USC and UCLA will begin their coronavirus-delayed and shortened football seasons Saturday with the Trojans playing host to Arizona State and the Bruins playing at Colorado.
The Pac-12 is the last of the Power Five conferences to begin its season. The Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously on Aug. 11 to postpone all sports competitions through the end of 2020 after its COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee expressed concern with moving forward with contact practice.
However, the CEO Group announced on Sep. 24 the conference’s football season would begin Nov. 7 with each team playing a seven-game conference-only season, five less than usual.
The change was the result of updated Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee recommendations that took into account increased testing capabilities, the prevalence of COVID-19 and cardiac issues, along with updated state and local health official guidance.
The switch followed an announcement earlier in September that the conference had partnered with the diagnostic firm Quidel to provide up-to-daily coronavirus testing for athletes in contact sports.
The conference’s protocols call for testing each day of full practice, higher-risk of transmission activity, travel and games.
Players are also required to undergo polymerase chain reaction testing each week there is a game. The PCR test detects the virus’ genetic material while the daily antigen tests detects the presence of the body’s immune response, or antibodies.
The PCR test will take place within 36 hours of the game for the home team and within 36 hours of travel departure for the visiting team. Any positive daily antigen test must be followed by a PCR test within 24 hours;
A third-party testing administrator will administer game-day antigen tests, and PCR tests as applicable, for each team and on-field officials.
Game-day air ambulance service will be available in case any individual tests positive while traveling for competition.
All competitions will be held without fans in attendance, a decision that will be reviewed in January.
Also absent will be mascots, like USC’s Traveler and Colorado’s Ralphie, spirit squads and bands in an attempt to limit the number of bodies on the field and allow for more social distancing.
The Pac-12 has established minimum thresholds to play a game. A team must have at least 53 scholarship players available to participate, including at least seven offensive linemen, one quarterback and four defensive linemen.
Two of the conference’s six scheduled games for Saturday have been canceled — Washington at California and Arizona at Utah — because the Golden Bears and Utes did not have the minimum number of scholarship players available because of a player testing positive for COVID-19 case and resulting isolation of additional football student-athletes under contact tracing protocols.
The conference called Friday’s cancellation of the Arizona at Utah game one day after the Washington at California cancellation “incredibly disappointing to our student-athletes and our fans.”
“At the same time it is an indication that our health and safety protocols are working in identifying positive cases and contact tracing cases,” the statement said.
“While all of us want to see our football student-athletes on the field competing, our No. 1 priority must continue to be the health and safety of all those connected to Pac-12 football programs.”
All game officials throughout college football are required to wear masks. They can only lower the mask between plays when they are social distancing but must “mask up” if anyone approaches or the next play is imminent.
The traditional whistle will not be allowed based on health concerns. Instead, each official will use an electronic whistle, recommended to be attached at the waist.
To compensate for the absence of fans, there will be artificial crowd noise at Saturday’s USC game. The Spirit of Troy marching band has provided a slate of 75 songs and cadences to be used during the game.
The Spirit of Troy will present a live halftime show that will be streamed at youtube.com/usctmb.
The 280-member band meet via Zoom for rehearsal three times a week as it normally would during the fall semester. Participants include students from across the nation and one from China.
“I’m very excited that we’re playing Trojan football,” said director Arthur C. Bartner, who is beginning his 51st and final season in the role.
“I’m disappointed that the band won’t be at the Coliseum in person but we can still present a halftime show on what we’ve been working on digitally all semester long.”
The band also recorded performances that will be shown on the “Trojan Tailgate Show” which will be streamed on the USC Trojans Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages beginning at 7 a.m.
The “Trojan Tailgate Show” will also include analysis, interviews, live look-ins at warm-ups and performances by the Song Girls and Spirit Leaders.
Fans can participate in a virtual tailgate contest during each “Trojan Tailgate Show” by sharing photos on social media of their virtual or socially distanced tailgates, using the #TrojanTailgate hashtag.
Fans displaying the most Trojan spirit will win prizes from USC Athletics.
Fans also can take photos of themselves exhibiting Trojan spirit or supporting their favorite USC player, and post them on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #USCSelfie.
The photos will be featured on the “Trojan Tailgate Show” and on the Coliseum video boards during the games.
Tailgating at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on the USC campus or in university parking lots is not permitted.
The USC-Arizona State game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a matchup of teams that have their starting quarterbacks returning and were 8-5 in 2019.
Trojans quarterback Kedon Slovis completed a Pac-12 record and NCAA freshman record 71.9% of his passes in 2019 when he was selected as the 2019 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American when he threw for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Slovis is on the watch lists for the Maxwell Award, given to college football’s top player, and the Davey O’Brien Award and Manning Award as its top quarterback.
Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels’ 8.86 yards per pass attempt were 13th among Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks. He was tied for the fewest interceptions among quarterbacks with at least 200 passes with two, one of which coming on a half-ending Hail Mary attempt.
Daniels has not thrown an interception in 157 consecutive passes, the third-longest active streak.
The 9 a.m. kickoff is the earliest for a USC home game since at least the early 1950s when complete records are available. The early start for the game televised by Fox is an attempt by the conference to raise its profile.
UCLA players will have the option of wearing a special nameplate exclusively for its 4 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) opener at Colorado that will be televised by ESPN2 as part of its athletic department’s commitment to anti-racism and social justice.
Players proposed to have the option to replace the name on the back of their jersey with a word. The words the team chose are Equality, Justice, Love, Peace and Unity.
The game marks the debut of former Bruins’ coach Karl Dorrell as the Buffaloes’ coach, replacing Mel Tucker, who resigned to become Michigan State’s coach.
Dorrell coached UCLA to a 35-27 record from 2003-07. This is Dorrell’s first head coaching job since being fired by UCLA. He has been an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and New York Jets and Vanderbilt’s offensive coordinator since being fired by UCLA.