“7-6 or 28-27. Either of those could be the score Saturday when Oregon meets Oregon State.”
Those words were not written by Emerald sports editor Jeff Smith in a Civil War story this week. They were, in fact, written by former Emerald sports editor Phil Semas before the last Civil War game where Rose Bowl fates hung in the balance for both teams — in 1964.
The final score of that Civil War game was 7-6, Oregon State, as Semas eerily predicted, and the Beavers went to the Rose Bowl only to lose, 34-7, to Michigan.
But back in 1964, the Emerald sports staff didn’t hype the Civil War. In fact, Semas’ story in that Friday’s paper was the only article to discuss the game, and it didn’t include the words “Rose Bowl,” even though the winner would most likely make the trip to Pasadena.
How times have changed.
Back when there wasn’t media hype, there was still the Civil War, and it sometimes had bowl implications.
Throughout the last quarter-century, Oregon and Oregon State have had memorable Civil War matchups, but none have quite lived up to that 1964 game — until now. There was the infamous 0-0 tie in 1983, the come-from-behind Oregon victory in 1994 that put the Ducks in the Rose Bowl and the double-overtime thriller in Corvallis two seasons ago.
Let the wars begin.

1948
In 1948, the Civil War was for the Rose Bowl when it started, and ended up being for the Cotton Bowl.
“Jim Aiken and his relentless Webfoots will be out to make an Oregon dream of 18 years standing come true today,” wrote the Emerald’s Glenn Gillespie in ’48.
The “Webfoots” pulled out the 10-0 win but didn’t go to the Rose Bowl despite a 7-0 record. A secret ballot of Pacific Coast Conference faculty representatives selected 6-0 California instead, and Oregon went to the Cotton Bowl.

1957
“Take a pair of volatile, fast-geared football teams, put them at opposite ends of Hayward Field in the midst of 26,000 divided fans and let them fight 60 minutes for some part and/or all of the PCC championship,” wrote Emerald sports editor Jerry Ramsey. “That’s Homecoming, Oregon, 1957.”
The 1957 Civil War was one where everything was on the line. The Civil War that year was indeed for the Pacific Coast Conference championship, and the Beavers pulled off the 10-7 upset win at Oregon. But under PCC rules Oregon got the Rose Bowl bid because Oregon State had gone the year before.
In a pep rally the following Monday, Oregon president O. Meredith Wilson announced the Ducks were headed to the Rose Bowl and canceled classes for that day.
One Emerald sports reporter in particular enjoyed writing about the game. His name was Phil Knight.
“Past records mean nothing when these two teams meet,” wrote Knight, now the owner of Nike, before the ’57 Civil War. “And so it is with the annual Oregon-Oregon State football game, a contest filled with tradition.”
Knight is still making headlines. The Oregon graduate has been attending football games recently after cutting ties with school’s athletic department, and the Civil War will be the third straight game he will attend this year.

1983
There was nothing at stake in 1983’s game except the job of Beaver coach Joe Avezzano, but the game will live long in the minds of Oregonians nonetheless.
“The game may make a football follies film,” wrote the Emerald’s Steve Turcott.
In all, the two teams committed 11 turnovers in the 0-0 tie. The Ducks fumbled seven times, and four times the Beavers recovered. Oregon State had three passes picked off by the Oregon secondary.

1994
“It’s finally here. The Civil War to end all Civil Wars takes center stage Saturday,” wrote Chris Metz in 1994.
That game was the Civil War to end all Civil Wars until now. Oregon, needing a win to clinch a spot in the Rose Bowl, faced an upset-minded Beaver team that almost executed the upset.
With the Beavers leading 13-10 with 4:42 left in the game, Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil engineered a 70-yard drive to win, 17-13. The Ducks then watched as UCLA beat Southern California, which meant the Civil War outcome hadn’t mattered, but Oregon celebrated the trip to Pasadena all the same.

2000
Perhaps someday in the future the Ducks and Beavers will meet with as much on the line as this Saturday. And maybe then, people will look back to see what Jeff Smith had to say.