Saturday’s Conference USA game between Charlotte and Florida International has been postponed, the fifth college football game postponed this weekend because of COVID-19 concerns.
Positive tests at FIU led to the postponement, which was announced Thursday night.
Charlotte had already canceled a game against North Carolina due to its own COVID-19 issues, then saw its game against Georgia Southern postponed a week later. Saturday’s game against FIU was set to be the 49ers’ first home game of the season.
Florida International has had similar issues so far this season. The Panthers have played just two games, postponing the start of its season in August, which nixed games against Jacksonville State and UCF.
The postponement follows a similar situation in the American Athletic Conference, when Cincinnati and Tulsa were forced to cancel their game Saturday, as well as two SEC showdowns between Vanderbilt and Missouri and Florida and LSU.
Earlier this month, Charlotte coach Will Healy expressed frustration over the string of cancellations and postponements and the toll it has taken on players.
“That’s what I struggle with: What do you tell your team and what can you promise your team?” Healy said. “I finally just told them I can’t promise anything other than if we continue to get better during these crazy times, we’ll be really good by the end of the year. And if we take days off because we don’t know when we’re playing, we will be caught off guard when we finally do play a game.”
Florida International is next scheduled to play Oct. 23 vs. Jacksonville State, while Charlotte is set to host UTEP on Oct. 24.