The annual rivalry matchups between the Oregon Ducks-Oregon State Beavers and the Washington Huskies-Washington State Cougars have always carried significantly more weight than your average conference game.
In-state supremacy and year-long bragging rights are huge factors in rivalry games all across the country, and the two Pacific Northwest rivalries are among the oldest – and fiercest – in all of college football.
There’s rarely anything civil about the Oregon-Oregon State matchup – long known as the Civil War – while the Apple Cup between the two Washington schools has a rich history of dividing the state down the middle.
This year, however, the two games are set to take place this Saturday – and take on a very different meaning for the four involved programs.
The demise of the 100+-year-old Pac-12 conference – which long hosted all four teams – resulted in the Ducks and Huskies departing for the Big Ten and left the Beavers and Cougars homeless, hung out to dry without a conference while the eight other programs landed either in the Big Ten, Big 12, or ACC.
To add insult to injury, Washington State’s Athletic Director, Pat Chung, took the same position across the state at Washington, while Oregon State saw their promising head coach, and former quarterback, Jonathan Smith leave unexpectedly to take the same job at Michigan State, leading to mass exodus of talent including quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (Florida State) and running back Damien Martinez (Miami).
And you can bet those two programs are looking for revenge this weekend.
The Beavers are 2-0 after knocking off Idaho State at home in Week 1, 38-15, and blanking San Diego State on the road, 21-0, in Week 2. Oregon State is top 40 in both offense and defense at CBS Sports, showing plenty of promise under new coach Trent Bray.
This will be the 128th matchup between the Ducks and Beavers, and while Oregon remains a top-ten team, winning at Reser Stadium has eluded them since 2018.
Washington State is also 2-0 to start the season, blasting Portland State 70-30 in Week 1 and securing a big win over a Big 12 opponent in Texas Tech during Week 2. The Cougs will travel across the state to Seattle to face UW, who is 2-0 as well under new coach Jedd Fisch.
PNW fans will have to split screen if they want to watch both games, which start at 12:30 PM PT on Saturday. The Apple Cup will be on Peacock, while Oregon and Oregon State will be on FOX.