As college football returns, study pinpoints Lane County as most vulnerable community
By: Clayton Franke
As Ducks fans yearn for the day their team can return to the field, Oregon Football will return to an empty Autzen stadium on Nov. 6 to play UCLA. This return might rejuvenate the university community, but a recent study says it could prove deadly for the city of Eugene.
The Surgo Foundation, a privately funded social science and data research organization, conducted a study that surveyed college football towns for their susceptibility to a COVID-19 outbreak. Using their COVID-19 vulnerability index, which measures different social factors that may contribute to an increase of virus spread, the foundation ranked six college football towns that were at the greatest risk for an outbreak and where college football was returning.
In September the Pac-12 reversed their August decision to cancel sporting events through 2020 based on an apparent improvement in testing, drop in cases and less of a risk for cardiac concern.
Meet Oregon women’s basketball fab-five recruiting class
By: Carly Ebisuya
When last year’s No. 1 ranked team abruptly finished their final run, it may have seemed as if they lost all their star power. How will Oregon’s program-changing roster sustain itself for the coming years? By building the nation’s best recruiting class.
Little did people know what was coming for the next year. Oregon women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves was brewing up the nation’s No. 1 incoming recruiting class for the 2020 season. All five of Oregon’s new freshmen — Maddie Scherr from Kentucky, Sydney Parrish from Indiana, Te-Hina Paopao from California, Angela Dugalic from Illinois and Kylee Watson from New Jersey.
The five-star freshmen bring stellar resumes that are bound to impact the Pac-12 and the nation. Each of the recruits won their respective state’s Player of the Year Award, Jordan Brand Classic Selections and in espnW’s top-25 prospects coming into 2020. Here is a deep dive look into the fab five freshmen — the nation’s top recruiting class.
A decades-long fight for equal rights continues in a pandemic
By: Shane Hoffmann
Keith Harvey and his teammates at Miami University of Ohio couldn’t have known when they set out to unionize in 1976 that the battle they were beginning would continue for decades to come. In August, a group of Pac-12 football players formed the #WeAreUnited movement to demand better health and safety treatment from their universities, a symbolic continuation of the work started by Harvey and his teammates.
Although the Pac-12 reversed an earlier decision to cancel the season, upwards of 10 players have opted out of the season due to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The shortened seven-week season presents a test to see if the conference has listened to its players’ demands and concerns.
A tale of two quarterbacks: Marked differences define Oregon’s quarterback competition
By: Charles Gearing
Leading up to the 2020 season, the Ducks were in the midst of a quarterback race. Tyler Shough, a junior, was met with ferocious competition from Boston College graduate transfer Anthony Brown. The race for the starting role not only presented two viable options, but two unique stories. Whether it be Shough’s willingness to settle for a backup role behind fromer Ducks starter Justin Herbert, or Brown’s nagging injuries in his time at BC, both have endured their share of trials and tribulations.
“You can’t replace a guy like Justin Herbert,” Shough said. “I’m just trying to be myself, trying to be Tyler, and write my own story.”
Shough has two seasons in Eugene under his belt and leads the race for the starting role but still embraces the opportunity to learn alongside Brown.
