The University at Buffalo football team’s 2020 schedule continues to shrink.
The Northeast Conference announced Wednesday that it will postpone its fall sports season this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. That means the Bulls will not host St. Francis, a Football Championship Subdivision program that is a member of the NEC, in their home opener Sept. 12 at UB Stadium.
“With the Northeast Conference’s decision to postpone fall sports this year, we will not be able to host Saint Francis in our football home opener on September 12th," UB athletic director Mark Alnutt said Thursday in a statement released by the athletic department. "After speaking with their Director of Athletics, James Downer, we’ll work together to reschedule this contest in a future season.”
A UB athletic department spokesperson told the News that UB is monitoring the national landscape and exploring options as it works with the Mid-American Conference, to fill the two open dates on the 2020 football schedule.
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NEC commissioner Noreen Morris said in a statement the decision to postpone fall sports was "exceedingly difficult."
"The NEC Council of Presidents focused on the importance of the health and safety and well-being of our entire campus communities,” Morris said.
Downer also released a statement Wednesday night, regarding the NEC's decision.
"This decision was made with the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans being at the forefront and we fully support that decision," Downer said.
The Bulls already lost one game from their schedule earlier this month, when its Sept. 19 trip to Ohio State was canceled. The Big Ten announced July 10 that it will not play non-conference games in fall sports because of the pandemic.
The loss of the game also put Ohio State’s payout of $1.8 million to UB in jeopardy.
UB’s payout to St. Francis was redacted in a game contract obtained by The News from the school through a Freedom of Information Law request. The contract, however, includes a force majeure clause that voids the contract between the two schools and requires neither team to compensate the other in the event that playing the game is made “impossible.” There is no specific language in the contract regarding a pandemic.
UB now has a 10-game schedule that includes non-conference games Sept. 5 at Kansas State and Oct. 24 at Army. UB's first home football game is now scheduled for Oct. 3 against Akron at UB Stadium.
Zinn-Turner to join UB as grad transfer
Eddie Zinn-Turner will join the UB football team as a graduate transfer after playing at Marist College, an FCS program, and at Vanderbilt.
Zinn-Turner is a 6-foot-1, 315-pound defensive tackle from Canton, Ohio. He told The News in a direct message that he was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Zinn-Turner played three seasons in four years at Marist, where he had 132 tackles (38 solo), 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. He joined the Vanderbilt football program prior to the 2019 season, but sustained an injury to his left knee during the 2019 preseason that required season-ending knee surgery in October.
