ASU AD: Pac-12 football needs 1 extra week
Arizona State’s Ray
Anderson believes discussions should be held about extending the
Pac-12 football season an extra week.
ASU already has lost three football games due to COVID-19 cases and subsequent delays due to return-to-play protocols.
The Sun Devils, who have not played since Nov. 7, expect to have enough coaches and players available to resume competition against UCLA on Dec. 5.
They also have games scheduled against Arizona on Dec. 11 and an opponent to be determined on Dec. 19.
“We should be discussing if you can extend by an additional week to be able to get in another game, maybe replay a game we missed,” Anderson, ASU vice president for athletics, said on Wednesday.
“A lot of that also will be driven by the bowl games. We might not have enough bowls who are actually going to operate so would it make sense to try to add additional conference games against teams we haven’t played.”
Anderson does not believe abandoning an already abbreviated football season because of the three cancellations is the correct move.
“It’s been months and months of preparation, and players came here to play,” he said. “Also no one is losing a year of eligibility (due to an NCAA waiver). So you can almost look at this as training and development going forward. And for those guys who say this is it, you want them to get a chance to compete if we can do it safely.
“You could look at some of this like spring ball. It’s more serious, the stakes are higher. But any time you can play games when guys are healthy, if you can provide competition you have an obligation to do that.”
Anderson described ASU football’s COVID outbreak, affecting head coach Herm Edwards, others on his staff and a large number of players following its season opener, as being “on the verge of heartbreaking.”