Third consecutive football game in the State of Florida; Duke will host Miami instead

Florida State saw their game canceled for the third consecutive week, the ACC announced on Sunday.

The Seminoles were scheduled to play Duke on Saturday, but after issues with COVID-19 and contact tracing hit the team last week, the league opted to adjust that game and will play Miami at Duke instead.

The state of Florida had postponed each of its previous two games just hours before kick-off, including a Nov.21 date with Clemson that resulted in a public row between the two schools over coronavirus protocols .

After Clemson traveled to Tallahassee, Florida for this game, the school learned that a player had tested positive for COVID-19. While the ACC suggested it was okay for the game to be played and that Clemson had not violated protocols, Florida state medical advisers disagreed and the game was postponed. because of what FSU called an abundance of caution.

A week later, Florida state fell victim to the same testing protocols on Friday, postponing a game with Virginia after the Cavaliers had already flown to Tallahassee, FSU athletic director David Coburn saying a player had tested positive and the resulting contact tracing had left the Seminoles with only 44 stock players available.

“We just had no way of knowing we wouldn’t be playing until this morning,” said Coburn. “We made every effort to play, but we couldn’t do it in a way that was safe for the players.”

The ACC requires that all players who test positive must self-isolate for 10 days, while all players involved in contact tracing must be quarantined for 14 days. This timeline left FSU with no chance to play the game at Duke.

Miami will step in as the Blue Devils opponent in Week 14 after dealing with its own COVID-19 issues. A locker room outbreak that included a positive test for head coach Manny Diaz has thwarted each of the Hurricanes’ last two games, while concerns over COVID-19 at Wake Forest ended Saturday’s scheduled game with the Demon Deacons.

Florida State is 2-6 this season and has no more scheduled games, although Virginia or Clemson’s game may be rescheduled for the week of December 12 or December 19.

Miami (7-1, 6-1 ACC) will see its first action since losing Virginia Tech 25-24 on November 14.