Author: Wade Flavion

MADISON- Wisconsin Football announced on Tuesday night that because of a continued rise in cases of COVID-19 among players and staff that the game on Nov. 7th against the Purdue Boilermakers will be canceled. The Badgers will continue to pause football activities until further notice.

The Purdue matchup is the second game that Wisconsin will have canceled since the first positive test for COVID-19 was reported of starting quarterback Graham Mertz by Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wisconsin also canceled their game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers last weekend after the team shut down all football facilities on Oct. 28. Other reported cases on the Badgers include that of backup quarterback Chase Wolf and head coach Paul Chryst

The team announced via Twitter on Tuesday the addition of five cases of COVID-19 among players from the last update of 22 total cases announced by Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez on ESPN College GameDay on Saturday.

The total now comes to 27 active cases of COVID-19 in the Wisconsin football program including both staff and players as of Nov. 3. There are currently 15 active cases among players and 12 among staff.

Wisconsin hopes to return to action against the Michigan Wolverines at the ‘Big House' in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 14. Since Mertz's first positive test came on Oct. 24, he could be eligible to return against the Wolverines and could play an even bigger role in the offense if the Badgers are down a significant amount of players.