Disturbing Trend Continues: USC Trojans Player Joins QB of Undefeated Team in Midseason Holdout

USC Trojans defensive lineman Bear Alexander is using his redshirt with the hopes of transferring into an opportunity with more playing time after the season.

The redshirt was announced via USCFootball.com on Wednesday, the same day UNLV Rebels QB Matthew Sluka opted to do the same thing. The difference is that Sluka claims he wasn’t paid what he was promised by UNLV’s NIL collective whereas Alexander is looking for more playing time.

USC Trojans DL Bear Alexander could start a disturbing trend, similar to that of bowl game opt-outs

Tony Jones, who Alexander calls his father, explained that if USC doesn’t want to give him enough playing time then they will move on. Alexander is expected to stay with the team throughout the season despite using his redshirt and not having any plans to play.

Bear Alexander will redshirt this season at USC, per Tony Jones, who Alexander calls his father. He’s expected to stay with the team, per Jones. “We made clear what our goals are. That goal is to be a full-time starter and leader on the defense like we came to be,” Jones said. pic.twitter.com/3gCxjkMq1V

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 26, 2024

Alexander is a former Top 60 recruit who transferred from Georgia. “If Bear not being a starter and playing 35 or 40 snaps a game isn’t in the best interest of the team, we need to do something different,” Jones said. https://t.co/hzTMg2Mqv9 first reported the redshirt.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 26, 2024

Another UNLV player, running back Michael Allen, also plans to take a redshirt and enter the transfer portal upon the conclusion of the 2024 season. UNLV, unlike USC, is still undefeated. Allen said his reason for departure was not the same as Sluka’s in an article from On3.

“After 3 games, I have decided to utilize my redshirt & enter the portal at the end of the season as a RS JR,” Allen wrote on social media. “I’m grateful for UNLV & wish them nothing but success. Expectations for opportunities unfortunately were not met & I am excited to continue my football career.”

If there are no repercussions for quitting and refusing to play for your team just four weeks into the season, this trend could continue to grow. If four games is the limit to keep a redshirt, players can make this decision later in the season if there were a few games in which they didn’t see the field at all.

Bowl game opt-outs started the same way, with a few guys being pioneers of the idea and taking the brunt of the criticism while a growing contingency of players followed suit until bowl games turned into the abomination of an Orange Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida State Seminoles (20+ opt-outs) that college football fans were subjected to at the end of the 2023 season.

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