No football in the fall for Fresno State; more conferences postpone seasons

The Mountain West Conference on Monday postponed its football and other fall sports seasons and championship events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that hit hard at Fresno State where student-athletes have been awaiting clearance to return to campus and their teams.

“Our students, they’ve been so thoughtful about how they view this thing,” athletics director Terry Tumey said, after video meetings with coaches and then student-athletes.

“A lot of our student-athletes want to play, and I’m not just talking about football student-athletes. It’s all sports. Fresno State has built a brand and a history that is extremely competitive and we’re good at what we do. We’re good at playing. They come here because they of course want to get their degrees and grow academically, but also because they want to compete for championships in a place that is truly passionate about athletics. Not having the ability to do that in the fall, of course, that’s a huge disappointment.”

Given the number of unknowns and uncertainty with the coronavirus, Tumey said he supported with the decision by the conference’s board of directors.

The Mountain West was the second FBS conference to postpone its football and fall sports seasons, following the Mid-American Conference, but it was not the last.

The Big Ten on Tuesday postponed its fall sports including football, with an eye toward playing in the spring. The Pac-12 followed a short time later by postponing all sports through the end of the year, which also impacts non-conference basketball games and winter sports. It will consider a return to competition after Jan. 1, 2021.

The ACC and SEC reportedly have not altered plans for a fall football season, and the Big 12 continues to evaluate its options.

Connecticut, an FBS independent which lost several of its games when other leagues went to conference-only schedules, was the first to cancel its season.

“Since the start of the pandemic, our membership and staff have been working diligently to prepare for a fall sports season,” MW commissioner Craig Thompson said. “We were hopeful we could carefully and responsibly conduct competition as originally scheduled with essential protocols in place. However, numerous external factors and unknowns outside our control made this difficult decision necessary.

“I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment. We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.”

Mountain West will look to spring

The development nixes what the Mountain West was planning as recently as Wednesday when the conference announced a football season of eight conference games and up to two non-conference games with a championship game between the winners of the West and Mountain divisions in December.

In that same announcement, the Mountain West said women’s soccer and women’s volleyball would compete only against conference opponents. Cross country, the conference’s other fall sport, was to be determined and any competition in men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, softball and baseball was canceled.

Now the Mountain West will look to the spring, or perhaps have to wait until the 2021-22 school year to resume football and its fall sports.

“For all of intercollegiate athletics, we’re all coming to the realization that at some point you try to do the best you can to protect our student-athletes,” Tumey said. “At some point, there’s just too many factors at play and you want to make sure we do what we can to protect these students.

“There has been a lot of good work that has been done by all of the members in the league – all of them have had a lot of different pieces of the puzzle. But there are certain portions that go along with this virus that we still don’t have a true appreciation for.”

Bulldogs on hold

Fresno State coach Kalen DeBoer, who was scheduled to make his debut Sept. 5 against Idaho State, said in a statement that he was pleased with the way his team prepared and stuck together the past few months, as Mountain West rivals made it back to campus to take part in workouts and practices.

“I am incredibly proud of each member of our program, including our student-athletes, coaches and support staff,” he said. “From the very beginning back on March 12, every member of our team has worked together to forge ahead and take care of business day in and day out despite dealing with such uncertain and unprecedented circumstances. Our young men and our coaches never wavered despite a continually moving target. They prepared daily to stay the course, and they represented themselves and our university like champions. It’s been said that adversity reveals character, and while these times have been challenging, I am so proud of the unity, progress, and inspiring communication that has taken place, and will continue to take place, within our program.

”I’d also like to commend our departmental and campus leadership for their efforts to keep all of our student-athletes safe amid this pandemic. To my knowledge, we were the only, or one of the only, FBS schools in the country that had yet to bring back student-athletes and that was because our administration and our coaches felt so strongly about ensuring the health and safety of our people.

“As we look ahead, I have no doubt that Fresno State Football will be back stronger than ever because of the good people that we surround ourselves with. We’ve talked since January about attacking each day with a starving mindset and being unified in all that we do, neither of those goals change with today’s announcement. We will make the Red Wave and all of Bulldog Nation proud of our resolve and how we respond.”

Fresno State was picked to finish just fourth in the Mountain West in a preseason poll of media that covers the conference, but it has confounded expectations in the past and were to be led by running back Ronnie Rivers and linebacker Justin Rice, the preseason defensive player of the year in the league.

This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 3:11 PM.