USC student manager fired for intentionally deflating footballs

USC Athletics released some curious news tonight. The program relieved a Trojan student manager after being discovered to deflate footballs at the USC-Oregon game below regulation level. Officials at the game discovered that several balls had to be re-inflated before the game and at halftime.

The Pac-12 has reprimanded USC for its actions and issued a fine. The second half had footballs that were entirely at regulation level.

The university denies any knowledge of the manager's plan, and has fired him as a result of his action. The student manager has also confessed that he acted alone and did not collaborate with anyone on the USC football team, whether it be athlete, coach, or support staff.

It's unclear why the manager decided to deflate the football, since it would seem not to serve USC's purpose as deflated footballs would probably be harder to throw. Perhaps the manager was trying to make it harder for Oregon to execute the mesh between quarterback and running back on their pet play, the zone read?