The Mountain West Athletic Conference, Boise State and UNLV on Wednesday jointly announced the cancelation of the Boise State vs. UNLV football game scheduled for Friday night in Las Vegas.
The full joint statement:
“Based on guidance from medical personnel and epidemiologists, Friday’s football game between UNLV and Boise State has been canceled and will not be rescheduled. Both medical teams have been in communication in order to understand the full picture of COVID issues in our region.”
Boise State interim Athletic Director Bob Carney wrote in a statement, “Based on recommendations from medical personnel, it was determined that the Boise State-UNLV game would not take place. We feel for the student-athletes, coaches and fans of each program, but the most important thing in times like these is listening to the experts. That was what transpired in this decision coming to fruition.”
The cancellation is Boise State’s second straight after the team was forced to call off last Saturday’s scheduled home game against San Jose State due to health and safety concerns.
“We had been preparing for this game and were looking forward to playing UNLV. It’s disappointing not to be able to play the game, but we’ll turn our attention to playing our next opponent,” wrote Head Coach Bryan Harsin.
Boise State has one final game remaining on its regular season schedule: Saturday, December 12 at Wyoming. The conference championship game is still scheduled for December 19, and Boise State needs to play one more game to become eligible. The league will match the two winningest eligible teams.
Despite the conference’s reference of “COVID issues in our region,” the game scheduled to be played in Las Vegas Saturday between Wyoming and New Mexico remains on. The University of New Mexico moved its entire football operation to Las Vegas in early November to escape COVID restrictions in its own state which would have prevented the team from practicing or competing.
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