Arkansas hopes to reschedule Notre Dame trip, other non-conference games

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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ road trip to Notre Dame is officially off the table for 2020, but it happening in the future hasn’t been completely ruled out.

During a Zoom videoconference with local media Thursday, athletics director Hunter Yurachek said he hadn’t yet had a chance to connect with Jack Swarbrick, his counterpart at Notre Dame, but he’s hopeful the game can be rescheduled.

Both ADs have been busy working on the logistics of this season, which is why they weren’t able to talk after the SEC’s decision to eliminate all non-conference games and before Yurachek’s press conference.

“It would be my hope - because I understand that Razorback fans were looking so much forward to going to South Bend, Indiana, to a very historic stadium and playing Notre Dame there - that we can look into our future football schedules and reschedule our game at Notre Dame,” Yurachek said. “Obviously they are still scheduled to be here in 2025, but I know our fans were very much looking forward to that trip to South Bend, so I’ll work with Jack to see if we can reschedule that visit to South Bend by the Razorbacks in the future.”

The game at Notre Dame Stadium, which was scheduled for Sept. 12, was set to be the first part of a home-and-home series. The Fighting Irish are slated to play in Fayetteville on Oct. 4, 2025.

Neither team with be penalized for the cancellation of this year’s game because the contract includes a clause that allows such a move if either school is required to play more conference games than originally scheduled. Notre Dame, which is an affiliate member in football, saw its ACC games double from five to 10, while Arkansas’ SEC games increased from eight to 10.

Rescheduling the game will be a challenge and likely not occur until several years down the road. The Razorbacks’ non-conference schedules are full through the 2024 season and they’re set to host the Fighting Irish in 2025.

There is an open slot on Arkansas’ schedule in 2026, but it is already traveling to Utah - a Pac-12 school - in September of that season. The following year, it hosts Oklahoma State from the Big 12 and travels to Tulsa. A home game against Utah is scheduled for 2028.

The earliest the Razorbacks don’t already have a Power Five opponent is the 2029 season, with 2030 and 2031 also being empty at the moment. It’s possible that they rearrange some games, as well.

That could also happen for Arkansas’ other scheduled non-conference games that were eliminated by the SEC’s decision Thursday.

Yurachek said he had been in touch with the ADs at Nevada, Charleston Southern and ULM throughout the summer, so he doesn’t think they were too surprised when he called Thursday with the official news.

Each of those game contracts includes a “force majeure” clause that allows it to be canceled without penalty due to the SEC increasing the number of conference games this season. It also calls for the game to “be rescheduled at the earliest date available” to both schools, which Yurachek intends to do.

“We are all colleagues in this industry and I want to work with my fellow athletic directors to make sure we have an amicable solution,” Yurachek said. “That part is very important to me and I'm sure many of my colleagues feel that way as well in the Southeastern Conference.”

Not playing those three “buy games” will save Arkansas somewhere between $3 and $4 million.

Although the UA does not reveal payout details in non-conference game contracts, Nevada and ULM were reportedly set to receive $1.5 and $1.4 million, respectively. It is unknown how much Charleston Southern was going to make, but it was likely in the $500,000 range, as that has been what the Razorbacks have paid other recent FCS opponents.

With Reynolds Razorback Stadium expected to be around 25 percent capacity this season, those games didn’t make as much sense financially, but Yurachek said that had no impact on the SEC’s decision to eliminate them.

“The decision to go to an all-Southeastern Conference schedule was not a financial decision,” Yurachek said. “It was not a decision to save us from paying those guarantees. It was, again, a decision we felt gave us the best opportunity to have a football season that was uninterrupted.”

2021

Sept. 4 - Rice

Sept. 11 - Texas

Sept. 18 - Georgia Southern

Oct. 23 - UAPB

2022

Sept. 3 - Cincinnati

Sept. 17 - Missouri State

Oct. 15 - at BYU

Nov. 5 - Liberty

2023

Sept. 2 - Western Carolina

Sept. 9 - Kent State

Sept. 23 - BYU

Nov. 18 - FIU

2024

Aug. 31 - UAPB

Sept. 7 - at Oklahoma State

Sept. 14 - Kent State

Nov. 23 - Louisiana Tech

2025

Sept. 20 - at Memphis

Oct. 4 - Notre Dame

2026

Sept. 12 - at Utah

Sept. 19 - Memphis

Nov. 21 - Tulsa

2027

Sept. 4 - at Tulsa

Sept. 11 - Oklahoma State

2028

Sept. 9 - Memphis

Sept. 16 - Utah

2029

Sept. 1 - Tulsa

2032

Sept. 18 - at Oklahoma State

2033

Sept. 10 - Oklahoma State