The opening game of Virginia Tech’s season to Virginia Tech on September 19 was postponed due to the “COVID-19 Problem” at Virginia Tech announced on Saturday.
“Advance a football match between Virginia Tech after consultation with the Atlantic Coast Conference representative, Virginia University counterpart, Virginia Tech campus leader, and Dr. Mark Rogers, Virginia Tech Athletics Chief Medical Officer. And a mutual decision was made, and the state of Virginia at Lane Stadium due to the COVID-19 issue at Virginia Tech, until a later date. “
Alert schedule 🗓
The Tech contest and UVA match has been postponed, but the open season and NC State match is scheduled for September 26th.
👉🏽 https://t.co/GKZ8CKynn4 #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/3o4vO4ZLY9
— Virginia Tech Football (@HokiesFB) September 12, 2020
Virginia Tech also announced that it will suspend football activities for four days.
Hokies is scheduled for their first match against NC State on September 26th. The game was previously postponed from September 12 due to an increase in coronavirus cases in the Wolfpack sports club.
The first Cavaliers game will be on October 3rd at Clemson.
“Athletic Director of Virginia Tech, Whit Babcock, said in a statement,” The safety, physical and mental well-being of these young men and women who have been taken care of by our families is our number one priority. “We share the disappointment of everyone who wanted to start the football season against rivals in the state, but the full ACC football schedule plays thanks to the flexibility that the current format allows. What we can do is optimistic. “
Justin Fuente, a coach at Virginia Tech, said he had hinted at a problem during a zoom call at a press conference Wednesday and didn’t expect the Hokeys to be able to play this weekend.
“To be honest, I don’t know if we can do it,” Fuente said. “I don’t know if we’ve done that. I’m not sure the answer because I thought someone would ask me if I could play this deal today.
The Virginia Tech web page reported on Friday that there have been 219 coronavirus-positive tests in the last seven days, with a total of 633 infections since the start of the test on August 3, with students on August 24. Since returning to Japan on the same day, the number of infections has been steadily increasing.
The school has not published athlete-specific results.
Virginia announced the latest number of athletes and athletic staff on Saturday, saying it has had five positive tests since its last update on September 4. Four of the five positive tests were by students who recently returned to campus, and the football program has had no positive results since its first report on July 24th.
On Twitter, some Virginia coaches praised the players.
“That’s really easy … are you focused on your team or not,” tweeted aggressive line coach Garrett Tojag. “There are some that can and cannot be sacrificed to each other. The biggest thing is … you make that choice.”
Running back coach Mark Atuaia referred to the “serious sacrifice” of his athletes.
“No one is giving me any benefit, so my heart goes to them. [discipline] My young brother has been on display since the pandemic blockbuster, “he tweeted.
Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.
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