Saturday’s football game between Navy and Tulsa has been postponed due to a number of positive tests among Navy football players. The American Athletic Conference made the announcement Thursday.
According to the Capital-Gazette, Navy has “minimal” positive tests, but a significant number of players would be unable to play in Saturday’s game due to the ensuing contact tracing.
The Midshipmen have paused all football activities.
The AAC hopes to reschedule the Tulsa-Navy game for later in the season. However, neither team shares an open week the remainder of the season.
Navy hadn’t had a positive case throughout the season to date. In fact, they had zero cases among their entire traveling party when the team flew to Dallas Friday to play at SMU. However, something happened from that point to Monday when players, coaches and staff were tested again, according to the Gazette.
Multiple players were placed in isolation to quarantine following that round of testing. Navy also had a number of positive tests among various other athletic teams at the academy this weekend.
For Tulsa, this will be their fourth game postponed or canceled since the start of the season due to coronavirus-related issues.
It’s unclear if Navy’s game on Nov. 14 against Memphis will be affected. The Midshipmen don’t have another open date until Nov. 28. Tulsa is scheduled to play at Houston that date.
Navy is also open Dec. 5, a week prior to their annual rivalry clash against Army on Dec. 12. Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk prefers not to use that open date for a rescheduled game against Tulsa. However, he admitted the team is obligated to any decision made by the conference. Meanwhile, Tulsa is scheduled to play Cincinnati on Dec. 5.
