Cal to be shorthanded vs. Zona due to protocols

Multiple California players will miss Saturday’s game against Arizona after entering COVID protocols, the school said Thursday.

Citing student privacy laws, Cal did not specify which players would miss the game, or how many are in the protocols.

It did disclose that 99% of its players are fully vaccinated, and that all other players will be tested and cleared prior to traveling to Tucson, Arizona, for the game.

“Our primary concern is for the health of our student athletes, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said in the statement. “As we know this pandemic is not over. We need to respect it and understand that it can affect much of what we do every day. Even with 99 percent of our football student-athletes fully vaccinated, we have seen that breakthrough cases are still possible.”

Cal is 3-5 and will face an Arizona (0-8) team that is winless.