In what was a common occurrence a year ago, an NCAA football game has been postponed due to COVID-19. Unlike last year, this is the only FBS game moved so far in 2021, as Southern Cal’s trip to face Pac-12 foe Cal has been rescheduled from this Saturday to Dec. 4.
The Golden Bears were ravaged by a surge of players being deemed ineligible to play a week ago, helping to contribute to Cal’s ugly 10-3 loss to the Arizona Wildcats, previous losers of 20 games in a row.
Seven starters, including starting quarterback Chase Garbers, as well as 24 players and coaches overall were unavailable to Cal in the loss. The school announced Tuesday an undisclosed number of additional players have tested positive for COVID-19, necessitating a postponement.
USC and Cal negotiated a rescheduled date, and the Pac-12 approved the move.
Previously, the Pac-12 announced that teams will receive forfeits for COVID-19-related cancellations in 2021-22, but with the wiggle room to allow commissioner George Kliavkoff to have full discretion to rule differently on a case-by-case basis.
Garbers put out a statement on social media Monday, expressing frustration with Cal’s testing methodology and how it is communicated to athletes.
USC (4-5, 3-4 Pac-12) is now off this weekend before the Trojans play host to UCLA (5-4, 3-3) on Nov. 20. Cal (3-6, 2-4) will next travel to Stanford (3-6, 2-5) to take on the Cardinal Nov. 20.
