Southern California canceled a football game against UC Davis planned for September 2021, which would have been its first-ever clash with an FCS-level opponent.
Newly hired athletic director Mike Bohn said on a podcast Wednesday with 247Sports that fan reaction to the scheduled game was one of the reasons for changing course. The school now is looking for an FBS opponent to fill the Sept. 4 opening.
“I have to give our donors and fans a lot of the credit,” Bohn said on the podcast. “When I arrived, I committed to listening and learning, and the feedback from our fans was clear. Preserving our history is critically important to us and to our fans, so we worked to make that happen.”
USC revealed last July that it had scheduled the game with Davis. The Trojans are just one of three teams, joining UCLA and Notre Dame, never to have met an FCS opponent.
That game was scheduled under the watch of Lynn Swann, who resigned as athletic director in September. Bohn was hired two months later.
The Los Angeles Times reported that USC must pay a cancellation fee of $725,000 to Davis.
The Aggies finished last season with a 5-7 record, 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference.
