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Florida State-Wake Forest game canceled as coronavirus strikes again

ACC says Seminoles have 'insufficient number of available offensive linemen'
North Carolina State Wolfpack linebacker C.J. Hart Jr. sacks Florida State Seminoles QB Chubba Purdy in 2020
Posted at 12:57 PM, Dec 18, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-18 12:57:47-05

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Just like that, Florida State's football season has come to an end.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Friday that the Florida State at Wake Forest game has been canceled.

"Earlier today, Florida State informed the conference office of a positive test, subsequent quarantining and contact tracing resulting in Florida State having an insufficient number of available offensive linemen" as specified in the ACC's COVID-19 guidelines.

The Seminoles (3-6, 2-6 ACC) didn't play for almost a month before finally returning to the field in a 56-35 victory over Duke last weekend.

Florida State's home game against Clemson was postponed on the day it was supposed to be played after the Tigers traveled to Tallahassee with a player who tested positive. That led head coach Dabo Swinney to berate Florida State's administration, believing that FSU forfeited the game by choosing not to play.

FSU head coach Mike Norvell defended the decision to postpone the game, further leading Swinney to criticize the football program.

A similar incident occurred the next weekend when Virginia traveled to Tallahassee, only to learn on the morning that the game was supposed to be played that it had been postponed because of positive cases on FSU's team.

Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall later told reporters he had "no interest" in returning to Tallahassee.

Both games were eventually canceled, instead replaced by Duke and Wake Forest.

Although it's possible Florida State could play in a bowl game after the NCAA waived its minimum-win requirement for this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been no indication that the Seminoles would accept an invite.

The Demon Deacons (4-4, 3-4 ACC), meanwhile, haven't won since Halloween and have only played two games since the start of November.