Tag: Civil War Rivalry

A series history of the Civil War, one of college football’s most historic rivalries

A look at the history of the rivalry between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers

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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Photo Gallery: Ducks secure victory over Beavers in Pac-12 series finale

Photo Gallery: Ducks secure victory over Beavers in Pac-12 series finale

The Ducks and Beavers have played each other on the basketball floor 376 times and Wednesday night marked a milestone.

Oregon and OSU played for the final time as members of the same conference unless the two teams meet in Vegas for the Pac-12 tournament. Thankfully the good guys came out on top 78-71. It was also Dana Altman’s 750th career victory.

It was a close game throughout, just like the game a couple of weeks ago in Corvallis, but this time the Ducks were able to pull away late. Kwame Evans, Jr. scored 22 points, Jermaine Couisnard scored 16 and Brennan Rigsby came out of his slump and scored 14 points off the bench.

If this was truly the last Civil War in conference play, it was the perfect way to end this chapter of the series. Here are the best photos from the seven-point Duck victory.

 

WBB Recap: Ducks collapse in second half against the Beavers

Oregon State crushes Oregon in the second half to take Round 1 of the Civil War in Corvallis.

The Oregon women’s basketball team had the Beavers on the ropes in Corvallis, but let Oregon State off the hook due to poor offensive execution.

The Ducks could muster up just 18 points in the second half, while Oregon State got hot and the Beavers took Round 1 of the Civil War 62-41.

Grace VanSlooten led the Ducks with 15 points and Phillippina Kyei added six points and 16 rebounds.

But those efforts weren’t nearly enough against a tenacious Beaver team that made several halftime adjustments after going down 23-15 at halftime.

A part of those adjustments weren’t very complicated. Oregon State began to hit shots, especially its three-pointers. After not hitting one trey in the first half, the Beavers torched the Ducks from the outside by going 5-of-10 from the outside in the second half and 18-of-30 from the field to outscore the Ducks 47-18 after the halftime break.

Raegan Beers had a career night by putting up 24 points and 17 rebounds.

Oregon State was quicker, bigger and quite frankly, tougher than Oregon and that showed up in a big way in the second half. The Ducks just couldn’t get any rhythm offensively and struggled to find open shots.

Oregon fell to 9-5 overall, while the Beavers remained undefeated at 12-0. The Ducks will now go down to Los Angeles to face two Top 10 teams in USC and UCLA.

 

WATCH: Scott Van Pelt reacts to report that Civil War will continue between Ducks and Beavers

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt reacted to the report that the Civil War between the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers will continue in 2024.

On Wednesday morning, John Canzano reported that the Civil War rivalry series between the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers will continue in 2024, even with the two teams no longer in the same conference.

While some Oregon fans are frustrated at the prospect of giving up a 2024 home game against Texas Tech for a road game against the Beavers instead, many across the great state are just relieved that this storied rivalry that dates back to 1894 will continue, keeping alive the lifeblood of college football in the area.

On Wednesday night, ESPN’s leading anchor Scott Van Pelt reacted to the report from Canzano in his “One Big Thing” segment on ESPN, applauding the efforts made by both Oregon and Oregon State in preserving this rivalry game that represents so much of what makes college football great.

“The Civil War, like the Apple Cup, is a game that college football simply has to have,” Van Pelt said. “For all that is abandoned in the name of progress and profit, rivalries — true generations-old battles — must be maintained, or the lifeblood of what makes this sport spectacular evaporates.”

The game between the two will occur in Week 3 of the 2024 season, on September 14th. On that date, Oregon was originally scheduled to play Boise State at home, which was preluded by a home game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 7th.

Thanks to some scheduling help from those two teams, Texas Tech will now play Washington State on September 7th, while the Ducks move their game vs. Boise State to that week.

“As Canzano wrote, ‘It took work.’ And to that, I would say that the things in life worth having and keeping mostly do,” Van Pelt continued. “So the Civil War continues, and those who did the work behind the scenes to ensure it will, I salute you. From all the way on the other side of the country, a guy who has never seen that game in person and almost certainly never will, it makes me smile to know that the people to whom this game matters more than it should will get to continue to enjoy it. It’s worth the work required to preserve it for generations to come.”

As someone who grew up an Oregon Ducks fan and someone who has experienced the ups and downs of the Civil War since I was a child, I am thrilled that the game is continuing into the future. While the scheduling may be tough, and fans upset about losing a home game are justified, the end result of continuing one of the most historic rivalries in the nation makes it all worth it.

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9 potential candidates to rename the ‘Civil War’ rivalry between Ducks and Beavers

The Oregon vs. Oregon State rivalry is no longer called The Civil War. What should it be called? We gathered all of your suggestions.

For the past couple of seasons, the rivalry between the Ducks and the Beavers has gone without a name. Formerly known as the Civil War, the two schools decided to move away from that moniker because the actual American Civil War was fought over slavery.

This decision and the lack of a replacement name have left fans on both sides of the rivalry confused and eager for a name, any name, to call the end-of-season football game here in the state of Oregon.

Earlier this week, Oregon’s Athletic Director Rob Mullens was asked if they had made any progress in finding a new name, and he gave some unfortunate news for fans who are eager to move on from a rivalry with no name.

While the powers-at-be are still mulling their options, we decided to take to Twitter and see if there were any decent possibilities out there. Here are some of the best suggestions we got.