Game at Arizona State on Saturday remains in limbo

BERKELEY >> Cal football coach Justin Wilcox probably was in no mood Thursday to blow out candles on his 44th birthday.

More likely he was just hoping the Bears’ chances of playing this weekend haven’t been extinguished.

There was no word from Cal on the status of its scheduled game at Arizona State on Saturday night. That doesn’t bode well, given the team would have been packing to fly today to Phoenix, and that seems on hold.

The Bears have been without their defensive linemen for more than a week after one of them tested positive for COVID-19 and others in his position group were quarantined after contact tracing showed they were potentially exposed to the virus.

A spokesperson for the city of Berkeley confirmed in an e-mail Thursday that its Tuesday night statement stands — Cal’s players in quarantine must complete 14 days before being allowed to rejoin their team.

Cal, which had its opener at home against Washington canceled last Saturday, may be trying to reschedule the ASU game for Sunday. Or perhaps even Monday.

That is mostly speculation because Cal is offering no updates until the matter is resolved. But with no open dates ahead on their original seven-game schedule that runs through Dec. 19, the Bears are no doubt willing to go to great lengths to make this game happen.

Complicating discussions between the two schools may be the fact that while Cal continued to practice with available players, ASU canceled its Thursday workouts. No reason was given, leading to widespread guesswork that included concerns the Sun Devils may also have a COVID-19 problem.

Meanwhile, Cal basketball coach Mark Fox showed empathy for Wilcox and the football team in his remarks during the Pac-12’s virtual media day Thursday.

The Cal basketball team had its practices shut down for five days, ending Nov. 1, when one of its players tested positive. “It wasn’t a lot of fun,” Fox said.

Fox said he and Wilcox talk regularly.

“I’ve got great respect for coach Wilcox and their team and what they’re going through,” Fox said. “All offseason he kept saying, ‘ You’re going to play a game before I do.’

“So we made a lunch wager on it. I thought I was going to win until the last 10 days.”

It’s still quite unlikely Fox’s team will play first, given that the college basketball season doesn’t begin until Nov. 25. The Bears’ football team has another scheduled game before that, on Nov. 21 at Oregon State.