To outsiders, the game between Oregon and Oregon State is just one of
those cutesy little intrastate matchups that occur every year at the end of
the college football season.
To insiders, it's anything but.
"The Civil War," as it is called, is, perhaps, the nastiest, most heated,
intensely fierce rivalry in the country. Think Auburn-Alabama,
Florida-Florida State, Nebraska-Oklahoma or Army-Navy with bizarre mascots.
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Civil War Results
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Results from the 103 Civil War games between Oregon and Oregon State, with site in parentheses.
(Note: teams played twice in 1896)
1894-Beavers 16, Ducks 0 (Eugene)
1895-Ducks 44, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1896-Ducks 2, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1896-Ducks 12, Beavers 8 (Corvallis)
1897-Beavers 26, Ducks 8 (Eugene)
1898-Ducks 38, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1899-Ducks 38, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1902-Tie, 0-0 (Corvallis)
1903-Ducks 5, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1904-Ducks 6, Beavers 5 (Corvallis)
1905-Ducks 6, Beavers (Corvallis)
1906-Tie, 0-0 (Corvallis)
1907-Beavers 4, Ducks 0 (Eugene)
1908-Ducks 8, Beavers 0 (Portland)
1909-Ducks 12, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1910-Ducks 12, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1912-Ducks 3, Beavers 0 (Albany)
1913-Tie, 10-10 (Albany)
1914-Tie, 3-3 (Corvallis)
1915-Ducks 9, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1916-Ducks 27, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1917-Beavers 14, Ducks 7 (Portland)
1918-Ducks 13, Beavers 6 (Corvallis)
1919-Ducks 9, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1920-Tie, 0-0 (Eugene)
1921-Tie, 0-0 (Eugene)
1922-Ducks 10, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1923-Beavers 6, Ducks 0 (Eugene)
1924-Ducks 7, Beavers 3 (Corvallis)
1925-Beavers 24, Ducks 13 (Eugene)
1926-Beavers 16, Ducks 10 (Corvallis)
1927-Beavers 31, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1928-Ducks 12, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1929-Ducks 16, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1930-Beavers 15, Ducks 0 (Corvallis)
1931-Tie, 0-0 (Eugene)
1932-Ducks 12, Beavers 6 (Corvallis)
1933-Ducks 13, Beavers 3 (Portland)
1934-Ducks 9, Beavers 6 (Portland)
1935-Ducks 13, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1936-Beavers 18, Ducks 0 (Corvallis)
1937-Beavers 14, Ducks 0 (Eugene)
1938-Beavers 14, Ducks 0 (Portland)
1939-Beavers 19, Ducks 14 (Eugene)
1940-Ducks 20, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1941-Beavers 12, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1942-Beavers 39, Ducks 2 (Corvallis)
1943-No game, WWII
1944-No game, WWII
1945-Beavers 19, Ducks 6 (Corvallis)
1946-Beavers 13, Ducks 0 (Corvallis)
1947-Ducks 14, Beavers 6 (Eugene)
1948-Ducks 10, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1949-Beavers 20, Ducks 10 (Eugene)
1950-Beavers 14, Ducks 2 (Corvallis)
1951-Beavers 14, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1952-Beavers 22, Ducks 19 (Portland)
1953-Beavers 7, Ducks 0 (Eugene)
1954-Ducks 33, Beavers 14 (Corvallis)
1955-Ducks 28, Beavers 0 (Eugene)
1956-Tie, 14-14 (Corvallis)
1957-Beavers 10, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1958-Ducks 20, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1959-Beavers 15, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1960-Tie, 14-14 (Corvallis)
1961-Beavers 6, Ducks 2 (Eugene)
1962-Beavers 20, Ducks 17 (Corvallis)
1963-Ducks 31, Beavers 14 (Eugene)
1964-Beavers 7, Ducks 6 (Corvallis)
1965-Beavers 19, Ducks 14 (Eugene)
1966-Beavers 20, Ducks 15 (Corvallis)
1967-Beavers 14, Ducks 10 (Eugene)
1968-Beavers 41, Ducks 19 (Corvallis)
1969-Beavers 10, Ducks 7 (Eugene)
1970-Beavers 24, Ducks 9 (Corvallis)
1971-Beavers 30, Ducks 29 (Eugene)
1972-Ducks 30, Beavers 3 (Corvallis)
1973-Beavers 17, Ducks 14 (Eugene)
1974-Beavers 35, Ducks 16 (Corvallis)
1975-Ducks 14, Beavers 7 (Eugene)
1976-Ducks 23, Beavers 14 (Corvallis)
1977-Ducks 28, Beavers 16 (Eugene)
1978-Ducks 24, Beavers 3 (Corvallis)
1979-Ducks 24, Beavers 3 (Eugene)
1980-Ducks 40, Beavers 21 (Corvallis)
1981-Ducks 47, Beavers 17 (Eugene)
1982-Ducks 7, Beavers 6 (Corvallis)
1983-Tie, 0-0 (Eugene)
1984-Ducks 31, Beavers 6 (Corvallis)
1985-Ducks 34, Beavers 13 (Eugene)
1986-Ducks 49, Beavers 28 (Corvallis)
1987-Ducks 44-0 (Eugene)
1988-Beavers 21, Ducks 10 (Corvallis)
1989-Ducks 30, Beavers 21 (Eugene)
1990-Ducks 6, Beavers 3 (Corvallis)
1991-Beavers 14, Ducks 3 (Eugene)
1992-Ducks 7, Beavers 0 (Corvallis)
1993-Beavers 15, Ducks 12 (Eugene)
1994-Ducks 17, Beavers 13 (Corvallis)
1995-Ducks 12, Beavers 10 (Eugene)
1996-Ducks 49, Beavers 13 (Corvallis)
1997-Ducks 48, Beavers 30 (Eugene)
1998-Beavers 44, Ducks 41, 2OT (Corvallis)
1999-Ducks 25, Beavers 14 (Eugene)
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"This state is divided. Families are divided. Friends are divided. You're
either a Duck or a Beaver, that's the end of it," says Oregon State tight
end Martin Maurer, who was raised in Oregon. "I guarantee you people are
walking around this week with ropes around their necks, with a noose tied
around a duck or a beaver."
And this year, in the 104th meeting of the two schools, which are barely
40 miles apart, there is a lot more than just bragging rights at stake.
With a remarkable surge this season by the usually woeful Beavers, both
teams are 9-1, ranked in the top ten and the game has Rose Bowl implications
-- if Oregon wins, the Ducks go. If OSU wins and Washington loses to
Washington State, the Beavers go.
Think that hasn't added to the already festering war of words?
"(OSU quarterback) Jonathan Smith is singing in my mind, singing in my
dreams and I'm hearing every word he is saying," Oregon defensive lineman
Jason Nikolao told the Oregonian on Monday. "He teases me right now. He's in Corvallis right now teasing me, teasing my teammates, sitting there laughing about everything. They are all dancing and laughing....I'm looking for
something. I'm looking for my pride and I'm going to get it back."
Nikolao says he lost his pride in Corvallis two years ago when the
Beavers won in double overtime. Fans thought the Beavers had won the game in
the first overtime when Oregon quarterback Akili Smith threw an incomplete
pass on fourth down. They stormed onto the field celebrating, only to learn
that pass interference had been called. Referees began moving fans to the
sidelines and after a considerable delay, Smith passed again, found a
receiver in the endzone and the game went into double OT -- with the crowd
still on the sidelines.
"They were spitting on us, hitting us in the back," Nikolao says. "Little
kids, women, old people."
"There was no security, no attempt to remove the fans from our sideline,"
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti says. "It was a very difficult situation. Our
kids remember it; I remember it personally. It is something I will never
forget."
Bellotti added that his young son was concerned about going
back to Corvallis for this year's game.
"Their fans and little kids were rude and the old people were rude,"
says defensive end Saul Patu. "We couldn't even make a prayer without
someone cussing in our ears and telling us to get off their field and out
of their stadium. We remember that and we keep that in the back of our
minds."
Hearing that, Oregon State running back Ken Simonton shrugs.
"I remember in Autzen Stadium my redshirt freshman year, people getting
spit on, somebody's grandmother out there cussing us out," he says, "but you
know, it's the game."
It is the game -- it's why coaches at both schools have career records and
"Civil War Records." Rich Brooks was 91-109-4 during his tenure at Oregon,
but it was his 14-3-1 Civil War record that made him into a hero and got his
name on a building at the stadium. Dennis Erickson has worked wonders at
OSU, compiling a 16-6 record so far, but is 0-1 in the Civil War, losing
last year's game in Eugene. He understands the pressure to win Saturday.
"When you lose that game, they let you know it," he says. "And you put up
with it for a year. You find out how important a rivalry is and I found out
it's pretty important."
And often pretty ugly:
In 1983 the 3-6-1 Ducks and the 1-8-1 Beavers played to a
0-0 tie, combining for four interceptions and 11 fumbles -- the game was
forever dubbed the "Toilet Bowl."
In 1971, Dan Fouts threw a 28-yard-touchdown pass with about
five minutes remaining, appearing to snap the Ducks seven-game losing streak
to the Beavers. But the Beavers marched right back down the field and scored
to increase the streak to eight.
Because of inclement weather, it was called the "Flood Bowl"
in 1990, the "Freeze Bowl" in 1985 and the "Fog Bowl" in 1993.
When Simonton arrived on Oregon State's campus out of California, he
didn't understand all the fuss.
"We had a player meeting that first year before the Civil War game and
senior players were just getting up with tears in their eyes, trying to
convey the seriousness of that game," he recalls. "I sat there like, 'You
guys didn't have that emotion for any other game.' I didn't get it. But after
playing in it two years, I understand the real emotional ties to this game
now."
The teams truly hate one another.
"I know this is Civil War week because I'm starting to get sick to my
stomach," says former OSU coach Dee Andros, who coached from 1965-1975 and owns a 9-2 Civil War Record. "And when I'm sick to my stomach, I'm sick all over."
The series has made Maurer sick, too. His father played at Oregon and
his uncle played at Oregon State. Maurer grew up worshipping the Ducks and
dreaming of playing for them one day himself.
"They chose to give a scholarship to another tight end. They didn't offer
me one. To me, growing up in this state, there were only two schools --
Oregon and Oregon State. So when it didn't work out there, I came here," he
says. "My dad has cheered for me for four years. I don't know if after this
weekend he'll go back to rooting for the Ducks, maybe he will. But one
thing's for certain, I never will.
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