‘We are playing’: USD was ready to play on Saturday

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Up until just hours before Portland State University canceled it, the University of South Dakota believed it would play Saturday’s football game in Oregon.

“At no point did we (USD) indicate we were not playing,” USD athletic director Jon Schemmel said in a post on X.

PSU cited a confirmed player case of whooping cough and exposure to several other players as the reason to cancel Saturday’s game against USD. PSU said in a Monday news release the game was canceled for the health protection of players and the community.

USD appears to take issue with the timing of the cancelation and news of the PSU’s players’ condition.

Schemmel said on X USD didn’t even know a PSU player had whooping cough until after the Coyotes had landed in Oregon Friday afternoon.

PSU said in the Monday release that whooping cough was confirmed in one player on Thursday evening. The release also said that several additional PSU players had symptoms but were not officially diagnosed at the time of the game. Multiple players were in close contact with the infected individual, according to the release.

Whooping cough is a bacterial illness that can infect the lungs and upper respiratory function. Infants are the most vulnerable to whooping cough. It is primarily spread through coughing. sneezing and breathing close to another person.

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Schemmel said the decision to cancel the game was Portland State’s decision, “…it was theirs and theirs alone (not mutual).”

USD had approval from university leadership and the SD Board of Regents to play, Schemmel said on X.

Portland State had repeatedly said it intended to play, Schemmel said on X.

A Saturday news release from Portland State said, “It was determined by Portland State that the game would not be played in the interest of the health of the student-athletes.” PSU said in the Saturday and Monday news releases that it had consulted its medical staff before canceling the game.

USD also consulted with its medical staff, Schemmel said on X. “We had medically sound protocols to ensure the safety of our players and campus community,” he said on X.

Only after USD stated to Portland State, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Big Sky Conference that it intended to play, did Portland State inform USD it was not playing, Schemmel said on X.

Portland State said in Monday’s release that players exposed to whooping cough had started a five-day treatment of antibiotics.

In a second news release Monday, Portland State said it planned to play Boise State on this coming Saturday.

USD’s director of athletic communications Steve Carlson said in an email to KELOLAND News that USD has no concerns of exposure to whooping cough. Players had no contact with PSU players “…we were never on PSU’s campus,” Carlson said.

KELOLAND News had contacted the USD athletic department which declined an interview. It instead referred KELOLAND to Schemmel’s X posts.