South Carolina gamecocks out of the Gasparilla Bowl due to problems with COVID-19

With South Carolina unable to play the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl on Saturday against UAB because of problems with COVID-19, the bowl game was canceled.

“Between members of the coaching staff and student athletes, COVID and contact tracking have taken a heavy toll on us to overcome,” South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said in a statement. “I notified the bowl and the SEC office that we cannot play the game on Saturday.”

UAB athletic director Mark Ingram said in a tweet that Blazers still expected to play if a new opponent could be found, but ESPN issued a statement saying that “we have examined a number of options for UAB, but have not been able to identify any opportunities for them to play at this point. “

Sources told ESPN’s Mark Schlabach that the entire offensive Gamecocks team, with the exception of one coach – interim coach Mike Bobo – could not train in the game because of positive cases of coronavirus and contact tracking. Offensive analysts and graduate assistants were also unavailable.

South Carolina (2-8) managed to pass the regular season without interruptions in the schedule. Bobo was scheduled to train the Gamecocks in place of Will Muschamp, who ended the program in November.

Shane Beamer was hired as the new South Carolina coach earlier this month.

South Carolina joins Tennessee as the SEC’s second team unable to play a bowl because of problems with COVID-19.

.Source