Northwestern and Navy officials agreed Wednesday to cancel Saturday’s football game in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
“I think we’re all disappointed,” said quarterback Zak Kustok. “We were excited to play. But there’s a lot bigger world out there than Northwestern football. We understand that.”
NU athletic director Rick Taylor said officials made the decision to cancel NU’s home opener because it was in the best interest of both schools.
“It was an easy decision for us to make,” Taylor said. “We understand that other schools may be able to go ahead with their games, but given the unique circumstance of playing one of our U.S. military academies, we felt it best not to play on Saturday.”
Taylor said the game will not be rescheduled, although NU could later add a game to its schedule.
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Most Division I college football games will be played Saturday after NCAA officials agreed to allow individual conferences to choose whether to play.
Penn State, Ohio State and Purdue have canceled or postponed this weekend’s games, while the Big Ten’s seven other schools are expected to play if travel can be completed, Big Ten officials said.
When NU’s football team took the practice field Wednesday afternoon, they were preparing themselves to play Navy. Head coach Randy Walker said he was informed of the decision to cancel the game halfway through practice.
“I was disappointed,” Walker said. “We’re all anxious to play, but we all respect the situation. I think it was the right decision.”
Walker told his players after practice that the game was canceled.
“I tried to impress upon (the players) how significant this was,” he said. “I think this has a huge impact on the fate of our country. There’s a whole bunch of sorrow in this country and complaining about a football game seems kind of small.”
Still, Walker said he was frustrated with the circumstances that will bring the team into late September having played only one game.
“I’m trying to figure out what the best thing to do is,” he said. “You can only practice so much. It’s just one of those difficult things.”
Walker said the team will practice regularly this week, but has no firm schedule for this weekend.
NU will play its final non-conference football game Sept. 22 at Duke. The new home opener is scheduled for Sept. 29 against Michigan State.
Officials also canceled all other athletic events scheduled through Sunday, Sept. 16. Intercollegiate competition will resume Friday, Sept. 21 with men’s soccer and women’s soccer and volleyball matches.
