Four positive COVID-19 tests this week at North Texas forced the Mean Green to postpone Saturday’s game at Houston, the fifth time the Cougars have had a game wiped out by the coronavirus.
The schools are working to find a date to reschedule, according to statements released by both programs on Wednesday.
Officials for North Texas said the contact tracing and subsequent quarantines stemming from those four positive tests left them unable to field enough players for the game.
“We knew that there would be challenges with COVID-19 this season and we were taking precautions to hopefully avoid this situation,” UNT athletic director Wren Baker said in a release. “Our student-athlete health and safety is the priority in every decision we make and that is what this difficult decision is based on. We are hopeful we can resume safe activities soon.”
The next game on the schedule for the Mean Green (1-1) is Oct. 3 at home against Southern Miss.
Houston now hopes to begin its season on Thursday, Oct. 8, against Tulane.
The Cougars’ original Sept. 3 season opener against Rice was postponed in August and their Sept. 12 matchup at Washington State was canceled in July. Houston’s Sept. 18 game against Memphis was postponed and replaced by a Sept. 19 game at Baylor, but that also fell through due to COVID-19 issues at Baylor.
“I am disappointed for our student-athletes who have continued to focus on competing this season and were ready to play this Saturday,” Houston vice president for athletics Chris Pezman said in a statement. “We will continue to work to adjust our schedule with the hopes of playing as soon as we can.”
