Coronavirus Football Sports

UH to open 2020 against Memphis on Sept. 19 after Rice delays start

Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen on the sidelines at TDECU Stadium in a game against SMU during the 2019 season. | Trevor Nolley/The Cougar

Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen on the sidelines at TDECU Stadium in a game against SMU during the 2019 season. | Trevor Nolley/The Cougar

The Houston football team is scheduled to wait at least an additional 16 days until it kicks off its 2020 season after Rice announced that it will delay the start of its season until Sept. 26.

The Cougars were scheduled to start the season on Sept. 3 against the Owls and are now set to open the year on Sept. 19 against the Memphis Tigers.

“Throughout this process, our program has maintained an open line of communication with Rice athletics director Joe Karlgaard regarding our previously scheduled game for Sept. 3,” athletic director Chris Pezman said in a statement released by UH. “We hope to reschedule our matchup with Rice at some point during the 2020 season and look forward to continuing this series in years to come.”

The Owls’ announcement comes during a time of uncertainty for the entire NCAA after Saturday’s decision by the Mid-American Conference to not hold sports in the fall. The American Athletic Conference is waiting to see what the Power-5 conferences do for their seasons.

The postponement of the game against Rice marks the second change that UH has had to its schedule after the contest against Washington State was axed due to Pac-12’s decision to go conference-only back in July.

The contests against North Texas and BYU are the only remaining scheduled non-conference games for the University in 2020.

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