Oregon was set to play Nevada on Sept. 7 this year in what will be Mark Helfrich‘s second game as the Ducks’ new head coach. Instead, UO will play the first in a two-game series with Virginia out of the ACC -- reportedly.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch and Eugene Register-Guard are both reporting that the Cavaliers and Ducks will meet in Charlottesville on Sept. 7, 2013, a date that was originally supposed to feature a game between UVA and Penn State. Virginia will likely travel to Eugene in 2016 for the second game against the Ducks, although neither school has made an official announcement on the news just yet.
It’s not yet clear if/when Oregon will reschedule its road game with the Wolf Pack. Nevada, meanwhile, has added BYU to its 2013 schedule.
Oregon’s nonconference schedule in 2013 will feature an opening-week cupcake against Nicholls State and then a game against Tennessee on Sept. 14. UVA will play BYU, VMI and Ball State this upcoming season in its OOC schedule. Oregon enters 2013 coming off a Fiesta Bowl win over Kansas State, while Virginia finished 4-8 in Mike London‘s second year.
Updated 5:06 p.m. ET: Okay, now it’s official. Oregon and Virginia will play on Sept. 7, 2013 and again in 2016, a specific day for which hasn’t been announced yet. Interestingly enough, the two sides were originally talking about playing a game in Europe in 2017 before the home-and-home was settled upon.
“As the conversation progressed it became clear we might have an opportunity to initiate a series in 2013 starting in Charlottesville. We saw that as a great opportunity for our program and our fans,” UVA athletic director Jon Oliver said in a statement. “It’s our desire to reschedule the game at Penn State in the future and we’re hopeful we can come to an agreement as to when that will happen soon.”