County rules might stop San Jose State from going to bowl
San Jose State’s football team has not run into a foe that could beat it on the field this season. Now the Spartans could be stopped from extending their perfect season by a tougher opponent: Santa Clara County.
The 19thranked Spartans ( 70), who won the Mountain West Conference championship by beating Boise State on Saturday, are running headlong into the county’s 10day mandatory quarantine for anyone who enters the county after traveling at least 150 miles.
The same county officials who have forced the 49ers to move their practices and games to Arizona, will not let the Sharks train in San Jose, nor permit any college from hosting a game, reportedly are telling San Jose State that its trip to Tucson for the Dec. 31 Arizona Bowl against the MidAmerican Conference champions from Ball State ( 61) would violate the county’s strict stayathome order.
The school disagrees.
“The university’s plans do not circumvent the county’s travel mandate,” it said in a statement. “Instead, the plans comply with county guidelines while also making travel arrangements that allow sufficient time to prepare for the Arizona Bowl game.
“SJSU developed its travel plans based on a thorough review of the Santa Clara County travel directive.”
Santa Clara County, the first in the nation to issue a stayathome order in March when coronavirus cases in the United States were confirmed — and regularly adopts orders that go beyond the state’s — sees it differently.
The San Jose Mercury News quoted County Executive Dr. Jeff Smith on Monday saying the university could face fines and legal sanctions if it flies to Arizona, or even be barred from getting on the plane Sunday.
“Hopefully it won’t get to that point,” Smith told the paper.
The Spartans beat Boise State 3420 in Las Vegas on Saturday to win the conference championship and waited until Sunday to fly home so it could set up immediate connecting flights for players from elsewhere to visit their families during the break between games.
The university believes those players are not subject to a 10day quarantine because the county order does not require one for travelers just passing through. But even those trips home run afoul of the county’s directive not to travel.
“You shouldn’t be with other people,” Smith told the Mercury News. “You should be isolating by yourself.”
The university said players and staffers who remained in San Jose were told to quarantine and not leave their homes until the team meets Saturday to get tested a day ahead of its flight the next day, which would be seven days after its return from Las Vegas.
“SJSU respects and values the work the Santa Clara County Public health Department is doing to keep our community safe,” the school’s statement said. “Our studentathletes and staff have benefited from the county’s guidance, which has shaped the testing requirements and strict protocols we put in place to create a safe environment.”
Nonetheless, no matter what precautions the university is taking, a Sunday departure clearly would run afoul of a mandatory 10day quarantine.
The Spartans plan to arrive four days before the game to participate in traditional prebowl events and to practice, which they can’t do in San Jose under the county’s order.
It was not immediately clear Tuesday night when the school and county officials plan to talk next.