Not surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic will have an effect on the gameday atmosphere for Syracuse football. And Army and Buffalo as well.
Just Monday, it was confirmed that sports teams in New Jersey, including Rutgers, would not be permitted to allow fans into their games this fall. A day later, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York confirmed that college sports can go forward in the Empire State, but without fans in the stands. That will impact the Army, Buffalo and Syracuse football programs, as well as other fall sports at the universities. Some FCS programs would be impacted by the edict as well.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes, our fans, our campus community and the broader Central New York community is our chief priority,” a statement from Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack began. “We appreciate and support Governor Cuomo’s continued commitment and ongoing efforts to keeping our communities safe. We will seek further clarification regarding the opportunity to have fans at our games and move forward appropriately under the guidance of the state.”
Syracuse has already seen what will now be a fan-less home schedule impacted by COVID-19.
Earlier this week, the Patriot League announced that it was postponing all of its fall sports. Syracuse had been scheduled to open the home portion of its 2020 football slate against Colgate, a member of that FCS conference.