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USF's hyped season opener at Texas is officially off.
The Longhorns released their full, updated 2020 schedule Wednesday, hours after the Big 12 conference released its revised league slate. All Big 12 teams are permitted one non-conference game in addition to nine league contests.
Texas has opted to retain Texas El-Paso as its lone non-league foe, moving its home game against the Miners up a week to Sept. 19. The Longhorns were originally set to host USF on Sept. 5.
Texas-El Paso has totaled two wins in the last two seasons.
USF was set to receive $1.9 million for the game, the highest single-game payout in program history. The game contract indicates a school that fails to appear must pay the same amount in damages, but Texas could attempt to cite the force majeure clause in the deal (i.e. unforeseeable circumstance that forced the game’s cancellation).
It also could settle with USF or negotiate to reschedule the game another year.
Wednesday’s announcement means the Bulls’ first three games of 2020 are off, though the school is attempting to find other non-conference foes to fill the void.
USF’s Sept. 12 home opener against Bethune-Cookman went away when the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opted out of fall sports competition. Its Sept. 19 home game against Nevada vanished when the Mountain West Conference announced recently it was postponing fall sports.
As it stands, USF will open the season Sept. 26 at FAU, against former coaches Willie Taggart (Owls head coach) and Jim Leavitt (defensive coordinator).
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