Take away the 46,000-plus fans.
Take away Keith Jackson and the mostly-national ABC telecast.
Take away all the Civil War hype that had even longer to build up during the three-week layoff.
And add severe cases of rain, wind and hail.
“I loved it. I was in my element out there,” Oregon offensive lineman Ryan Schmid said. “You just needed to add a mud pit, and it’d be like high school.”
The result was hard-nosed, defensive-oriented football that only produced nine combined points through 36 minutes of action.
The Oregon defense made the biggest play in the end, clinching the Ducks’ 17-14 victory over the Beavers on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.
“That’s smash-mouth football to the fullest,” safety Keith Lewis said. “A bunch of bangers just going at it.”
Quarterback Joey Harrington may get credit for his 10th career fourth quarter comeback, given that the Ducks trailed 6-3 at the end of the third, but it was the defense that saved the game.

Harrington had the ball in his hands with the Ducks leading by three and with the clock showing less than two minutes to play. But Harrington fumbled it back to Oregon State, forcing the Oregon defense to end the game on a bright note, much like it did in wins at Washington State and UCLA.
“I felt terrible for putting them in that position,” Harrington said. “But they stepped up. I was confident they’d stop them.”
With sole possession of the Pacific-10 Conference championship on the line and all the pressure of keeping Oregon State off the scoreboard, the defense was… nervous? Scared? Frustrated?
Try relaxed.
“I’d never seen a looser group out there than I did tonight after that fumble,” Lewis said. “Everybody was smiling and having fun. Our backs have been against the wall so many times.
“The defense was up for the challenge.”
Oregon State’s first play of the drive that started with 1:33 to play was a three-yard pass. The second was a Jonathan Smith fumble that he recovered for a loss of four. And then came the third.
Smith threw toward the right, the ball landed right in the hands of senior cornerback Rashad Bauman and Bauman took off right down the Beavers’ sideline to wrap up the 105th Civil War in typical dramatic style.
“He promised us one before the game,” Lewis said of Bauman’s interception.
Bauman was also one of the Ducks, along with cornerback Steve Smith, to promise that tailback Ken Simonton would not get the 113 yards needed for his fourth straight 1,000 yard season. Simonton ended with 84 yards on 26 carries.
“We knew he wasn’t going to get his 113,” Bauman said. “It wasn’t any disrespect to Ken Simonton. That’s just the confidence we have in our defense.
“I’m just glad we were able to not put our foots in our mouths.”