Lobos opener canceled over virus concerns
ALBUQUERQUE - Citing the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Bernalillo County and the rest of the state, the University of New Mexico announced Tuesday (Oct. 20) that its football team will not travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, for Saturday’s (Oct. 24) season opener against Colorado State.
The game has been declared a no contest, and there are no plans to make it up, according to the Mountain West Conference. No determination about the Lobos’ ability to play their home opener against San Jose State on Oct. 31 has been made.
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez said he was informed by school president Garnett Stokes about the decision to cancel Saturday’s game, which was made after a rolling 14-day average for Bernalillo County showed coronavirus cases had exceeded minimum numbers for safe play outlined in the state’s guidelines for COVID-19 safe practices in intercollegiate athletics.
“Unfortunately, because of those county numbers, it has basically put us in a position where we have to go back to the original information, which would deem that we would have to quarantine for 14 days,” Nuñez said.
Eight football players and one member of UNM’s support staff tested positive for COVID-19 last week, resulting in a precautionary measure of shutting down all team activities for two days. Another player later tested positive, but Nuñez said the spread has been contained and the eight affected players should be medically cleared to rejoin the team by early next week.
As part of its agreement with the state, UNM tests athletes and staff three times a week. The entire team has undergone two tests since last week’s outbreak. The results from tests taken Tuesday morning were not immediately available.
There have been 38 games at college football’s highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision, canceled or postponed due to the virus since late August. The Mountain West said any game not played will not be made up.
Lobos head coach Danny Gonzales said UNM’s football bubble is, statistically, one of the safest places in the state. Even so, he acknowledged the Lobos clearly are not immune to the spread of the virus, which is why he made a public plea Tuesday, seeking assistance in getting the virus under control.
“I am asking for help,” Gonzales said. “I want everybody in the city to help us try and slow the spread as fast as we can so that we can have this opportunity. I know there’s a lot more important things than football.”
The Lobos will continue to practice in limited numbers. For now, the plan is to take the field the night of Oct. 31. A spokesman for the governor’s office said that determination hinges entirely on whether Bernalillo County’s 14-day average for daily cases falls below 8 per 100,000, with a test positivity rate of less than 5 percent. The numbers used to determine the status of Saturday’s game at Colorado State had the county at 14.10 per 100,000 and a 4.7 percent positivity rate.
The next round of data will be updated Oct. 28.
“The big concern for us right now is being able to practice and play safely with the current guidelines that are in place,” Nuñez said.