For the first time in the 2021-2022 college football season, a game has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
On Saturday, the Cal Golden Bears lost to the Arizona Wildcats after being forced to play with less than 50 scholarship players due to 24 players and five coaches being held out for COVID-19 protocols.
On Tuesday, the university announced the postponement of Cal’s upcoming game against USC due to additional football players testing positive for COVID-19.
“It was a difficult decision to postpone this Saturday’s game against USC,” Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. “We know how important every one of our games is to our student-athletes, especially our seniors who have been incredible representatives of the program, but it was the right thing to do. Due to additional impact on specific position groups, we have decided to postpone Saturday’s game. We have had multiple COVID-19 positives within our program, and we are taking every step we can to mitigate the spread and protect the greater community.”
Even though the university has stated that the football program is 99% vaccinated, at least 44 people have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, according to Berkeley’s Department of Public Health.