Even as student-athletes across the country prepare for the fall, a great deal of uncertainty hangs over a potential 2020 college football season. Now, another game has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dayton – Southeast Missouri State season-opening football game canceled
The Dayton Flyers are coming off a tremendous 2019 season that saw the program finish with an 8-2 record, including four straight wins to end the year. A season-opening matchup against Southeast Missouri State who went 9-4 last season, would have been the perfect way for both teams to begin their 2020 campaigns.
Unfortunately, this season-opening kickoff game is no longer going to happen. Southeast Missouri and Dayton have announced that their matchup on Sept. 3 is canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the decision is mutual, Dayton cited challenges created by the pandemic as the reasoning to cancel the game. Specifically, the Flyers wouldn’t have enough time to prepare themselves for the season with practice time dramatically limited by the worsening pandemic.
Now with Dayton off their schedule, Southeast Missouri is beginning its search for a new opponent to put on the schedule. The two programs will later revisit their future schedules to determine when they can safely hold a future home-and-home series.
Earlier this month, the Southern Heritage Classic between Jackson State and Tennessee State in September was canceled due to the pandemic.