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The UO athletic department is reimbursing four families of football players for out-of-pocket expenses related to the purchase of insurance policies for loss of future earnings in the event of an injury, school officials said. The families of quarterback Marcus Mariota, center Hroniss Grasu, cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and defensive end Arik Armstead purchased policies this past offseason under the NCAA’s “exceptional student-athlete disability insurance” rule. The athletic department will reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses related to the policies, after Texas A&M and Florida State took the previously unprecedented step of doing so for football players earlier this year. Money provided to the athletic department’s student assistance fund by the NCAA must be used to cover those costs. That fund has in the past and will continue to be used to cover myriad expenses related to student-athlete welfare, for which administration will find other funds in the budget.
Beavs and Buckeyes to Open ’18 season
The Oregon State Beavers and The Ohio State Buckeyes will open the 2018 football season in Columbus, Beaver Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced. The game is set for Sept. 1 of Labor Day Weekend at Ohio Stadium, the fourth-largest venue in college football with a current capacity of 104,944. The matchup will mark the third in the series against the Big Ten Conference opponent. Ohio State has won both previous meetings in Columbus, 22-14 in 1984 and 51-10 in 1974. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our program to play such a traditional power at a fantastic and historical stadium,” Beaver head coach Mike Riley said. “Our players always look forward to competing in a challenging environment like Ohio State.” The Beavers have a history of playing in large venues and Sept. 12 of next season travel to Michigan’s “Big House”, currently the largest stadium in college football at 109,900. OSU also has recently played at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium (2nd-largest at 106,572) and LSU’s Tiger Stadium (6th @ 102,321).