Football Game Against Portland State Deemed ‘No Contest’

Last week, the USD football team flew to Oregon for their third nonconference game. However, the game did not take place, as early in the morning of game day, Portland State officials called off the game.

Through a press release from USD Assistant Athletic Director for Communications, Steve Carlson, “A case of pertussis got into the Viking team.” Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping Cough, had been confirmed in the Viking locker room.

In a press release from Portland State on the morning of the game, it was confirmed that the case was detected on the Thursday before the game or according to the release, “two days ago.” With the confirmed case of pertussis, “many team members have been exposed to the disease.”

The University of South Dakota football team and its other resources, departed from the Sioux Falls Regional Airport in the early afternoon on Friday. Upon landing in Oregon, the two programs’ team doctors began discussions regarding the situation, and possible solutions.

Through Friday night, both programs, along with their team doctors, coaches and university officials worked through possible solutions to the outbreak. However, according to the release from Portland State, it was decided Saturday morning that “the game would not be played in the interest of the health of the student-athletes.”

The general public, along with local and national media outlets did not become aware of the cancellation until the notification from on-site staff, or the eventual press releases from both schools.

The University of South Dakota’s Athletic Director Jon Schemmel along with officials from USD were publicly displeased with the decision by Portland State. In a post on X, Schemmel said the decision was “theirs & theirs alone.” as well as saying, “There are several unresolved issues pertaining to this game.”

The University of South Dakota made two appeals to the NCAA regarding the cancellation of the game. The first appeal was that the game be deemed a forfeit and not a cancellation or no contest, but this was denied.

The second being that USD safety Dennis Shorter, who was ejected during the Wisconsin game the week previous, be able to play the entire game versus Drake on Saturday. Shorter, who was set to be out the first half of the Drake game on Saturday because of the infraction, would have cleared the one-half suspension. The appeal for Shorter was also denied by the NCAA.

From an X post from Midco Sports correspondent to USD Jay Elsen, Jon Schemmel said “ it’s just time to move on.” The game is officially deemed a no contest, and no further action or statement has been released to the public.