SAN DIEGO — We shouldn’t be surprised, at this point, given the way things have gone throughout bowl season. Still, even as recently as Tuesday morning it seemed like everything was still on schedule.
When the news broke that UCLA was pulling out of the Holiday Bowl, a little over four hours before kickoff was supposed to be, the UCLA band was playing a brunch reception for fans and boosters.
All that’s left is a sad trombone.
N.C. State won’t get the chance to post the second 10-win season in school history, or finish this season at all. COVID-19, after all these months, remains in charge.
The Bruins’ belated withdrawal due to COVID-19 issues on their defensive line was as jarring as it was unexpected, given that UCLA had lost players to positive tests before leaving Los Angeles but seemed to make it through bowl week OK.
This is not how any of this was supposed to end for the Wolfpack. Even a loss would have been better than this, the chance to at least step out on that field and play one last game for so many players. Their joy in walking around the stadium on Monday was unfettered, and now shattered entirely.
This had been, in so many ways, an ideal bowl experience. A true celebration of not just one but two seasons of achievement, with so much still on the line.
But this is the way of the world in 2021. The ACC had gotten through this football season under a veil of normalcy that has now been pierced, with four ACC bowls now canceled.
The crux of all of this is going to be all too familiar to N.C. State. UCLA has several unvaccinated players, a competitive disadvantage as the Wolfpack learned the hard way at the College World Series.
Even on the other side, the Wolfpack ended up paying the price again, this time through no fault of its own.
“There’s a lot at stake,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said Monday. “Some of the decisions we make to try to stay healthy are very important decisions. They’re selfless decisions. Our guys have embraced another opportunity to try to beat the odds. That’s kind of what’s going on when you watch college football. There’s a lot of people who aren’t getting that done and these two teams have done that.”
Well, one of these two teams, anyway.
There’s going to be a lot of frustration directed at UCLA for depriving the Wolfpack of a chance to not only finish this season — this two-season journey — with a victory, but a springboard to next season, which with all the players returning is already one swaddled in optimism.
As the news broke, gray clouds moved in over the harbor. A sharp rain fell. The gloom was pervasive. It will linger, long after the Wolfpack returns home unsatisfied.
