Report: Holiday Bowl canceled on game day due to COVID-19 issues

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Tuesday’s Holiday Bowl between the UCLA Bruins and the North Carolina Wolfpack has been canceled. UCLA is dealing with COVID-19 issues, with Feldman saying the defensive line room has been “decimated.”

Soon after the news was reported, UCLA confirmed the news.

“We are extremely grateful to the Holiday Bowl, students, fans, sponsors, and the people of San Diego for their support this week,” UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond said. “We are deeply disappointed for our young men in the football program that worked extremely hard for this opportunity. My heart goes out to them. The health and safety of our students will always be our North Star.”

The cancelation news comes less than five hours before the game was supposed to kickoff. In all likeliness, North Carolina State will not be participating in a bowl game this season. Other teams have been able to find replacements but have had a few days to do so, not hours.

UCLA will now end the season with an 8-4 record, their first winning season under head coach Chip Kelly. The Bruins won their final three games of the year, including a victory over cross-town rival USC.

Feldman also reported the Bruins were down to just two interior defensive linemen, with a linebacker preparing to play as the backup nose tackle. However, due to even more COVID-19 problems, there was no choice but to cancel the Holiday Bowl.

On the other hand, North Carolina State was going for a 10 win season in the Holiday Bowl — something the program had not accomplished since 2002. Their Nov. 13 loss to Wake Forest was the difference between an ACC Championship appearance.

Arizona Bowl suffers same fate as Holiday Bowl

According to Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, Boise State is officially out of the Arizona Bowl. Earlier reports said the Broncos were in trouble, with COVID-19 cases going through the program and not leaving them with enough players to compete.

Boise State will now end their season 7-5 and did not appear in the Mountain West Championship for the first time since 2016. First-year head coach Andy Avalos, who came over from Oregon, took over for Bryan Harsin after he accepted the Auburn job.

Central Michigan will now participate in the Sun Bowl, facing off against Washington State. The Miami Hurricanes were originally supposed to play in Dallas but ran into COVID-19 problems of their own.