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Texas and USC will join Nebraska in not holding a spring football game this year.
Citing the workload that the Longhorns have endured through College Football Playoff runs the past two seasons, in addition to several players participating in the upcoming NFL scouting combine, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed the decision during an interview with “Up & Adams” on Thursday.
“Over the last two years, we’ve played 30 games,” Sarkisian told Kay Adams. “That’s a lot for college football. Fourteen two years ago, 16 this year. And … we’ve had 25 guys get invited to the NFL combine the last two years. So we’ve got a lot of young players on our roster, we have 21 mid-year high school kids that just showed up.
The development that’s needed for these guys to get ready for the fall is a little bit different than it used to be. Our approach is going to be a little bit more NFL-driven, kind of more of an OTA-style early on, then grow into more of a scrimmage format in the second half of spring ball,” he added. “I just don’t know if rolling the ball out and playing the game, when we only get 15 practices, is the best for us to maximize the opportunities that we get.”
Meanwhile, USC officials told ESPN that injury concerns are a big reason for the Trojans not having their spring game. Additionally, the program believes its financial resources can be utilized better to engage fans.
The reasons cited by Texas and USC are different from those expressed by Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule for canceling the Cornhuskers’ spring game. Rhule pointed to the spring transfer portal and rival coaches making offers to players after seeing them play as a reason for not having the game.
“It’s really because last year we were one of the more televised spring games and I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/texas-and-usc-canceling-spring-football-games-joining-nebraska-and-florida-state-211507746.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2025-02-20 21:15:00
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