When the Oregon football team kicks off its 2021 season against Fresno State on Saturday (11 a.m., Pac-12 Network), it will have been 644 days since fans last filled the stands at Autzen Stadium to watch the Ducks.
In between, the UO football team won two Pac-12 titles and a Rose Bowl. The Ducks also endured a 2020 season shortened by the COVID pandemic, featuring two wins in Autzen Stadium with only cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands.
On Saturday, those seats finally will be filled with fans again for a regular-season football game.
"Autzen is a game changer; we know that," UO coach Mario Cristobal said Monday, in his first weekly pregame press conference with local media of this season.