Pitt’s game at Georgia Tech on Saturday has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, the University announced on Thursday. The game has been rescheduled for Dec. 12.
The Panthers have also suspended all team activities.
“We are fortunate to have an outstanding group of doctors and medical professionals providing us daily consultation in this challenging environment,” Director of Athletics Heather Lyke said in a press release. “Following their recommendation, our football program will pause all activities. Our protocols have prepared us to anticipate and manage these circumstances. Our top priority will always be the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff.”
“While I know our team was excited and prepared to play a game on Saturday, this is the right and responsible decision for our student-athletes and staff,” Coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We have great doctors at Pitt and they have given us the very best guidance throughout this entire pandemic. Our team knows we’ve had to be agile this year. We will continue to assemble virtually until we’re given the green light.”
The ACC said in a released statement that “the rescheduling follows positive tests, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Georgia Tech and Pitt football teams.”
More than 50 games involving FBS teams have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic this season, including nine already this weekend, but Saturday’s contest at Georgia Tech was the first to involve the Panthers.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Pitt’s football program has been relatively untouched. The Panthers had multiple players miss the first two games of the season due to COVID protocols, but none had to sit out prior to this past weekend, when one unnamed player was held out.
But with positive cases rising across the country and locally, the Pitt football program seems to have finally been affected.
On Monday, the University issued a shelter-in-place directive after reporting 73 new positive cases from Friday-Monday.
Allegheny County announced 412 new cases on Thursday; that followed announcements of 366 new cases on Wednesday, 317 on Tuesday and 530 on Monday.
When the ACC revised its 2020 schedule in the wake of the pandemic, it did so with a moving date for the conference championship game. In late October, the league announced that the title game would be played on Dec. 19, opening an extra week between that game and the end of the regular season on Dec. 5.
That open week gave Pitt and Georgia Tech an opportunity to reschedule.
The Panthers are 4-4 after beating Florida State last weekend in Tallahassee. Their next game is scheduled for Nov. 21 against Virginia Tech at Heinz Field.
