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The Cal Golden Bears will be without several players during this weekend’s Pac 12 matchup against the Arizona Wildcats.
On Thursday, the university announced that multiple players within the football program are currently in COVID-19 protocol and will not suit up on Saturday.
The university has not specified which or how many players are currently in protocol.
Multiple Cal players are in COVID protocol & will not play Saturday at Arizona, school announced. Cal did not specify which players or how many
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 4, 2021
According to the university, all student-athletes traveling to Tucson will be tested and cleared prior to departing the Bay Area. The school also indicated that 99% of its football players are fully vaccinated against the virus.
“Our primary concern is for the health of our student-athletes, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Jim Knowlton, Cal Director of Athletics, said in a 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.”
Heading into Saturday’s contest in Arizona Stadium, the 3-5 Golden Bears are 12-point favorites over the 0-8 Wildcats. But, depending on which and how many players are ruled out, those odds could be subject to change.
Unfortunately for Cal, this news comes just as the team was starting to get its season on track. After starting the year at 1-5, the Golden Bears have now claimed two straight victories over Colorado and Oregon State.