News of the Oregon State victory spread quickly throughout the Oregon locker room Saturday.
Both the Ducks and Beavers played at the same time, so while the Oregon players enjoyed their 21-20 victory at UCLA, many hadn’t heard the news of what went on in Corvallis.
And quite a few eyebrows were raised that eighth-ranked Washington was dealt an embarrassing 49-24 defeat at the hands of the Beavers.
“Whoooo! That’s a shocker,” Oregon cornerback Rashad Bauman said.
“That blows me away. Just blows me away,” Oregon fullback Josh Line said.
For the Beavers (4-5, 3-4 Pacific-10 Conference), it was a statement game after being the laughing stock of the college football world for being ranked as high as the preseason No. 1 team by Sports Illustrated and then falling down hard.
They’ve seen their bandwagon grow emptier by the week after losses to Fresno State, UCLA, Washington State, Arizona State and USC. Plus, they had lost 13 straight games to the Huskies, including last year’s 33-30 heartbreaker that was their only defeat of the season, so they enjoyed Saturday’s victory at Reser Stadium.
“It’s a huge boost for us, without a doubt,” Oregon State head coach Dennis Erickson said Tuesday in his weekly press conference. “We know what we are capable of doing if we do the right things.”
Assuming the Beavers take care of Northern Arizona this Saturday, the stakes would be raised for the Dec. 1 Civil War. Oregon State would need a sixth victory to become bowl eligible and Oregon would be aiming to stay in the Rose Bowl picture and at least earn a Fiesta Bowl berth.
“The Beavers are tough to beat at home. Washington found that out and we did last year, so I’m glad we’re playing them at our place,” Line said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”