More Fallout From Pandemic: UW Cancels Spring Football Practice, Game

It's fair to ask: Will there be a college football regular season come fall?

The quarterback competition won't get settled. The offensive line won't be restocked. Husky Stadium will be empty on April 25.

On Thursday night, University of Washington officials, in a release, announced the cancellation of spring football practice, pro day and what was going to be a spring game turned into an offseason extravaganza, all out of concern over the deadly pandemic sweeping the world.

No one is saying it, but it would appear there's a strong chance the college football's regular season is at great risk of being shelved as global health officials struggle to find a ready vaccine and a cure for the deadly disease.

Not even the Great Depression or World War II could cancel out a Husky football season during those perilous times. 

The closest anyone came to no football was the UW playing only five games while fighting raged overseas in 1943 -- three home contests, one in Spokane and a somewhat low-key Rose Bowl. 

"You can only control what you can control; I've learned that," new Huskies coach Jimmy Lake told the Seattle Times this week. "We're all dealing with this. The whole human race is dealing with this right now."

Lake and his coaching staff had hoped to make the spring game much more of a showcase that would draw two or three times the 10,000 to 15,000 fans who typically attend.

This latest action falls in line with earlier NCAA and Pac-12 decisions to suspend all spring competition and championships, including the NCAA basketball tournament, which would have begun this week. 

In the face of a global emergency showing no signs of slowing, the UW could offer no guidance whatsoever when football and other athletic competition might resume.

“The department leadership and the medical team will continue to assess and monitor the situation and be ready to make appropriate decisions based on guidance from health officials about resuming athletic-related events and activities,” the school release said.