Cancellation of Houston game raises concerns over status of UNT's season

Those hopes continued to dwindle on Wednesday, when UNT’s game at Houston was called off. UNT reported four people within its athletics department had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Contact tracing protocols made it impossible for UNT to play what was to be its first road game of the season.

“Our student-athlete health and safety is the priority in every decision we make and that is what this difficult decision is based on,” Baker said in a statement announcing the move. “We are hopeful we can resume safe activities soon.”

The question for UNT is when it will reach that point and how many more games it will play this season. The Mean Green have already had two games knocked off their schedule.

UNT was supposed to face Texas A&M in College Station on Sept. 12. That game was eliminated when the SEC elected to move to a 10-game conference-only schedule.

The Mean Green got in their season-opener and hammered Houston Baptist 57-31 before struggling in a 65-35 loss to SMU last week.

UNT’s next opportunity will come in Conference USA play. The Mean Green are scheduled to open their league slate on Oct. 3 with a home game against Southern Miss.

The question now is if UNT will be in position to play.

The four members of the UNT athletics department who tested positive went into quarantine.

UNT officials acknowledged before UNT’s game against SMU that linebackers KD Davis and Tyreke Davis were unavailable for medical reasons. UNT coach Seth Littrell declined to detail the reasons behind their absence after the game.

Even if UNT is in position to play games later this season, there is no guarantee the opponents on its schedule will be. Rice has announced that it has delayed the start of football practice until late September due to the spread of the virus in Houston.

The Mean Green are scheduled to take on the Owls on Nov. 21.

Conference USA is requiring its schools to test football players three times per week. UNT is far from the only team in the league that has had games canceled or postponed this fall.

Marshall, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, UTSA and UAB have also had games postponed or canceled.

The Mean Green are scheduled to host Charlotte on Oct. 10 and Louisiana Tech on Nov. 7, as well as travel to UAB on Nov. 14 and UTSA on Nov. 28.

UNT coach Seth Littrell acknowledged the uncertainty his program faces heading into its season opener against Houston Baptist.

“All we can do is focus and try to get prepared and ready to play,” Littrell said. “I’m really proud of our guys, the way they’ve handled themselves because it can be an up-and-down emotional process. They’ve handled it with maturity, and I think our coaches have handled it very well.”

UNT continued to see games drop off its schedule despite those efforts when its showdown with the Cougars became the latest casualty of the pandemic.

Stadium picks up four UNT games

Stadium, a broadcast/web network, announced Thursday that it has picked up four UNT games.

Those games include UNT’s 6:30 p.m. home game against Southern Miss on Oct. 3 and away games at Middle Tennessee (4 p.m. on Oct. 17), UAB (2 p.m. on Nov. 14) and UTSA (2 p.m. on Nov. 28).