USC football game rescheduled for Dec. 4 due to Cal's COVID cases

USC's football game Saturday at Cal has been officially postponed, Cal announced Tuesday afternoon.

The two schools then later released a joint statement that the game has been rescheduled for Dec. 4.

"Cal contacted USC about rescheduling the game and the two schools agreed on the new date," the news release said. "The Pac-12 approved the decision to reschedule the game. The kickoff time and broadcast television network will be announced at a later date."

The initial confirmation that the game would not be played this week, soon after it was initially reported by Bay Area News Group's Jon Wilner, came just as the Trojans were heading out to the practice field.

This is the first FBS game disrupted by COVID this year.

Per Cal's official news release, the game is postponed "due to additional Cal football student-athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 and are unavailable to practice this week or play in this contest."

As neither team is in the hunt for the Pac-12 championship at this point, they will now be playing this game the day after the conference title game.

USC interim head coach Donte Williams shared his reaction after practice Tuesday and talked about why the Trojans didn't want to take a forfeit from Cal.

"We want to play the game. It's fortunate that they get a chance to play the game. They did things the right way where they have a team that's 99% vaccinated. And for them not to get to play would just be a crime," Williams said. "We kind of went through it last year with us having to forfeit a game. It's good that we get a chance to play. These guys get another game under their belt and we get 12 regular season games. I'm looking forward to that. ...

"We want to play the game, and a forfeit is not the way to go and that's not the way you want to qualify for a bowl game. Our whole thing is fighting on and competing. That's our biggest thing is competing and I'm pretty sure they want to compete against us. We look forward to that opportunity."

USC held a shorter practice than normal Tuesday and Williams said they would reset their schedule and treat Wednesday like a Monday practice while turning the focus to preparing for rival UCLA in two weekends.

USC did not make players and assistant coaches available as per a usual Tuesday practice -- it was just Williams this time and he talked about the players' reaction from his perspective.

"They found out that the game was pretty much postponed right before we came out here, and they came out here still with the right kind of energy to prepare, practice against each other. And then right after practice ended, they found out pretty much that the game would still be played and they was happy about that," he said. "No one goes to college and says I want to play one less game than everyone else. Everyone goes and they come here and they want to compete and go against each other, so we look forward to that."

Cal, meanwhile, released a statement from athletic director Jim Knowlton.

"It was a difficult decision to postpone this Saturday's game against USC," Knowlton said. "We know how important every one of our games is to the student-athletes, especially our seniors who have been incredible representatives of the program, but it was the right thing to do. Due to additional impact on specific position groups, we have decided to postpone Saturday's game. We have had multiple COVID-19 positives within our program, and we are taking every step we can to mitigate the spread and protect the greater community."

The Trojans (4-5) need to win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible.

As for the issues up in Berkeley, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers vented on Twitter on Monday night about the lack of clarity being given to the players as to the COVID procedures.