We didn’t get to see a made for television matchup between Ohio State and Oregon out in Eugene last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but things look like they are back on for the return trip to Columbus this year.
As with any opponent that takes on Ohio State football these days, programs can either use it as a pay day, or look to make a statement. And, apparently, when your conference has been lacking big wins in recent years, the Ducks flight to Columbus can be seen as an opportunistic one. Just ask Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens.
While appearing on Sirius XM Radio with Ryan Leaf and Guy Haberman, Mullens said that Oregon needs to take advantage of the trip to the banks of the Olentangy and plant a proverbial Pac-12 flag into the turf (no offense Baker Mayfield).
“This league has won more national championships when you combine all sports, than anybody,” Mullens said. “But at the end of the day, because of the visibility of football, that carries a disproportionate share of all of these college conferences. We have to take advantage of our opportunities. A lot of those come in the postseason, but we’re going to have some great opportunities in the nonconference segment this fall. We’ll have one, even though its game two and we’re focused on game one Ryan … but the chance to take a trip to Ohio State, we would’ve loved to have them last year, but the chance to go out and compete against what many believe will be a top three, top five team on the road, will give us a chance to show what Pac-12 football is like.”
You can’t blame Mullens for thinking this way, but if I’m Ohio State and hear the name Rob Mullens, I’m thinking about all of those times he chaired the College Football Playoff Committee and helped stonewall OSU. Queue up the motivation.
By the way Rob, Oregon is an imposing 0-9 against Ohio State. We’ve already seen what Pac-12 football is like.
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