Author's Note: This is Part IV of IV. Part I looked at the 112-year running history of the Civil War between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. While not intended as the definitive authority on the history, it is intended to provide greater details and an overview of this great rivalry between two of the State of Oregon's oldest public institutions of higher ed.
Part II recounted the greatest Civil War game played by Oregon to date. Part III focused on the greatest Civil War win by the Beavers.
In Part IV, we break down Saturday's game and offer a winning prediction.
The Civil War is upon us. There is no neutral ground. Duck or Beaver—those are the only choices available.
By 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Saturday, Nov. 29, the 112th Civil War will be history and will settle into the record books as set numbers for passing, rushing, field goals, quarterback efficiencies, and scoring drives. One team will emerge on top. No matter how tough and great the effort, the team coming in second will forever be remembered as the one that lost this Civil War.
This year, the Pac-10 can be divided into two halves: the Top Five—USC, Oregon, Oregon State, California, and Arizona—as the powerhouse teams with winning records, solid coaching and an abundant supply of raw talent. (Arizona is at the dividing line, currently with a 4-4 season.)
The bottom half, politely stated, are the teams that are still beginning their work in progress: Washington, Washington State, Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona State.
Overall, Oregon leads the all-time Civil War series 55-46-10, but has lost two straight to the Beavers for the first time since 1973-74.
Now we have Saturday's Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State. Oregon goes into the game at 8-3 and ranked 19th nationally. The Beavers are ranked 17th, but are also 8-3. With a win Oregon State will go to the Rose Bowl because of their head-to-head win over USC. This scenario provides the Beavers a rematch against Penn State.
The Ducks, however, because of their loss to the Trojans, are playing for another appearance in the Holiday Bowl. While the Holiday Bowl is an excellent bowl and provides a nice ending to a good season, what will be motivating Oregon is pure revenge.
Last year, the Beavers played the spoiler and put an end to Oregon's BCS hopes with a defeat on Oregon's home field. The Ducks haven't forgotten. More than a few of the Oregon faithful have recently uttered the phrase, "Turnabout's fair play."
Against this backdrop, here is the breakdown of the two teams, based on what we know as of Wednesday, Nov. 26.
2008 Schedules
Oregon Ducks Oregon State Beavers
Date Opponent Result Date Opponent Result
8/30 Washington 44-10W 8/28 Stanford 28-36L
9/6 Utah State 66-24W 9/6 Penn State 14-45L
9/13 Purdue 32-26 OT W 9/13 Hawaii 45-7W
9/20 Boise State 32-37 L 9/20 BYE
9/27 Wash State 63-14W 9/25 USC 27-21W
10/4 USC 10-44L 10/2 Utah 28-31L
10/11 UCLA 31-21W 10/11 Wash State 66-13W
10/18 BYE 10/18 Washington 34-13W
10/25 Arizona State 54-20W 10/25 BYE
11/1 California 16-26L 11/1 Arizona State 27-25W
11/8 Stanford 35-28W 11/8 UCLA 34-6W
11/15 Arizona 55-45W 11/15 California 34-21W
11/22 BYE 11/22 Arizona 19-17W
Coaching
University of Oregon Head Coach Mike Bellotti is considered the Dean of Pac-10 Head Coaches and is in his 14th year as HC at Oregon. Coach Bellotti is 7-6 in Civil War games.
Oregon State University Mike Riley is a Corvallis native and grew up watching the Beavers play. This is Riley's second stint (1997-98, 2003-Present) as the Beavers' HC. Riley is 4-3 in the Civil War and has won the last two (2007 38-31 OT, 2006 30-28).
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about 1 month ago
Sweetie-
I'm rooting for the Beavs, sorry, being selfish. Normally I root for the Big O, so it's only appropriate that I share the love, and darn it, it just so happens to be convenient to root for the Beavs this year. :)
Five stars, good stuff!
from about 1 month ago
Hi Lisa,
Well, I won't hold your rooting for the Beavs against you for more than two years. But I don't understand; why does your choice make you selfish?
Thank you for the read, comments and five stars.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
Larry this is another great article. Great information and research. It gets my Pick Of The Day.
Thanks for the heads-up.
BT
from about 1 month ago
Hi BT
Thank you for the read and the POTD.
Happy Thanksgiving!
--Larry
about 1 month ago
I like the ducks...this is great reading reading Larry!!!...5 stars potd....any predictions on the big up- coming boxing match?/...Manny Pacquiao vs Oscar De La Hoya.
Stoker
from about 1 month ago
Hi Stoker,
Thank you for the read, comments, 5 stars and POTD.
Don't know very much about Manny. While living in Las Vegas, however, one of my first jobs there was selling luxury, Swiss-made watches at Roman Times in Caesars Palace The Forum Shops. One day, in walks Oscar De La Hoya and I wait him. Didn't even know he was until half way through selling him a watch. A true gentleman and a great guy. He won the fight the next night and came by again and asked about another piece that interested him.
My gut instinct is to go with Oscar, he is a powerful fighter with great moves and that toughness you don't see very often.
Thank you again,
--Larry
about 1 month ago
The biggest reason the Ducks will win is Morgan Flint is Kicking Field Goals instead of Matt Evenson
from about 1 month ago
Yeah, I'm right there with ya. I'm REALLY happy we have a consistent kicker now...especially for the CW.
from about 1 month ago
Hi Brett,
If the Ducks win, it will be because of a team effort. But I agree Morgan Flint has shown better consistency that Matt.
Thank you for the read and the comments.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
.THANK YOU LARRY..WOW..YOU MET THE GOLDEN BOY!!!..that would be a dream of mine...good on ya buddy!!
/stoker
from about 1 month ago
Hi Stoker,
Met a number of celebrities while working there. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
THanks again.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
Great article! One correction though. 9/20 Boise State 32-7 L Should be 9/20 Boise State 32-37 L
about 1 month ago
One more thing, I picked 3 of 10 for the 0-0 ties but from what I can tell, it's 6-10 which isn't a choice in the poll (1902, 1906, 1920, 1921, 1931, 1983)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_War_(college_football_game)
from about 1 month ago
Hi Nate,
Thank you for the read, comments and corrections. (You don't miss much). You'd make a very good editor, have you thought about editing as a profession? There is good money in it for those who do it well.
Have corrected the Boise State Score, the Poll question and the answer to reflect my omission of the 1913 score.
Good job.
Thanks,
--Larry
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the compliment. I haven't thought of doing that as a profession but wouldn't mind it. Unfortunately I have very little professional experience in that are and I'm sure I lack the required education too.
about 1 month ago
Happy Thanksgiving to you Larry,
What an amazing article. This series has been very enjoyable to read...even the article about our confused twin brothers to the north of Eugene.
I sincerely hope that you are able to spend your Thanksgiving with your loving family.
This Civil War will be a great one.
GO DUCKS!
~Cameron
5* and POTD
from about 1 month ago
Hi Cameron,
Thank you for the read, five stars and POTD.
I did spend the day with my family and we had a wonderful time together. Ate lots of turkey and topped it off with whipped cream on pumpkin pie.
This will be a Civil War that people talk about for years to come.
Thank you,
--Larry
about 1 month ago
Great job Larry!
This series could only have been written by a true fan of the game!
from about 1 month ago
Hi Brian,
Thank you for the read and the compliment. Coming from you that is high praise. I am humbled.
about 1 month ago
Good Article!
from about 1 month ago
Hi Colin,
Thank you for the read and comment.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
It has been quite a game so far...
from about 1 month ago
Hi Lola,
It was indeed a great game. I must apologize, I was far too conservative in my prediction, the final score was Oregon 65, OSU 38.
Wow!
Thank you for the read and comment.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
another great article larry... keep up the good work. I dont have the channel, but I am watching the game online right now. go ducks
from about 1 month ago
Hi Iceman,
Great game. Great ending to a good season. Holiday Bowl here come the Ducks, one more time.
Can you believe Oregon 65 Beavers 38?
What a game.
--Larry
about 1 month ago
I like the ducks..lol
about 1 month ago
Great series, Larry.
One stat that didn't seem to get mentioned in all the pregame predictions is Mike Bellotti's remarkable record (14-2) in games following a bye week for the Ducks not shared by their opponent. And one of the two losses was last year to Arizona when the Ducks lost Dixon on the second series and looked shell-shocked for the remainder of the game. In all of my pregame discussions with confident OSU fans and doubtful Ducks, I cited this stat as my clincher.
Last year, the Beavs had a bye coming into the CW and the Ducks were coming off two road losses. I don't think either team should get one if the other does not before a rivalry game, but that is a discussion for another day. My point is that Bellotti-coached teams are really well-prepared in general, but give him two weeks and it's lights out!
Of course, nobody could have foreseen the result with all of the scoring records, but it was a lot of fun to be in Reser with explosion plays happening on nearly every series. Putting up almost 700 yards and 65 points on a pretty good OSU defense was huge. (Even in the awful Avezzano/Kraghorpe/Pettibone go-to-Nebraska-and-pick-up-a-paycheck era, nobody ever put 65 up on the board against the Beavs, not Ohio State, not LSU, not USC.)
Give major credit to the Ducks' O-line, which just dominated. I include in that Jaison Williams who had only one reception, but had some monster blocks on running plays. A couple of standouts were on a key Masoli run and the Ed Dickson TD as well. Five scoring plays went for more than 40 yards, and a couple of set up plays were long gainers too. Jeremiah Johnson stiff armed and flattened three defenders on his 83 yard touchdown run, which had people in the Duck section literally gasping for breath. I think the Ducks may have taken some pregame motivation from Bryan Cornell's remark that he and the other OSU linebackers had seen everything the Ducks offense was running and they were ready for it. It must be a slightly different view from behind and on your back!
Biggest concern for me was special teams, kickoff and punt coverage broke down and gave the Beavs great field position for most of the game. James Rodgers and Sammy Stroughter are two great return men, but even so they got way too much return yardage nearly every time. Something to really work on for the Holiday Bowl.
And, finally, thanks to my gorgeous and thoughtful wife who surprised me with tickets after listening to me proclaiming for a week about how sure I was that the Ducks would win the game by at least two TDs. We were in the highest row in the stadium (the fireworks looked like they were bursting below us) but we were there for the biggest Civil War win in Ducks history. You'll have to amend your article, Larry--2005 was great, 2001 was awesome (Keeeeenan Howwwry!!!!), but 2008 is truly the high water mark.
from about 1 month ago
Hi John,
Thank you for the read and recap of what is now without a doubt, the greatest Duck Civil War game ever.
I would rewrite it, but you've already done a great job of capturing the moment. Didn't have the good fortune to have tickets to the game, so I did the next best thing and watched it on Versus. In my 40+ years of watching Duck football, it was THE most exciting game I've ever watched and that covers quite a few games.
The Versus Sports commentators did note that our defense often creates a big hole in the middle of our secondary and the Beavers were able to capitalize on it more than once. Hope that is something our guys work on before the Holiday Bowl. Otherwise, they were just about perfect in every way.
Looking forward to reading some of your articles.
Thank you again,
--Larry
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