USC Football Opts Out Of Playing In A 2020 Bowl Game

And just like that the 2020 season comes to a close.

Just one day after the Trojans competed in the Pac-12 championship against the Oregon Ducks, USC announced that they would be forgoing a bowl game this year.

USC Athletics said that this decision was made collectively by the USC medical team, the Trojan players and staff, head coach Clay Helton and athletic director Mike Bohn.

2020 has been a wild year. Since the Pac-12 resumed activities back in September, players have had to adhere to USC's strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols which has prohibited them from seeing their families. With no bowl game in sight, players will be able to see their families for the holidays. 

USC reported that their football program has experienced a rise in COVID-19 cases among their players and staff recently, including positive cases this past week. USC has paused all team activities for sports not in season until January 4th, 2021 due to the rising case numbers on campus. 

To add, after playing in three consecutive games in less than two weeks, the number of Trojans on the IR has increased. Looking ahead, the probability of the Trojans having the recommended 53 player threshold to play in a bowl game looked discouraging. 

Here is Head Coach Clay Helton's statement:

“I am incredibly inspired by our players and the sacrifices they made these past six months to play the game that they love,” said Helton. “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.” (Helton)

Here is USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn's statement:

“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.” 

The Trojans finish their 2020 season 5-1 overall after a loss to Oregon on Friday night. 

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