College Football Game Postponed Due to COVID-19 Cases

By Brian Jones

A big college football game that was scheduled to be played on Saturday has been postponed due to multiple COVID-19 cases. The California Golden Bears were set to play the USC Trojans, but Cal announced the game has been pushed back due to players on the team testing positive for COVID-19. According to USA Today, it's the first game in the FBS this season to be postponed due to the virus. 

"It was a difficult decision to postpone this Saturday's game against USC," Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said in a statement. "We know how important every one of our games is to our 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."  

"Our heart goes out to all of the people who enjoy our games in so many ways and especially the players who only get so many chances to go out and play them," Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox said. "Postponing this game was a last resort and not an action any of us wanted to take, however it was not possible for us to field a team on Saturday."  

Cal is unable to practice this week. The Golden Bears contacted USC about rescheduling the game and the two schools agreed on the new date, which was approved by the Pac-12 Conference. The new date of Cal vs. USC is Dec. 4 - one day after the conference title game, according to ESPN. 

Cal said that 99% of the roster is vaccinated. However, the virus has impacted the team the past two weeks as they played without starting quarterback Chase Garbers, six other starters and three position coaches last week against Arizona. The Golden Bears played with less than 50 scholarship players and lost 10-3. Cal will now do what it can to prepare for its next game which is on Nov. 20 against Stanford. USC's next game will also be on Nov. 20 against UCLA. 

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