LOGAN — Utah State’s football calendar for the 2020 season is starting to take shape.
Following an announcement from the Mountain West Conference Wednesday night, in which a revised plan for fall sports was unveiled, the Aggies have announced that they will tentatively begin the 2020 season at BYU on Friday, Oct. 2, then begin conference play the following weekend with the current schedule.
The start of fall camp will be pushed back to Monday, Aug. 24, and USU is expected to work with Southern Utah to try and find a new date for the game that was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12.
“With the start of the season being delayed, the best course of action for the well-being and protection of our student-athletes, is to push back the start of fall camp to Aug. 24, which will allow us to continue to make up for lost time in our off-season training cycle,” USU head football coach Gary Andersen said in a released statement. “With our first game now being on Oct. 2, this schedule will give us one traditional week of camp before school starts. Although it is unconventional to be in school during fall camp, this calendar will allow for sufficient time to get ready for a season that starts in late September.”
Further decisions regarding safety standards — social distancing, face coverings, etc. — will be announced at a later date, the statement read, specifically in regards to tailgating and other game-day activities.
“While we are disappointed for our student-athletes, coaches and Aggie fans that we won’t have a full regular-season opportunity for our fall teams (cross country, football, soccer and volleyball), we are encouraged about playing a full Mountain West schedule in each of these sports,” USU vice president and director of athletics John Hartwell said in a released statement. “The health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff is, and always will be, our No. 1 priority. We are appreciative of the continued dedication and perseverance of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters through the challenges created by COVID-19.”