The Oregon Ducks vs. the Oregon State Beavers — September 14th, 2024.
It still doesn’t feel right to play the Civil War in week three of the college football season, but it’s a September game or nothing for these former conference foes, and forever rivals.
The Ducks and the Beavers will play for the 128th time this weekend, but this game will feel different than ever before. For the first time in the history of this rivalry, this is a non-conference game after the effective dissolution of the Pac-12 last year.
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The Civil War is one of college football’s most historic rivalries, in part because the all-time series has always been close. In the 127 games between these teams, Oregon has one 68 times, the Beavers have won 49, and the game has ended in a tie 10 times.
In the final years of the Pac-12, this rivalry was at its best. Last season, both the Ducks and the Beavers came into the post-thanksgiving game ranked in the top 15 of the AP Poll, both grasping for one of the four College Football Playoff spots. The Ducks won the game 31-7, and we got to see one of Bo Nix’s Heisman moments, as he connected with Troy Franklin on a long touchdown pass thrown across his body.
That was revenge for the year prior when Oregon State beat the Ducks in Corvallis, after trailing Oregon by 17 points in the fourth quarter. In that game, the Beavers had three rushers with over 50 yards on the ground, including 103 yards from star RB Damien Martinez.
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From 1997 to 2006, this series was deadlocked, with the home team winning each year until 2007 when the Beavers beat the Ducks in Autzen Stadium, 38-31.
Since Oregon is now a member of the Big Ten, and Oregon State survives in the Pac-12, this matchup is no longer guaranteed each year. This year’s game is the first part of a home-and-home scheduled through 2025, but in 2026 we may see a season without Oregon-Oregon State for the first time since 1944. Hopefully, the powers that be work to keep this rivalry alive because it’s games like these — not neutral site games in Las Vegas — that make college football as wonderful as it is.
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