Last week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued an order that all large gatherings be either canceled or significantly modified through the month of Septemeber. That seemed to put a damper on the prospects of playing the contest between Ohio State and Oregon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene on September 12. Z
That was just a week after the University of Oregon issued plans to hold face-to-face classes in the fall. Much like a lot of information coming out across the country on plans to reopen, there are conflicting ideas and policies built on a patchwork of how things are being handled.
And now, we have some more news coming out of Oregon, this time from athletic director Rob Mullens. On Friday, he told reporters that the goal is still to play all twelve of Oregon’s college football games this fall. That would, of course, include the game against Ohio State according to the Oregonian’s James Crepea.
Oregon AD Rob Mullens on Zoom call. Says goal is to play all 12 games. However, if need be, UO athletics believes its "force majeure" clause in noncon game contracts is broad enough to apply. Oregon HAS NOT talked to NDSU or Hawaii about this yet. "We're not there yet."
— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) May 15, 2020
It’s not all good news though. Despite that goal, Mullens also believes that the “force majeur” clause in the contract would allow the Ducks to back out of any non-conference game without penalty. Oregon’s three opponents out of conference include not only Ohio State, but North Dakota State, and Hawaii.
Mullens said he has not contacted either Hawaii or North Dakota State, but that he has been in conversations with the folks at Ohio State. When asked about the thought of flipping the home-and-home years to where Oregon would come to OSU this season, Mullens said that has not been discussed.
On a call with #GoDucks AD Rob Mullens – he says Oregon & Ohio State have touched base but they have NOT discussed flipping the sites of the home-and-home
— AJ McCord (@AJ_McCord) May 15, 2020
While all of this might be encouraging news, we continue to caution everyone that there’s still a lot to be determined with all of this. The fact that Oregon has an out with the contract because of the orders put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic is concerning. However, with both parties seemingly trying their best to work things out and make this game happen is indeed encouraging.
As always, we’ll just have to see how this country continues to bounce back from the novel coronavirus and how states and government authorities continue to deal with the phases of reopenings.