The long wait is almost over.
It’s almost been a full calendar year since the Ducks played a football game because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the Pac-12’s announcement of an abbreviated schedule, Oregon will play an opponent in just 35 days.
Oregon, and the rest of the conference, will play a six-game regular-season schedule with a seventh game that will be determined. The Ducks are hoping that the seventh game with be the Pac-12 Championship Game Dec. 18. For those not in the title game, cross-divisional games will be played according to placement, ie North 2 vs South 2, and so on.
Stanford will open up with the Ducks Nov. 7 in Eugene.
Teams will have three home games and three away games. Fortunately, Oregon won’t have to travel that far from Eugene, with Cal being the furthest the Ducks will fly.
Besides the Cardinal, Oregon will host UCLA and Chip Kelly Nov. 20 (Friday) and Washington Dec. 12 to end the regular season.
Road games at WSU Nov. 14, Oregon State Nov. 27, also a Friday night tilt, as well as at the Golden Bears Dec. 5.
With the Husky game ending the season and not the game formerly known as the Civil War, 2020 continues to be a very strange year, one where everyone has had to adapt.
Whether a 7-0 and Pac-12 champion Oregon Duck, or any other conference team, will be chosen by the Playoff Committee remains to be seen, but to have Oregon on the gridiron will provide just a little bit of normalcy for Duck fans.
Despite the shortened season, the Pac-12 will still have two rivalry weekends.
North Division rivals will play each other in Week 4, with this year’s installments of the Big Game (Stanford at Cal), the Apple Cup (Washington at Washington State) and the Oregon at Oregon State game all taking place on Friday, Nov. 27.
South Division rivals will face off in Week 6. Arizona State will travel to Arizona to play for the Territorial Cup on Friday, Dec. 11, and Rumble in the Rockies between Utah and Colorado in Boulder will also take place that day. UCLA will host USC as they vie for the Victory Bell on Saturday, Dec. 12.
~ Don Smalley