Mountain West cancels second Fresno State game due to coronavirus contact tracing

The football game between Fresno State and San Diego State scheduled for Friday at Bulldog Stadium has been canceled by the Mountain West Conference due to continued contact tracing following a positive coronavirus test last week in the Bulldogs’ program.

The game has been declared a no-contest and there are no plans to reschedule, reducing the Bulldogs’ truncated regular season to six games – Fresno State (3-1) was to play San Jose State last Saturday for the Valley Trophy, but that game also was canceled.

“We are disappointed for our student-athletes, staff, and the entire Red Wave fan base that we cannot compete against San Diego State this week,” athletics director Terry Tumey said Sunday in a statement from the athletics department.

“We fully understand and appreciate the history and importance of the rivalry so, in partnership with Mountain West Conference leadership and the leadership at San Diego State, we explored every alternative solution we could identify in order to play the game on its scheduled weekend. Unfortunately, there was not a path forward to do so within our defined framework.”

The final two games on the Bulldogs’ schedule are Dec. 5 at Nevada and Dec. 12 at New Mexico, though COVID-19 is having a greater impact on the Mountain West.

The canceled game between Fresno State and San Diego State, which was announced on Sunday, is the sixth in the conference this season.

There were three last week – Fresno State-San Jose State, Utah State-Wyoming and UNLV-Colorado State. New Mexico and Colorado State had their game canceled the opening week of the season and a Nov. 14 game between Air Force and Wyoming also was canceled.

The Air Force-Army game scheduled for Week 3 was postponed and could be rescheduled.

Mountain West COVID-19 cancellation thresholds

According to the Mountain West testing and cancellation thresholds, a game could be declared a no-contest if a program has fewer than 53 players available or less than a minimum number of position players available to begin a game, a list that includes seven offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen and one quarterback.

A school also has the option to play the game with fewer than the 53 players or fewer than the minimum number of position players, if it chooses to do so.

If a team has a test positivity rate of 7.5% or higher at any time between games that also would trigger a review to determine whether the next game on its schedule can be played.

All players, coaches, trainers and on-field personnel take three COVID-19 antigen tests per week, with the costs covered by the conference from a reserve fund.

UNLV was unable to travel to its game at Colorado State due to positive coronavirus tests and resulting contact tracing. Utah State also had positive COVID-19 tests within its program and it could not play at Wyoming.

Nevada, San Diego State, Hawaii and Boise State are the only teams to have played all of its scheduled conference games.

Colorado State and Wyoming have played only three games and Air Force has played three Mountain West games as well as Navy in a non-conference game.

Fresno State will continue to practice, minus the players in isolation or quarantine.

“The same protocols and precautionary measures, which were implemented this past week, as a result of extensive contact tracing within our program, will remain in place this coming week as recommended by the CDC and the Fresno County Department of Public Health,” Tumey said in the statement.

“The large majority of our football program will continue forward with team activities in preparation for the remainder of our 2020 schedule. At this time, we look forward to the opportunity to compete at Nevada on Dec. 5. As always, the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff, and campus community remain our first priority.”