For the second consecutive week, Kent State’s football team will not play due to COVID-19 concerns.

The team had been set to play Ohio University at home on Saturday to close out its Mid-American Conference only schedule, but the game has been cancelled and declared a no contest.

The MAC released a statement on Twitter at 3 p.m. today announcing the cancellation.

The game was cancelled “due to roster issues with the Kent State football team related to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contact tracing,” the statement said.

Kent State’s road game last week against the University of Miami was also cancelled due to COVID-19 issues for Kent State.

The ruling of a “no contest” for both games means the cancellations will be reflected in neither team’s record and Kent State remains at 3-1.

It is not clear at this time if the team is still actively practicing, or what its exact number of positive COVID-19 tests is.

Barring the scheduling of another game or bowl game berth, Kent State played its final football of 2020 in a 70-41 loss to the University at Buffalo on Nov. 28.

That loss to Buffalo and Kent State’s subsequent cancellations mean that Buffalo is virtually assured to represent the MAC East in the conference championship game, as no team is capable of matching its 4 wins this season. Buffalo is currently 4-0 and scheduled to play the University of Akron Saturday.

The MAC has had four football games cancelled, two of which were Kent State’s last two games. The other games were Ohio University matchups against Miami and Buffalo earlier this season.

Owen MacMillan is a sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].

SUPPORT STUDENT MEDIA 

Hi, I’m Lauren Sasala, a senior journalism student from Toledo. I’m also the editor in chief of The Kent Stater and KentWired this semester. My staff and I are committed to bringing you the most important news about Kent State and the Kent community. We are full-time students and hard-working journalists. While we get support from the student media fee and earned revenue such as advertising, both of those continue to decline. Your generous gift of any amount will help enhance our student experience as we grow into working professionals. Please go here to donate.