Irish coach: No parents might mean no players

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly suggested his team may not accept an invitation to play in the College Football Playoff if players’ families are not allowed to attend the games.

Kelly, whose team is second in the College Football Playoff rankings and faces third-ranked Clemson in the ACC title game in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, was concerned about the possibility Notre Dame could have to play a semifinal game on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl, one of the two semifinal sites. The Rose Bowl will not allow fans inside the stadium because of COVID-19 restrictions. The Sugar Bowl, the other CFP semifinal, will allow a limited number of fans for the game in New Orleans.

“I’m not sure we’ll play in the playoffs if parents can’t be there, to be honest with you,” Kelly said Friday during a teleconference. “Why would we play if you can’t have the families at the game? A bowl game? Yeah, we would opt out.

“If you can’t have family at bowl games, I mean, why would you go to a game where your family can’t be part of it? What is the sense of playing a game in an area of the country where nobody could be part of it?”

Oregon

Quarterbacks Tyler Shough and Anthony Brown each threw for two touchdowns as the Ducks (4-2) upset Southern California (5-1) to win the PAC-12 Championship, 31-24. The Ducks moved into the title game after Washington was forced to drop out because of COVID-19 issues. Trojan quarterback Kedon Slovis threw for two score, but was also intercepted three times in the loss.

Washington

Washington’s season is over. The program announced that it has elected not to pursue a bowl bid due to medical reasons. The Pac-12 requires 53 available scholarship players. Due to a combination of positive cases and contact tracing, Washington (3-1) fell short of the minimum and had zero offensive linemen available.