Denver7 Sports

Actions

Stanford/Cal football game postponed due to wildfire

Stanford/Cal football game postponed due to wildfire
Posted

They call it "The Game." But one of the fiercest rivalry college football games will have to wait a few more weeks due to the massive Camp Fire burning in Northern California. 

Due to the poor air quality in the Bay Area from the Camp Fire, Saturday's Stanford/California football game has been postponed until Dec. 1. The game will take place one day after the Pac 12 championship game, but both teams have already been eliminated from contention. 

As of Friday, the Camp Fire has killed at least 63, and hundreds are missing. 

The game, which was going to be held on California's Berkley campus, is just one of many college sporting events being postponed this weekend due to poor air quality. 

"We have been carefully tracking air quality in Berkeley and the Bay Area over the past week, relying on the best data and guidance available to us from medical and environmental experts," California's Athletic Director Knowlton said. "The forecasts we have received show a minimal chance of the improvement necessary to hold the game on Saturday. While we would have preferred to play the Big Game on its scheduled date, once we realized that air quality would likely not return to acceptable levels, we made the decision to postpone for the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, gameday staff, students, band and spirit groups, alumni and fans."

Berkley is located roughly 150 miles from Paradise, which was the epicenter of the Camp Fire.