Oregon first played Oregon State in 1894, and tomorrow they’ll play for the last time ever.
Or at least until September 14th of next year, probably.
The Beavs are officially eliminated from conference title contention after pushing Washington to the edge last week on a sloppy Corvallis night.
As if there was any other kind of Corvallis night.
Our sixth-ranked Ducks essentially have to win tomorrow to earn a rematch with the Huskies in Vegas for the last Pac-12 championship.
We’re basically in playoff mode (with a lowercase p).
It’s also the last Pac-12 regular season game in Oregon’s history, in Autzen’s history, and in your history, too.
We might not have the Beavs on our schedule next year, but the stakes are just too high for any Duck players to wallow in nostalgia about that—they probably don’t care too much.
And I know for fact that Dan Lanning doesn’t give a shit about who we’re playing for the last time and why.
But he has been playing the 4th quarter of last year’s game on a loop in the football building this week for everyone to burn into their memory, so you know he gives a shit about finally beating the Beavs.
We all remember when OSU went down by 21 points in Corvallis, and then they ran the ball a zillion times right down the Ducks’ throats.
It was an all-time, demoralizing loss for Oregon, and I don’t blame some Beaver fans who never want to play us again and probably wish last year was the last game—we screwed them over, but at least they would have said goodbye with a landmark comeback victory.
Did you know the last score in that game was with 8:11 left in the game?
I had completely forgotten that until I started writing this blog.
When I read that, I immediately regretted all of the positive things I said about Kenny Dillingham last week.
Dilly was basically on the phone with his agent for the last 8 minutes of that game, and I can’t believe he couldn’t find a way to get Bucky Irving into the endzone when we had 1st & Goal on Oregon State’s five-yard line.
And just for that, I hope his new truck stop conference goes the way of the Pac-12, too.
Looking at tomorrow’s game itself, if last week was any indicator, Beavis will try to possess the ball, slow down the game, and mostly keep the ball out of Bo’s hands.
Thinking back to the first quarter of the Stanford game this year, I can totally see OSU trying to mirror that slow, intellectual brutalism—and unlike Stanford, they actually have an ounce of talent that could be able to pull that off for more than a quarter.
If they have their way, they’ll run the ball a ton with both their tough runningbacks, Damien Martinez (#6) and Deshaun Fenwick (#1).
Our defensive line, which has been known for its potent pass rush, will be put into a ton of run-stopping situations. That’ll be our biggest hurdle.
Damien Martinez might be the best Oregon State player ever, but I still think their biggest rushing threat might be quarterback/Never-Duck, DJ Uiagalelei.
At 6’4”, 250 lbs, DJU is the size of a defensive end—just like his brother—and he’s proven to be a bruising runner when they actually let him loose.
He’ll scramble for a few short third-down pickups, but if he gets to the second level, I sure hope Evan Williams has a head of steam when he runs into him—he’s gonna need it.
If the Ducks can get them off schedule on first and second downs, forcing DJ to throw to his undersized receivers, we’ll avoid any risk of the Beavs controlling a slow, low-possession slugfest.
This time next year we’ll be getting ready to play Washington during Thanksgiving weekend—a move that will force many folks to have difficult conversations at the dinner table about their future holiday travel traditions.
Godspeed to you all as you convince your families that the Seattle City Dump is the top destination for breaking bread and giving thanks.
But I thought we could wrap up this preview with a fond farewell to our beloved brothers to the north.
As the Ducks level up to the Big Ten, I can understand why most Beaver fans would resent being left behind.
Without a Power Five conference to bankroll them, OSU is dangerously close to becoming more of a roadside oddity than a college football team—like a billboard for a Vanilla Ice show at Spirit Mountain Casino.
They are looking into a scheduling alliance with the Mountain West, trying to grab control of all the existing conference assets, and—despite Beaver Nation’s groans—keep this Oregon matchup going.
Perhaps, if the Beavs and Cougs can milk this 2-Pac thing for just one or two more years, they could be known as the teams that salvaged west coast football as we’ve always known it.
And for that, we would be forever indebted.
But if we can’t pay Boise State to move some scheduling things around, and if the Mountain West deal isn’t enough to keep the Cows out of Group of Five purgatory, then we might just have to settle for making State Penn our annual land-grant university game.
So enjoy this final Beaver game ever, and take solace in the fact that maybe our real rivals were the friends we made along the way.
Oregon 47, Oregon State 27.
Go Ducks.