For the past couple of years, the Civil War has brought the feeling of excitement to Eugene. This year, however, the game will be hosted in Corvallis, and Oregon students are too ready for this disappointing season to be done with to be excited.
Oregon has been the more dominant team since 2008 when the Ducks defeated the Beavers 65-38. Since then, the Ducks have won for eight straight years,matching the longest winning streak in the history of the rivalry.
Now more than ever, Oregon State may be more motivated to end its losing streak put the final nail in the coffin that has been a disastrous 2016 season for Oregon.
Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood is still looking forward to the matchup.
“The whole atmosphere of the game is always very special to me,” Greatwood said. “Whether we make a bowl or not, it’s always the last go-around with your kids and your seniors. I just have special memories of that.”
When asked what his favorite Civil War memory is, Greatwood thought of two: one from his time as a coach and the other from his time as a Duck player.
“Probably [2010 when] we beat them to go to the national championship to play Auburn,” Greatwood said. “And then the ‘94 game when we had to come from behind to beat them to go to the ‘95 Rose Bowl. Those two were both very special.”
Defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux is also excited for the match-up, but for a different reason. The Jesuit High School graduate used to play against Oregon State’s standout running back Ryan Nall often during high school when Nall attended Central Catholic.
“He’s one of the best backs we’ll go against this year, so it will be a real challenge,” Mondeaux said.
Oregon hasn’t had much luck this season at stopping elite running backs. In its loss against Stanford, Christian McCaffery ran all over the Ducks’ defensive line, racking up 147 yards and three touchdowns. Before that, in a blowout loss against Washington, Myles Gaskin ran for 202 yards and a touchdown.
Right now, the Ducks are playing for pride. For the first time since 2004, they failed to qualify for a bowl game. Last week, though, they managed to pull off an intense upset, defeating Utah 30-28.
The Oregon defense, which has been atrocious this season, played noticeably better in the win. The Ducks kept Utah to only 67 plays and 453 yards, 150 of which came from running back Joe Williams. Utah was also only 5-for-12 on third down conversions.
Mondeaux believes Oregon will be able to bring that same type of strong performance and energy against the Beavers.
“We’ve got guys that are motivated to play in this game, and we’re going to take it on the same way we do every game,” Mondeaux said. “I think we could use the positive energy from last week to the end of this week.”
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03