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Miami Hurricanes football will be played on December 27, 2021.
Icon Sportswire has Samuel Lewis.
The Miami Hurricanes will not play Washington State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in 2021, because of COVID-19 protocols.
The official statement on the website of Miami was about the withdrawal from the game.
The football team will not be able to participate in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in 2021. The health and safety of our student-athletes will always be our top priority, because we do not have enough student-athletes to safely compete. My heart goes out to our student-athletes, especially our seniors, who worked hard all season to earn a bowl invitation. I would like to thank Interim Head Coach Jess Simpson and the football staff for their hard work in preparation for the bowl game.
The impact this has on the Washington State program is regrettable. The Sun Bowl Association has done a great job in helping us navigate this situation. We are thankful for their support as a bowl partner.
The news comes after multiple Hurricanes players tested positive for the drug.
The team's COVID-19 issues would prevent the Hurricanes from traveling to El Paso, Texas, for the game until one day before the game was set to be played.
The Sun Bowl executive director told the Hurricanes that they were doing everything they could to play in the game.
"I think they really want to be at the game; the way I understand it their results are headed in the right direction," he said at the time. We're all positive they're going to be here.
The Hurricanes finished the season with a record of 5-5 and earned a spot in the Sun Bowl. Washington State won three of its last four games.
The Hurricanes are not the first major program to pull out of a bowl game. Texas A&M was forced to withdraw from the Gator Bowl due to injuries.
Other teams that have pulled out of their bowl games are the Virginia Cavaliers, Boston College Eagles, and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.