Over two dozen Florida Atlantic football players, staff test positive for COVID-19

Over two dozen individuals associated with the Florida Atlantic Owls football program tested positive for COVID-19 last week. 

As Adam Rittenberg noted for ESPN, Florida Atlantic head coach Willie Taggart told reporters on Monday that 18 players and an additional nine staff members tested positive for the virus. As a result of the outbreak, FAU canceled a scheduled Oct. 10 game against Southern Mississippi. 

Florida Atlantic has already had three of a possible four contests scrapped from its slate because of coronavirus-related issues. The Owls were supposed to open their season against Georgia Southern on Sept. 19 but couldn't play in that game because they couldn't field a full squad. 

"Following results of Thursday's COVID-19 testing, it was determined the Owls would be unable to play Saturday," the school said in a statement. That game was moved to Dec. 5.

The following week, Florida Atlantic's game against South Florida was lost after USF temporarily suspended football activities due to the discovery of a coronavirus outbreak within the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, South Florida's opponent the previous Saturday. 

Florida Atlantic defeated Charlotte 21-17 on Oct. 3 in its only game, to date, of the altered campaign. The Owls are set to be idle for the upcoming weekend before an Oct. 24 road contest at Marshall.