The University of Washington Athletic Department announced today several important dates and details regarding the 2021 Husky Football season, including that, in accordance with guidelines set by the state of Washington and King County, Husky Stadium will return to 100% seating capacity for the upcoming season.
Coach Lake said, "This is disappointing for everyone within our program and all of Husky Nation, but this is the right decision to make to protect the health and safety of our players, which is always our greatest priority."
"Our goal every season is to win the Pac-12 Championship. I am so proud of the work our team and staff have put in to position ourselves to attain that goal. Unfortunately, the virus is in our footprint. We have not been able to resume football activities and currently the entirety of one of our key position groups, deemed a critical position group by the Pac-12, is in quarantine. There is no path forward to practice or play this week. Our focus now is getting everyone healthy so we can resume football activities and prepare for a possible bowl game. We are crushed that we cannot bring home the Pac-12 trophy for our fans, staff and players," Washington head coach Jimmy Lake said.
The Huskies' originally scheduled game for this week, the Boeing Apple Cup Friday at Washington State, was called off Sunday night due to WSU not having the required number of available players due to positive COVID-19 tests and resulting contract tracing and isolation. That game was declared a no contest, under Pac-12 guidelines. Earlier Tuesday, Utah's scheduled game at Arizona State was canceled as well.
The Boeing Apple Cup, scheduled for Friday night in Pullman, will not be played as scheduled due to the Cougars' inability to field a competitive roster after a number of positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing. Per Pac-12 guidelines, the game will be declared a no contest by the league.
