The University of Louisville has decided to pause all football-related activities as a result of increasing positive COVID-19 tests and contract tracing within the football program, athletic director Vince Tyra announced Wednesday night.
As a result of the stoppage in football activities, Louisville’s upcoming game against Virginia on Saturday has been postponed to next week. The Cardinals and Cavaliers will now play on Saturday, November 14th at 3:30 p.m. on the ACC Network.
The pausing of football activities — as well as the subsequent postponement of Saturday’s game — comes four days after Louisville’s game last Saturday against Virginia Tech, one that saw the Cardinals announce that nine players would be unavailable on the morning of the contest (six defensive linemen, starting punter Ryan Harwell, starting safety Isaiah Hayes, and linebacker Monty Montgomery).
“We are taking a precautionary measure to pause due (to) the number of student-athletes and staff that have been impacted by the virus,” Tyra said in a statement. “With us and Virginia both having a bye week on November 14, we are fortunate to reschedule the game for that date … Test results from both Friday and Sunday will dictate when we return to team activities.”
Per the ACC’s COVID guidelines, players and personnel that test positive for COVID-19 must sit out at least ten days and have a negative COVID test before returning to play.
Tyra announced that ten players and five members of the support staff tested positive for COVID-19, most experiencing mild symptoms or being asymptomatic. No coaching staff members have tested positive at this time.
(video credit: Go Cards / YouTube)
