FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5 THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
PREP SPORTS
Other states begin
altering, canceling
winter seasons
Oregon was one of
seven states that did not
have high school com-
petition during the fall
of 2020. The majority of
states played a modified
fall season while others
made no changes at all
amid the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
Now, several states
across the country are re-
versing course and either
postponing or canceling
winter sports after com-
peting in the fall.
West Virginia and Ar-
izona — two states that
offered modified fall
sports — recently an-
nounced changes to their
winter sports schedules.
In West Virginia, ath-
letic competitions are
postponed until March 3
(a similar timeframe to Or-
egon’s target of March 1
to return to competition).
While in Arizona, the
Arizona Interscholastic
Association canceled its
winter seasons due to a
surge in COVID-19 cases
after initially delaying the
start to late January.
Central Oregon schools
are returning to some
forms of in-person classes
within the next month
— a positive first step to
having high school sports
return for the first time
since last March.
But there are a number
of hurdles that have to be
cleared for them to return
— primarily for sports
that are currently prohib-
ited by the Oregon Health
Authority.
While the Oregon
School Activities Asso-
ciation is hopeful for
sports to return March
1, shortening seasons or
cancellations remain on
the table.
“I think you get to the
point where you can only
condense something so
much,” Peter Weber, the
executive director of the
OSAA told The Bulletin
last week. “I don’t know
that we are there; if we
aren’t, then we are really
close.”
— Bulletin staff report
bendbulletin.com/sports
S PORTS
Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith runs past Ohio State safety Josh Proctor for a touchdown in the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday
in Miami Gardens, Florida. Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy last week, scored three touchdowns in the first half before leaving the game with a hand injury. Chris O’Meara/AP
CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP | Alabama 52, Ohio State 24
LANDSLIDE
No. 1 Alabama wins national title; coach Saban’s 7th
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
IAMI GARDENS, Fla.
— DeVonta Smith was
uncoverable, Najee Har-
ris unstoppable and Mac
Jones impeccable. With a performance
that was both surgical and explosive,
No. 1 Alabama won the College Foot-
ball Playoff national championship
game 52-24 against No. 3 Ohio State on
Monday night.
The final game of a college football
season in a pandemic, a season that was
uncertain to be played in the summer
M
NFL
Alabama
wide re-
ceiver Slade
Bolden,
right, cele-
brates with
quarter-
back Mac
Jones after
scoring a
touchdown
in the sec-
ond half
on Monday
in Miami
Gardens,
Florida. Chris
and filled with disruptions in the fall,
ended in the most predictable fashion:
Alabama (13-0) as national champion
for the sixth time in the last 12 years
under coach Nick Saban.
For Saban, it was career title No. 7
overall, breaking a tie with Alabama
great Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most
by a major college coach.
Ohio State (7-1) just couldn’t keep
up. Justin Fields, playing what might
be his last game before heading to the
NFL, passed for 194 yards and a touch-
down.
See Bama / A6
O’Meara/AP
Belichick will not
receive medal
New England Patriots
coach Bill Belichick said
on Monday night that he
will not receive the Pres-
idential Medal of Free-
dom, saying “remaining
true to the people, team
and country I love out-
weigh the benefits of any
individual award.”
In a one-paragraph
statement, the six-time
Super Bowl winning
coach did not say explic-
itly that he had turned
down the offer from
President Donald Trump,
instead explaining “the
decision has been made
not to move forward with
the award” in the wake of
last week’s deadly siege
on the U.S. Capitol.
“Recently, I was of-
fered the opportunity
to receive the Presiden-
tial Medal of Freedom,
which I was flattered by
out of respect for what
the honor represents and
admiration for prior recip-
ients,” the coach said in a
statement, which was for-
warded to The Associated
Press by the team.
“Subsequently, the
tragic events of last week
occurred and the deci-
sion has been made not
to move forward with
the award. Above all, I am
an American citizen with
great reverence for our
nation’s values, freedom
and democracy. I know I
also represent my family
and the New England Pa-
triots team.”
Although he describes
himself as apolitical, Beli-
chick wrote Trump a letter
during the 2016 presi-
dential campaign that the
candidate read aloud at
a rally in the days before
the election. Belichick has
said the two are friends.
—Associated Press
PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL
NFL | COMMENTARY
Five takeaways from No. 22 Oregon’s
weekend against Colorado and Utah
Seahawks face
an offseason
full of change
BY CHRIS HANSEN
The (Eugene) Register-Guard
O
regon’s eight-game win
streak ended in Colorado
Thursday afternoon, but
thanks to a tremendous second-half
effort against Utah Saturday night,
no losing streak followed for the
Ducks.
No. 22 Oregon split its road series
this past weekend in the most pre-
dictable manner.
The Ducks lost to the Buffaloes,
79-72, to remain winless in Boulder
after 10 tries.
Against the Utes, Oregon won
79-73 in dramatic, come-back fash-
ion for their sixth straight victory
against Utah and for the 18th time
in the last 20 games between the
two teams.
At 9-2 overall and 4-1 in Pac-12
play, the Ducks are tied for second
place in the conference standings
with Stanford and one game behind
UCLA.
Up next is a series against Ari-
zona State (6 p.m. Thursday) and
Arizona (7 p.m. Saturday) at Mat-
thew Knight Arena.
But first, here are five takeaways
from the weekend:
1. Chris Duarte is in the zone
The senior guard scored 27
points against Colorado and 25
against Utah, making a combined
19-of-30 from the field and 6-of-11
from the 3-point line, to bring his
season average to a team-high 18.4
points.
Those performances were just
a continuation of what has been
a solid five-game stretch for Du-
arte, in which he has averaged 23
BY BOB CONDOTTA
The Seattle Times
fourth on the team in scoring at
10.1 points per game and is tied
with Eric Williams Jr. for the re-
bounding lead at 6.5 per game. But
Figueroa also is Oregon’s spark on
defense and brings maturity and in-
tensity to the floor that the Ducks
have come to rely on.
Figueroa has been in the starting
lineup since center N’Faly Dante in-
jured his knee against San Francisco
and was lost for the season. But
even before then he was averaging
28 minutes a game.
After the game against the Utes,
coach Dana Altman said Figueroa
ankle would be looked at Sunday in
Eugene. No update has been given
since.
The Seahawks figured they’d return to
their practice facility in Renton, Washing-
ton, on Sunday and rejoice in a victory the
day before while beginning preparations for
the divisional round.
Instead, they spent the day clearing out
their lockers and trying to make sense of the
disappointment of Saturday’s 30-20 wild-
card playoff loss to the Rams that ended a
once-promising season with a most inglori-
ous thud.
“I definitely feel like we had the group
to go farther than what we did,” said mid-
dle linebacker Bobby Wagner via Zoom. “It
feels weird that we’re done. I didn’t expect
that. I didn’t think that at all.”
There was plenty of blame to go around.
The offense scored just one touchdown
before a garbage-time score and was held
to a season-low 278 yards while continuing
a theme of late-season struggles. The only
three times the Seahawks were held under
300 yards this season were the last three
games of the year, against the 49ers and
twice against the Rams.
And the defense — which memorably
held the Rams without a touchdown in a
division-clinching game Dec. 27 keyed by
a goal-line stand — allowed Los Angeles to
rush for 164 yards, its third-highest total of
the season. That helped take the pressure
off quarterback Jared Goff, who had to en-
ter on the second series when John Wolford
was injured and play 12 days after thumb
surgery.
Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth
said later that playoff football is about “im-
posing your will” on the other team, indicat-
ing he felt the Rams had done just that.
See Ducks / A7
See Seahawks / A7
David Zalubowski/AP file
Oregon’s Chris Duarte, right, shoots over Colorado’s D’Shawn Schwartz during
Thursday’s game in Boulder, Colorado.
points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 steals
and is shooting 58% from the field
(41-for-71) and 50% on 3-point at-
tempts (19-for-38).
He was named the Pac-12 player
of the week Jan. 4 after leading the
Ducks to wins against Stanford and
California when his late-game hero-
ics sealed victories.
2. LJ Figueroa’s injury and impact
The Ducks survived without
Figueroa for the final seven minutes
against Utah after the senior guard
injured his left ankle — the sever-
ity of which remains unknown.
But he’ll definitely be missed if he
can’t play against Arizona State on
Thursday and Arizona on Saturday.
The transfer from St. John’s is