Clay Helton addresses addition of FCS opponent to 2021 schedule

Two weeks ago, USC dropped a news release on a Friday -- typically the time organizations and entities put out something for which they don't want a ton of attention -- announcing that the Trojans had signed a contract to play FCS foe UC Davis in 2021.

It will mark the first time the USC football program will play an FCS opponent, and that break from tradition rattled many within the fan base.

Head coach Clay Helton was asked to weigh in Wednesday at Pac-12 Media Day, and understandably he was deferential to the USC athletic administration.

It was also clear he had prepared for the expected question.

"One, I think scheduling is hard for our athletic administration. I know our athletic administration is always going to do what they feel is best for our fan base and for our university," Helton said. "... To garner a seventh home game, that's special. You look at the last 10 national champions, they had seven home games or more, each one of them. And nine of the 10 played an FCS opponent. And there's a fiscal responsibility that the university, the athletic administration is responsible for also.

"So decisions are hard and scheduling is hard, and at some point in time when you're looking at the 2021 season you've got to make a decision and they made what they felt was the best decision for our university."

The USC news release from two weeks ago stated that the Trojans had negotiated "with a number of FBS schools" to fill that Sept. 4, 2021, spot on the schedule but were unsuccessful.

Rivals Notre Dame and UCLA are the only other two FBS programs that have not scheduled an FCS opponent in their history.

In preparing for the inevitable question, Helton had also done his research.

"UC Davis is a good football team. You look at their Sagarin ranking, they were ahead of 37 Division I [FBS] football teams. They're a quality opponent that's beat a Pac-12 football team before," he said. "... They actually beat another team that we scheduled in San Jose State (on the schedule in 2024) last year. It's a quality opponent that our guys thought was best for us in the moment."

Helton reiterated the value of locking in a seventh home (which of course doesn't necessarily require an FCS opponent to make happen) and also emphasized that he does not worry about perception in regard to strength of schedule -- especially considering that outside of those few schools who have stuck to tradition, FBS vs. FCS guaranteed money games are commonplace in the sport.

The FCS school gladly takes a big pay day and the FBS program counts on an expected win in its home stadium.

"I think every head coach in the world would love a seventh home game, especially with a [renovated] stadium, a new excitement for this. I think definitely if you can garner a seventh home game, especially when you're playing nine conference games, to garner another game in that stadium, in the Coliseum, which is a very menacing arena, it's going to help. So I think every coach would love to have seven," he said.

"... I never worry about us because when you play nine conference games and Notre Dame every year, if you do your job you're walking into the playoff. … It just makes your resume."