decision on whether the conference can start its football season as soon as Halloween weekend. The Pac-12 announced early this month it had acquired daily COVID-19 testing for its members.
Notable
Former transfer Matthew Downing has been named the starting quarterback for TCU’S season opener, though last year’s starter, Max Duggan (heart condition), also has been cleared to play.
Downing redshirted last season at TCU after limited snaps in four games as a walkon freshman at Georgia in 2018. Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson said Tuesday that Downing will start Saturday’s home game against Iowa State (0-1).
• Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman has decided to opt back in for the 2020 football season in light of the Big Ten’s resumption of fall competition, contingent on the star junior gaining the necessary eligibility clearance.
What to watch
PBC Fight Night, Nestor Bravo vs. Jose Luis Gallegos (Lightweights), 7 p.m.,
College Volleyball Women’s, North Carolina State at Duke, 4 p.m.,
Horse racing Trackside Live, 9 a.m.,
Belmont Park Live, 9:30 a.m.,
Korean baseball Kia at KT, 2:25 a.m. (Thu.),
Men’s soccer Champions League, Nicosia at Olympiacos, 11:30 a.m.,
MLS, Orlando City SC at Sporting KC, 4:30 p.m.,
MLS, L.A. Galaxy at Real Salt Lake, 6:30