This seemed a real possibility when USC coach Clay Helton was asked after the Pac-12 championship game loss Friday night whether he expected his team to play in a bowl game, and he said he hadn't thought about it at all yet.
Well, some thought was had Saturday within the program, and it's now official -- USC will opt out of any potential bowl invite, ending its season with a 5-1 record.
The Trojans' official news release said the decision was reached collectively by the USC medical team, the players and staff, head coach Clay Helton and athletic director Mike Bohn.
"The decision was made following a recommendation from the USC medical team and discussions with the Trojan football leadership council," the news release states. "The football program has experienced a rise in COVID-19 cases among its players and staff recently, including positive cases this past week. Due to a variety of factors, including injuries stemming from playing three games in 13 days, the number of available Trojan scholarship players is nearing the Pac-12’s recommended 53-player threshold needed to play a game. With COVID-19 cases increasing locally, USC has already paused until Jan. 4, 2021 all team activities in sports currently not in season. The USC men’s basketball team is in a 14-day quarantine as a result of a positive COVID case.
"By opting out of the bowl game, Trojan players will have the opportunity to spend time with their families during the holiday break. Due to the program’s stringent COVID-19 health and safety protocols, the players have been separated from their families since the Pac-12 voted to resume football practices and competitions in September."
USC had not announced any positive COVID-19 cases within the football program specifically leading into the Pac-12 championship game. As the release notes, USC was playing for the third time in 13 days while Oregon had the previous week off. The Ducks would win 31-24, while star USC wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown left with an AC joint injury in his shoulder and QB Kedon Slovis also had his shoulder X-rayed after the game.
The Trojans entered the game without running backs Vavae Malepeai (knee) and Kenan Christon (unknown).
Many schools nationally, including UCLA, Stanford, Utah and Washington in the Pac-12, had already stated that their programs will decline bowl bids after making it through the adversity and obstacles of his pandemic season.
“I am incredibly inspired by our players and the sacrifices they made these past six months to play the game that they love,” Helton said in a statement. “They did everything we asked of them to abide by the challenging guidelines they had to follow to stay safe and well, whether it was daily testing or keeping distant from family and friends or training in less-than-ideal ways. It has not been easy, and it is hard for anyone outside the program to understand how immensely difficult these past few months have been for them. We all share the desire to stay healthy and be with loved ones during the holidays and I fully support this collective decision. I thank our players for their remarkable efforts. We are all disappointed by how our season ended, but I am extremely proud of our players and it is an honor to be their coach.”
Said Bohn: “We are a student-athlete-centered athletics program; thus we fully support the decision to opt out of a bowl game this year. The physical and mental health and the safety of our student-athletes is paramount, and this season has been unimaginably taxing on our players in particular. This will allow them to be with their families who they haven’t seen for a long time and begin preparing for their spring semester academics. We are sincerely grateful for how our student-athletes, coaches and staff handled this unprecedented season and worked through so much adversity. I thank them for their incredible passion and effort these past few months. We are thankful for all the support we’ve received from our campus partners, medical community, athletics staff, donors and fans. We are looking forward to the 2021 season.”
