After a big 24-21 win at Aloha Stadium against previously unbeaten Nevada, Hawaii athletic director David Matlin is scrambling this weekend to see if the Warriors can face another undefeated Mountain West team.
The Rainbow Warriors are slated to play at San Jose State (4-0) on Saturday.
But due to COVID-19 mandates, the Spartans cannot host the game because of Santa Clara County quarantine rules, according to a news release Saturday from the school.
Also, the Spartans had their game at Boise State canceled Saturday, hours before the scheduled kickoff at Boise’s Albertsons Stadium. The Broncos — who won at Hawaii last week despite 12 players out of uniform with virus concerns — have put football on pause.
It could also be problematic for San Jose State and UH to play somewhere else; the county rules require a 14-day quarantine for anyone who returns after a trip anywhere 150 miles away.
Taken at face value, this would mean the Spartans now can’t play at all for two weeks following the road trip to Boise.
As positive tests for COVID-19 have spiked this fall, college football games nationwide have been canceled — often on short notice, as various jurisdictions and conferences enforce various emergency rules.
Other than all of its nonconference games (like the rest of the Mountain West), Hawaii has yet to have any of its eight-game abbreviated schedule affected. This would be the first.
Matlin met with his San Jose State counterpart, Mary Tuite, and Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson on Saturday. But nothing was resolved.
“I don’t expect an update until (Sunday),” he said via text message a few minutes after the start of the Nevada game.
“But who knows? This is 2020,” Matlin said.
Some of the burning questions:
>> If the Spartans are allowed to play the Rainbow Warriors could the game be held at Aloha Stadium?
>> Could it take place in Las Vegas where other Mountain West games that had to be played at a different venue were held?
>> Or would it just go down as another “no contest” for both teams?
>> How do missing games, with “no contest” results affect teams contending to play in the postseason conference championship game?
San Jose State is 4-0 this season, so the situation is especially frustrating for the Spartans. The game against defending conference champion and perennial power Boise State (4-1, 4-0 in conference) would have been one of the Spartans’ most significant opportunities in recent years.
Boise State beat Hawaii 40-32 on Nov. 21 at Aloha Stadium.
