Wednesday afternoon North Texas announced the decision to cancel Saturday evening’s football game against Houston due to positive COVID-19 tests among the Mean Green players and staff members, according to the North Texas athletic department. The two teams are working to find a date to reschedule the game.
The cancellation of the game came after four positive COVID-19 test results appeared in the team’s Monday rounds of testing. Of the four individuals who tested positive, they remain in isolation and close contacts were identified. The succeeding contact tracing of the positive test results left the football program unable to field a team for the game this weekend.
“We knew that there would be challenges with COVID-19 this season and we were taking precautions to hopefully avoid this situation,” Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. “Our student-athletes’ health and safety is the priority in every decision we make and that is what this difficult decision is based on. We are hopeful we can resume safe activities soon.”
Houston was set to play its first game against North Texas in its home opener. This makes it Houston’s fourth game postponed or canceled for the season.
Featured Image: The Mean Green football team runs out on to the field against SMU on Sept. 19, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas