UConn cancels 2020 football season due to pandemic

Connecticut Huskies head coach Randy Edsall's program is the first FBS school to shut down due to the coronavirus. Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

UConn cancels 2020 football season due to coronavirus pandemic

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 8/5/20

The University of Connecticut won't have a 2020 football season.

The school announced Wednesday that it is canceling the 2020 football campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we've decided that @UConnFootball will not compete on the gridiron this season. https://t.co/R5dLlnFNo9
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) August 5, 2020

"After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we've decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season," director of athletics David Benedict said in a statement. "The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk."

UConn is the first FBS school to shut down due to the coronavirus.

Morehouse College also canceled it's football season, and Bowdoin College, a Division III school in Maine, canceled its fall athletic seasons in June due to the pandemic.

These decisions come after multiple Division I schools reported double-digit numbers of positive coronavirus cases in June.

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