CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Saturday’s game between No. 12 North Carolina and Charlotte has been canceled after the 49ers announced contact tracing had depleted the offensive line.

Charlotte announced the decision Thursday, two days before the Conference USA program was to visit Chapel Hill for the first meeting between the schools.

The school said in a statement there had been three positive coronavirus cases among football players discovered through regular testing during the past two weeks. The school didn’t specify how many offensive linemen were affected by contract tracing, saying only it was “several.”

“We’re extremely disappointed to have to cancel our game at North Carolina,” Charlotte athletic director Mike Hill said. “While I know our team is heartbroken, due to the number of players in quarantine, we could not safely play. We very much appreciate the University of North Carolina working with us to schedule this game.”

UNC and Charlotte announced Aug. 8 that they would meet six weeks later. That came after the Atlantic Coast Conference revamped its scheduling model when it decided to go forward with football, allowing for 10 league games and one nonconference matchup played in the home state of the member school.

The Tar Heels opened last weekend with a win against Syracuse, but now have two straight open weekends on the schedule for now. North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said the school will look for a replacement game on Sept. 26 while coach Mack Brown said the Tar Heels “completely understand and appreciate Charlotte’s transparency” in the decision.