Good Luck Ducks, Week 13: War

It's rivalry week. 

A long time ago, when I was in college, I watched the Ducks play Oregon State in my dorm room with the person I was dating at the time on a tiny black and white TV. It was years beyond the acceptable date to actually own a black and white TV as ones only means of consuming media, but this was the college days where those sorts of things could be understandably overlooked. The person I was dating was rooting for the Beavers, and at some point in the second half it was announced that the Ducks had clinched a spot in the Rose Bowl regardless of the outcome because of the result of the USC/UCLA game. She was rooting for OSU, and upon hearing the news told me that I could relax and root for her team now that Oregon's fate had been decided.

That's not how rivalry games work, of course.

Thanks in large part to Dino Philyaw, the Ducks won anyway, and I probably said stupid things to said person who challenged me.

In 2008, the Oregon State Beavers needed a win over Oregon to reach the Rose Bowl for the first time in 44 years. The Ducks were having a very good year, but due to their conference record the Rose Bowl was out of reach. One could have understandably rooted for the Beavers to play in that coveted game, but I surely didn't because that's not how rivalry games work. Oregon won 65-38, and it wasn't that close.

In 2017, Oregon was having a miserable season under one-and-done joke of a head coach Willie Taggart when they faced the Beavers who had only won a single game. You could argue that the game had no meaning and wasn't watchable, but it's hard to tell that to a Ducks player because that's not how rivalry games work. Oregon won 69-10. They probably dumped a Gatorade cooler on Taggart's head, but he surely didn't deserve it.

Series History: The Ducks own a 66-48-10 edge (10 ties??!) with 11 wins in their last 13 tries. They're coming off of a loss in the pandemic season, however.

Opponent Talk: The Beavers may have been eliminated from Pac-12 North title contention with Washington State's win yesterday, but they're looking forward to the future after locking up former QB star and current head coach Jonathan Smith to a long-term deal.

The 2008 game was one of the most satisfying wins in the big (don't call it Civil War) rivalry.

Game time is 12:30 PM PST on ESPN. Go Ducks!