The football game between the University of Florida and Louisiana State University scheduled for Saturday will be postponed until December due to a surge in positive COVID-19 tests.
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced the delay on Tuesday after the Florida football program shut down on Tuesday due to rising cases. The game is tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 12 — during a built-in bye week for the conference.
Florida has confirmed 18 positive cases among its scholarship players and three walk-ons, ESPN reported athletic director Scott Stricklin said. Those who tested positive are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
“We’ve reached a point where we don’t think it’s appropriate to play this game,” he said. “When you add in those who are quarantined through contact tracing as a result of those positives in addition to a handful of players on the non-COVID list, it gives us less than 50 scholarship players available.”
Florida coach Dan Mullen reported that two assistants tested positive, but both are asymptomatic, according to ESPN.
The Florida-LSU game is the second SEC game to be postponed due to COVID-19 tests after the Saturday game between the University of Missouri and Vanderbilt University had been postponed on Monday. The Missouri-Vanderbilt game is also scheduled for Dec. 12.
Vanderbilt’s team had been left with 56 scholarship players last week after several people had to quarantine following positive COVID-19 tests or close contacts with those who tested positive, in addition to injuries and opt-outs, ESPN reported.
The SEC Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force requires each team have at least 53 scholarship players available to play each game.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten Conference is scheduled to start Oct. 23 after it initially postponed its football season due to the coronavirus pandemic.