Two more college football bowl games were canceled Sunday due to COVID-19 complications among the teams set to participate in the events. The 2021 Military Bowl was canceled after Boston College was forced to pull out of the game against East Carolina as it was short on available players due to a combination of COVID-19 cases and injuries; and the Fenway bowl between SMU and Virginia was canceled after Virginia was unable to travel after players on the team tested positive for the virus.
Boston College said it did not have enough players to field a team with more than 40 players sidelined due to COVID-19 cases, season-ending injuries opt-outs and transfers. Said Boston College coach Jeff Hafley: “This is not the way we wanted to see this season come to an end,” We just do not have enough players to safely play a game. My heart goes out to our seniors who will not have one final opportunity to wear a BC jersey and I can’t thank them enough for all the contributions they made to our program.”
Virginia said the entire team was tested Christmas morning after some players had tested positive ahead of the team’s departure, with additional positives revealed Sunday keeping the team from being able to participate in the bowl game. Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said: “We are extremely disappointed the team will not be able to participate in the inaugural Fenway Bowl. Playing this game was something our team very much looked forward to and it is unfortunate Coach Mendenhall will not have one last opportunity to coach this group.”
In addition to the Military Bowl and Fenway Bowl, the Hawaii Bowl between Hawaii and Memphis on Christmas Eve had already been canceled after the former backed out; and Texas A&M was forced to pull out of the Gator Bowl due to COVID-19 issues — however, Rutgers stepped in as a replacement to allow the Bowl to take place.
editorial credit: Jay Yuan / Shutterstock.com
