Washington Huskies football: COVID strikes again, now what?

Washington Huskies football
Washington Huskies (Photo by Abhattarai7, via Wikicommons)

It’s official. The Washington Huskies had to cancel their game with Oregon scheduled for this Saturday, December 12, due to COVID-10 concerns. Now what?

Once again, COVID-19 reared its ugly head. Thursday afternoon, the Washington Huskies canceled their game with Oregon because the coronavirus and related contact tracing took the team under the 53-scholarship player threshold.

It’s been one heck of a 2020 for the Washington Huskies. First, there was a season. Then it was delayed and cut to a 10-game conference-only schedule. Shortly after, the Pac-12 said the heck with it and canceled all sports until January. Under mounting public pressure, they reversed themselves and approved a seven-game slate beginning in November.

At least there would be Huskies football this year. Until there wasn’t. Cal had COVID-19 issues, which prevented them from playing the season opener. So UW started 2020 play a week after almost everyone else in the country. Fast forward two weeks, and WSU backed out of the Apple Cup due to the virus. At least Washington got a replacement game.

Move ahead another week, and a UW undefeated season went by the wayside when the under-manned Huskies lost to homeless Stanford in an upset. On Wednesday, the suck factor reached a new yearly low when Washington announced they didn’t have enough available players to face Oregon this week.

To recap, this year, Huskies fans saw the season opener rescheduled three times; the Apple Cup game called off; and now, a winner-take-all game to decide the Pac-12 North Division, against one of the school’s biggest rivals, Oregon, won’t happen either.

What’s next?

Since the game was ruled a “no contest,” Washington wins the division with a 3-1 record, compared to UO’s 3-2. For those who see a conspiracy, I guarantee you there isn’t a player, coach, or administrator at UW who wants to win a title that way. Besides, there is no guarantee that the Huskies can play in the Pac-12 Championship game next week.

Earlier this week, Boston College became the first, and certainly not the last, school to take a pass on Bowl Season. But bowl games are canceling dates just like regular-season games.

So if Washington can’t play next week, is the season over? After all, that’s gone on the last few months, who would blame Ana Mari Cauce, Jen Cohen, or Jimmy Lake if they shut the program down until winter workouts begin? The student-athletes haven’t been with their families for months. They’d probably love the opportunity for a few extra home-cooked meals.

Then again, maybe, just maybe, Washington can play next week. Not only can they play, but they win and become 2020 Pac-12 Champions. Now that would cancel out a whole lot of disappointment. It would also be really cool to win a title in Jimmy Lake’s first season as the Washington Huskies football head coach.

More importantly, a Pac-12 Championship would put a smile on the collective faces of HuskiesNation. After the year the entire world has been through, a few more smiles in our part of it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Related Story: PAC-12 Football Power Rankings week ending 12/6

How do you feel about another big Washington Huskies game being canceled? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.

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