Utah to play in Washington after Utes game against ASU canceled

Once again, Utah’s football schedule has been impacted by COVID-19.

The Utes saw their first two games, against Arizona and UCLA, canceled due to the virus.

Now they have seen a game cancellation and a new game created on the same day.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Pac-12 announced that the Utah-Arizona State game had been called off, as had been widely speculated. A few days ago, the league postponed the contest from Saturday to Sunday.

Utah’s new opponent this week will be Washington – the league announced the game hours after Utah-ASU’s cancellation. The Huskies saw their Apple Cup showdown this weekend with the Washington state rival wiped out.

Utah and Washington will meet at 8:30 p.m. MST at Husky Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.

The Huskies (2-0) defeated Oregon State 27-21 on Nov. 14 and defeated Arizona 44-27 last Saturday.

Sporting director Mark Harlan responded to a question on Twitter Tuesday night about why the game is being played in Seattle, not Salt Lake City.

“The problem was that the TV partner needed a location yesterday, due to the vacation week. There are a lot of TV production trucks based in the Northwest, etc. Otherwise the game would be in SLC. Everything is fine … without fans, it’s a whole different matter this year. I’m just happy to play.

The state of Arizona was ravaged by the coronavirus and had to end the practices on November 11. Coach Herm Edwards was one of the people in the program to test positive for the virus.

Huskies – the game will be played in Seattle, not Rice-Eccles Stadium – while discussing the unique scenario of not knowing who their weekend opponent might be.

“Right now, the whole focus is on ASU. Until we’re told differently, that’s where we’ll put the majority of the attention because we still have to pay attention to the other possibility, ”Whittingham said Tuesday morning. “This is where our main focus is. We hope to find out as soon as possible. It would be ideal if we found out today. As the week goes on it becomes a more difficult situation without having some clarity. But we have no control over it. So we are just waiting for a definitive answer. Until then, the main focal point is the state of Arizona. “

Coach Kyle Whittingham admitted Tuesday morning that the Utes could face the

Well, now the Utes can distract from the Sun Devils.

The Pac-12 made the decision because ASU will not have enough scholarship holders available due to COVID-19.

“We are very disappointed that our student-athletes and our fans cannot play this game,” said the conference announcement. “While we all want to see our football student-athletes compete on the pitch, our number one priority must remain the health and safety of everyone involved in Pac-12 football programs.

With the announcement of the Utah-Washington game, the Pac-12 said in a statement: “The programming of this game is consistent with the Conference’s commitment to provide opportunities for student-athletes through maximum programming flexibility. while prioritizing health and safety. The announcement follows the cancellations of each of Utah’s games at Arizona State and Washington’s at Washington State. ”