SAN JOSE, CA – OCTOBER 24: San Jose State’s Derrick Deese (87) celebrates his second touchdown of the third quarter against Air Force, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Due to restrictions put in place by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, the San Jose State football team was only recently cleared to begin practicing and hosting games at CEFCU Stadium.
Now a health order in Bernalillo County, New Mexico will keep the Spartans from hitting the road for their second game of the season.
The Mountain West Conference announced Monday that San Jose State’s Saturday matchup with the University of New Mexico will be moved from Albuquerque to San Jose due to coronavirus restrictions in the Lobos’ home county.
“Due to the continued prevalence of the COVID-19 virus in Bernalillo County and in accordance with state guidelines, the New Mexico-San José State football game, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31, has been relocated to CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, California,” the conference announced.
The Spartans spent the first half of October practicing in Humboldt County until the athletic department received clearance from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department for the program to begin playing in San Jose.
San Jose State opened its season at home on Saturday with a 17-6 upset victory over the Air Force Falcons and was initially preparing to travel to Albuquerque this weekend, but those plans were put on hold after New Mexico’s scheduled road trip to play at Colorado State on Saturday was canceled.
“Everybody is dealing with some complication from the pandemic,” Spartans coach Brent Brennan said during a Monday press conference. “It’s the reality of the situation that we’re in and everybody is doing the best they can.”
The state of New Mexico’s health guidelines requires the 14-day average daily case count for Bernalillo County to be fewer than eight per 100,000 and test positivity rate of under 5% for 14 days prior to an athletic competition.
When the Lobos’ game at Colorado State was canceled, data published by the New Mexico Department of Public Health showed the average daily case count over a recent 14-day period to be 14.1% per 100,000 residents. The Department of Public Health has not updated its website in more than two weeks, meaning the most recent 14-day period tracked covers Sept. 29-Oct. 12.
The next update isn’t expected to take place Wednesday, Oct. 28, but the conference made the decision to move the game on Monday which should give New Mexico a chance to finalize travel plans.
It’s unclear why the Lobos were not able to travel to Fort Collins, Colorado and are permitted to leave the state to play in San Jose, and the conference did not address the discrepancy in its statement.
When Santa Clara County moved from California’s orange, or moderate, coronavirus tracking tier on October 13, officials said they planned to monitor the actions of San Jose State’s football program.
“We’ve made it very clear the authorization to proceed is contingent on careful, thorough and complete adherence to those protocols,” county counsel James Williams said earlier this month.
The Spartans are likely energized following their win over Air Force and grateful to add an additional home game to their schedule, but Brennan acknowledged that preparing to face the Lobos won’t be easy. San Jose State has no game film to watch of New Mexico’s 2020 team.
“They didn’t play and they didn’t have spring practice,” Brennan said. “There’s so much unknown there.”
