It's time for the 112th meeting between the University of Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State University Beavers. There's been a media blitz all week here in Oregon, similar to what you typically here in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. I'm not even going to attempt that here. If you want to read more about this rivalry, here are some links.
What I want to talk about is Dino Philyaw. It was 14 years ago, at Parker (now Reser) Stadium, that Dino Philyaw scored the winning touchdown in what would be the last time* the Ducks won in Corvallis in this series. Oregon would go onto the Rose Bowl, which is what Oregon State is attempting to do here. What I never see written anywhere, however, was that UCLA lost that day and the score was announced during the second half, giving the Ducks the Pac-10 title outright (with a win) and the clinching tiebreaker with a loss. The Rose Bowl was no longer in doubt at that point. My girlfriend at the time was rooting for the Beavers and as soon as we found out that UCLA won, she had the audacity to try to get me to root for the Beavers since it "didn't matter anymore." Sheesh, talk about someone who doesn't understand rivalry games!
Go Ducks!
(*EDIT: Nevermind, Oregon last won in Corvallis in 1996. For some reason I have no recollection of that game.)
It's not great enough, that name of Dino Philyaw. No, the card back has to refer to "Philyaw's spark." It doesn't get much better than that.
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