James Madison is pausing its football workouts due to an uptick in coronavirus cases.

On Thursday, JMU assistant athletic director for communications Kevin Warner said the football program has five new cases since this past Friday. Four are asymptomatic cases and one is a symptomatic presumed positive, he said.

There are 25 other individuals from within the football program quarantining as a result of contact tracing, and there is one athlete from another sport who tested positive for the coronavirus but has an asymptomatic case.

Warner said the football Dukes will not resume workouts any earlier than Sept. 7.

The jump in cases coincides with the school’s reopening as students returned to Harrisonburg for the semester this past weekend. Between July 1 and Aug. 21 when athletes began returning to JMU, the athletic department had conducted 511 tests resulting in only three positive – all asymptomatic – cases of COVID-19.

Earlier Thursday, the University reported over 100 new cases of coronavirus via its online COVID-19 dashboard.

Though JMU was holding football workouts, it isn’t playing a regular season this fall after its attempt to do so as an FCS independent didn’t work out. That came on the heels of its conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, canceling its season last month.

The Dukes, who have appeared in three of the last four FCS national championship games, are aiming to play this spring instead.

Warner said at this time, football is the only sport paused.