Breaking: Cal-Arizona Game Canceled Because of Virus Issues at ASU
Update: The Cal-Arizona State game scheduled for Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz., has been canceled, the Pac-12 announced Friday morning, but surprisingly the game was canceled because of COVID-19 issues on the Arizona State team, not the Cal team.
Apparently it was because ASU coach Herm Edwards tested positive for the virus.
There are rports that Cal might play Washington instead on Saturday.
Cal will play no more than four games before the Pac-12 championship game partiipants are determined, and it is believed Cal could still qualify for that game under certain circumstance..
Updates to come
Here is the earlier story.
As of 8:30 a.m. Fiday, there is still no official news about whether Cal will be allowed to play Arizona State on Saturday night, but a Thursday afternoon tweet from ESPN's Kyle Bonagura make the prospects more optimistic, with the possibility that the game might be played Sunday.
But there also could be virus issues on the Arizona State side of things. It is unclear whether this ASU action is a reaction to Cal's situation, or something new:
The possibility of a virus-related issue at Arizona State adds a troubling dimension to the status of the game.
ASU coach Herm Edwards confirmed on his Thursday radio show "All Aboard" that the Sun Devils hit the pause button on practice to do additional testing of its coaches and players, according to the Arizona Republic.
"When we get those results back we'll know where we're at," he said.
The fact that no announcement about the game's status was made by Thursday evening suggests that playing the game on Saturday night is less likely. Presumably the Cal team would have to leave Berkeley on Friday for a Saturday night (7:30 p.m.) game in Tempe, Ariz., and unless a decision is reached early Friday, the team could not travel Friday. Theoretically, the Bears could travel Saturday morning for a game that night, but coaches and players would prefer not to do that.
However, the fact that a cancellation has not been announced means that Cal and ASU have not given up hope of playing their game. It also suggests there may be ongoing discussions about moving the game to Sunday, or perhaps even Monday.
Playing a game on Monday would not be ideal since both teams are scheduled to play another game the following Saturday, Nov. 21. But playing the game on Sunday would be acceptable if that one extra day makes a difference for the quarantine period of the players affected by contact tracing.
The fact that the Pac-12 on Friday issued a statement saying testing protocol errors were made with regard to a Stanford player does not breed confidence in the process. Based on this earlier tweet by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, that Stanford player was probably quarterback Davis Mills.
Wednesday didn’t provide any hopeful signs.
The athletic department’s only announcement was a text message to reporters informing them all previously scheduled media availability has been canceled until further notice.
That included scratching a scheduled Zoom session Wednesday evening with coach Justin Wilcox, who was expected to talk to reporters for the final time prior to game day.
Cal’s statement:
“We will continue to have conversations with the medical health professionals on campus and with the City of Berkeley. We have no further update on the status of Saturday’s game at Arizona State and will have our next media availability once we have a final determination.”
With the Bears circling their wagons just three days before they are supposed to face ASU, things are clearly not going well.
Cal had its home game and original season opener against Washington last Saturday canceled after one defensive lineman tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire position group — plus others — were placed in quarantine.
Without any available scholarship defensive linemen, the Bears felt no alternative but to ask the Pac-12 to declare the game a no contest.
Wilcox said last Thursday he expected to get a decision from Berkeley Public Health by Monday. That was pushed back to Tuesday, and on Wednesday there still was no word.
But a spokesperson for the City of Berkeley issued a statement Tuesday night that suggested the players who were contact traced and put into quarantine would have to complete 14 days of isolation.
"The University was made aware last week of the timeline for when the case will end their isolation period and for when the contacts will end their quarantine," the statement said. "The team should use that information as a timeline for return of those individuals to the field. No further direction is pending from the City.”
That seemed at odds with the daily narrative that Cal officials expected Berkeley Public Health to issue a decision at some point.
On Wednesday, things began to grow quiet at Cal. Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon, in a scheduled morning media session, said the Bears were continuing to prepare as if they are playing this week.
Meanwhile, Kyle Bonagura of ESPN reported that Cal was displeased with Berkeley Public Health’s direct approach to contact tracing, calling and informing players they must quarantine on the basis of the interview with their infected teammate, and not going through channels with the football program to set up those conversations.
.
..
.
It’s unclear if and how Cal’s roster could be restored in time to travel to Tempe, Arizona, for Saturday’s game.
The team’s defensive linemen have been in isolation and off the practice field for at least a week, so even when they return it’s hard to imagine them being at peak readiness to play by Saturday night.
ASU, meanwhile, already has a game under its belt. The Sun Devils built a 27-14 lead at USC last Saturday before the Trojans scored two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes to pull out a one-point victory.
.
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page
