USC football to play UCLA in September, per report

USC football’s adjusted 2020 season will move the UCLA game to September, per report.

It’s been clear for a while now that USC football’s 2020 schedule will be heavily changed by the coronavirus pandemic. That new slate is slowly but surely starting to take shape.

The Pac-12’s new 10-game schedule will involve moving the annual USC-UCLA rivalry game to Sept. 26, Tracy Pierson of Bruin Report Online reported on Tuesday night.

USC was originally scheduled to play Arizona State on that Saturday.

USC football hasn’t played UCLA in September since World War II.

The first-ever meetings between USC and UCLA took place on the final weekend of September in 1929 and 1930. However, the two rivals haven’t squared off in the first month of the season since 1945 when they played on Sept. 21, their earliest ever meeting.

It’s unclear how much USC’s schedule will differ from the existing plan. Pierson was tipped off regarding UCLA’s first two games against Cal and USC alone.

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The Trojans original slate included out of conference games against Alabama and New Mexico to start the season. Those have since been canceled.

The conference campaign was meant to start with Stanford on Sept. 19 followed by dates with ASU, Utah, Cal and Arizona. A bye week would have split the month of October, end with a Haloween battle against Colorado. Contests against Oregon, Washington and UCLA would then follow in November.

The annual rivalry game with Notre Dame which was supposed to conclude the regular season on Nov. 28 has been canceled.

The official Pac-12 schedule for 2020 is expected to be revealed sometime after the conference presidents meet on Friday.

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USC still faces many questions as it moves towards beginning the season. Fortunately for the Trojans, they have reported zero positive COVID-19 results in their latest round of testing. Meanwhile, conditioning and weight training workouts have begun thanks to an outdoor setup in compliance with restrictions in the city of California.

The real hurdle to clear will be successfully beginning Fall Camp practices as planned in early August.