Baylor is temporarily closing its football facilities as a precaution because of the coronavirus but still hopes to play its regular-season finale against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
“At this time and in the interest of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff, we have temporarily closed our football facility and are taking all possible precautions,” athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. “Our focus remains on playing the scheduled game with Oklahoma State at McLane Stadium on December 12.”
Baylor did not release any specifics as to what caused the shutdown of facilities.
The school releases weekly updates on COVID-19 cases within the entire athletic department on Mondays. In its most recent update Dec. 7, Baylor indicated that there were seven active cases of COVID-19 in all sports, six of which were new from the previous week. Six of the seven cases were symptomatic.
There have been 151 positive cases in the department since June 1.
Baylor (2-6) has had three games canceled or postponed this season because of coronavirus-related issues, including the Oklahoma State game, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 17 but had to be postponed because of an increase in COVID-19 cases on Baylor’s roster.
A Sept. 12 nonconference game against Louisiana Tech was canceled because of coronavirus spread on the Bulldogs’ roster, while a game scheduled with Houston on Sept. 19 was called off because positive cases and contact tracing left Baylor one offensive lineman short of the Big 12’s positional threshold.