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Huskies, Arizona Tried to Salvage Lost Weekend with a Game on the Fly

The Pac-12 schools, each left with cancellations, tried to arrange a game between themselves at the last minute.
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After their opponents canceled their road football games late last week because of players' positive COVID-19 tests, the University of Washington and Arizona tried to put together a contest between themselves on Saturday at Husky Stadium, coach Jimmy Lake said.

However, the logistics of getting everything set up for a newly arranged Pac-12 game in 24 hours wouldn't permit it. 

"We were in talks to slap something together," Lake said. "Both sides wanted to get it done."

Had the two game cancellations been known earlier in the week, the schools could have played each other, the Husky coach said. 

Obstacles involved transporting a visiting team to the host city, finding a hotel at the last minute for more than 100 people, setting up multiple meals for the team and getting an equipment truck moving in the right direction.

"Our truck was on its way to Berkeley on Wednesday and had to turn around," Lake said. 

Washington and Arizona remain scheduled to play in Husky Stadium on Nov. 21.

The coach learned of the UW-Cal game cancellation immediately after speaking to the media for nearly a half hour last Thursday on a Zoom call following his morning practice. He expressed great optimism that the contest would be played.

Lake soon noticed several missed calls on his phone from athletic director Jennifer Cohen, spoke with her and had to reassemble his team and give it the bad news.

California had a player test positive, presumably a defensive linemen, and the entire position group had to go into quarantine, forcing the school to back out of its game with Washington. 

The Golden Bears remain at risk of losing their second game against Arizona State, as well, because of the ongoing quarantining.

Utah, Arizona's opening opponent, likewise lost a significant amount of players to positive tests and resulting quarantines, and had to pull out of hosting its Saturday game against the Wildcats in Salt Lake City.

Lake cautioned that a pandemic-related cancellation easily could happen again with another opponent. He reminds his players every day of the protocols they need to follow.

"All we can control is making sure the virus doesn't come into our building," he said. 

Meantime, everyone at the UW and around the league is prepared to improvise in scheduling should the virus interrupt games again.

"If we know today, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, the game is going to be canceled," Lake said, "it makes it way more easier to get things changed and transitioned."

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