Rice football has postponed its first two football games, according to a report from Stadium's Brett McMurphy. 

The Owls' matchups at Marshall (Oct. 3) and the home opener against UAB (Oct. 10) are off, per the report. That would make the season opener Oct. 24 against Middle Tennessee. 

The report comes just days after Rice opted to delay the start of football practice until late September, citing infection rates and lack of access to rapid testing. The program noted that it hoped that it might have better access to such resources in the near future. 

"As much as our team wants to get on the field and start their season, we all understand the larger issues involved," said Rice coach Mike Bloomgren in a statement. "Mitigating the virus on campus has been and will remain priority one, but there is also a commitment to trying to create a consistent scenario for football be played this fall." 

If the opening two games were postponed, finding time to reschedule the games would be difficult. The Owls have scheduled games every week between Oct. 24 and Nov. 28. 

RIce previously postponed matchups against Houston and Army and cancelled matchups with LSU and Lamar in the nonconference slate. There is no timeline for when the Owls will take the field for practice, or if it will happen in the fall at all.