Occidental College may not be the first school that comes to mind when thinking about college football powerhouses, and unfortunately, the school has lived up to its lack of name recognition by putting out an awful product on the football field.
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In fact, Occidental has been so bad that the school has decided to cancel the rest of its football season. This comes after the Tigers have been outscored 170-19 in the football games they did play this season. According to the school's athletic department, though, the Tigers will be hanging up their cleats for the rest of 2017-18 in an effort to start rebuilding for the 2018 season.
"A decision of this magnitude was not made lightly," said President Jonathan Veitch in making the announcement. "No one wanted or expected the season to end this way. Making this decision now provides needed clarity to players, their parents, coaches, and other SCIAC members. After cancelling two of our first five games because of a depleted roster, including last weekend's Homecoming game, the need to address the viability of the season became unavoidable."
Football is a game of attrition just as much as it is a game of X's and O's, so it's not surprising to hear that Occidental has struggled without having the numbers. Having a shortage of players quickly leads to the players you do have getting burnt out and when players are burnt out and overworked, they tend to get injured very quickly.
Occidental had to cancel the rest of the season not just to look ahead to next season, but to protect its players.
Being a D-III school, this isn't on the magnitude of a program like Alabama forfeiting the rest of the season, but it still has to be a tough pill to swallow for the players, coaches, and fans.
That doesn't mean it wasn't the right move, though.
(H/T CBS Sports)
