Yes, there’s going to be college football — so here’s our wish list for USC, Clemson

It’s no secret that The State Editorial Board isn’t in favor of college football being played this fall given the tenuous state of America’s ongoing fight against COVID-19.

It’s also no secret that we think the SEC and the ACC athletic conferences — which have USC and Clemson, respectively, as member schools — should have joined the Big Ten, PAC-12 and others that postponed football until next spring.

But the fact is that college football is already being played

And the fact is the SEC and the ACC are about to start playing it, too.

So it’s time.

It’s time for us to stop calling for the Gamecocks and Tigers to not play this fall.

And it’s time for us to start rooting for both to play well this fall.

Here’s hoping

So here’s hoping.

Here’s hoping:

▪ That USC head coach Will Muschamp is able to completely silence the belligerent braying donkeys in the Gamecock fan base who ridiculously called for his firing after last season.

▪ That the Gamecocks defy the general consensus that they will have a poor to middling season — and emerge as one of the surprise teams of the 2020 football season.

That Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence — who has been as eloquent and thoughtful off the field as he has been accomplished and successful on it — shows why at least one NFL team is actually trying to lose games this year so they can draft him next year.

▪ That Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney leads the Tigers to yet another national title — even if a 2020 crown will be plastered with asterisks because so many top teams aren’t playing.

That the scaled-down crowds of Tigers and Gamecocks fans attending games at Memorial Stadium and Williams-Brice Stadium, respectively, will meet their responsibilities as fans in the age of COVID-19 — and do everything they’re supposed to do to keep themselves and their fellow spectators safe.

▪ That the TV announcers assigned to USC and Clemson games won’t spend all three-plus hours each game obsessively focusing on the athletic abilities of the players — and will actually spend some airtime noting how reflective and socially conscious so many of them are out of uniform.

Now more than ever it’s time to stop viewing college football players as mere props with helmets on a green field who crash and smash into each other for our cheering enjoyment.

Now more than ever It’s time to start viewing college football players as young men whose views and perspectives deserve to respected and acknowledged as much as their sporting feats.

▪ That every USC and Clemson football player gets through the odd football season that’s about to arrive — one being held amid a pandemic that’s still very real and still very serious — in safe fashion and with good health.

A true victory

Indeed if that last wish is fulfilled, it will represent the biggest “W” of all for the Gamecocks and Tigers during the 2020 college football season.

And that’s the one victory we should be rooting for most of all during the Saturday afternoons to come.

This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 6:18 AM with the headline "Yes, there’s going to be college football — so here’s our wish list for USC, Clemson."