TCU announced Friday that its season-opening football game against SMU will not be played on Sept. 11 as planned because of positive coronavirus tests.
“In the course of following CDC guidelines and our aggressive testing and contact tracing strategy, we discovered that some student-athletes and support staff in our football program have tested positive for COVID-19,” TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said in a statement. “Those individuals were notified immediately and are currently abiding by CDC protocols.”
TCU said it will now focus on its Big 12 opener against No. 23 Iowa State on Sept. 26.
When the Big 12 went to a schedule with only one nonconference game, SMU was originally left off the Horned Frogs’ schedule. After Tennessee Tech postponed its season, however, the two schools announced Aug. 15 that they would resurrect the game, which would be the 100th meeting in the schools’ Iron Skillet rivalry.
Donati said the schools have agreed to look for a makeup date this season.
TCU and SMU will play in Fort Worth, Texas, in a previously scheduled game in 2021 before the series returns to Dallas in 2022.