All week leading up to No. 6 Oregon’s 41-7 beatdown of the Oregon State Beavers, senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher had been vocal about how much the rivalry meant to him. 

“Come Saturday, I’m bringing my all,” Boettcher said the Tuesday before the win. 

The centerpiece to Oregon’s defense more than kept his word on that promise. Boettcher tallied a team-high 10 tackles — one off his career-high — and was one of the only players to stay in during the fourth quarter when the Ducks were up big. He admitted that he and Lanning discussed that decision. 

“I told him, ‘I don’t want to come out of the game at all,’” Boettcher said. “Obviously, (Lanning) honored that to some degree and on those last few drives we had some younger guys out there.”

For the senior, his own personal rivalry with Oregon State began even before he made the decision to commit to Oregon. 

Boettcher attended South Eugene High School and excelled in baseball and football, ultimately deciding to play baseball collegiately. As a recruit, Boettcher received offers from Oregon, the University of Utah and supposedly Oregon State. 

“I was told I was going to get an opportunity to walk-on (at OSU). The coach called me and said ‘Hey, I’m going to call you on Friday to set up your visit on a Saturday.’ Friday rolls around and I never got a call and I was committing that Sunday,” Boettcher said. “He called me that Saturday night and said, ‘Hey, sorry we spaced on your visit, let’s see if we can get you down here next week.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, man, sorry about that. I’m gonna be a Duck.’”

His talent as a football player was noticed by the coaching staff and he decided to give up his baseball scholarship to become a walk-on for both sports. That meant he would get the opportunity to square up against Oregon State on multiple fields each year. 

On the gridiron Saturday, that animosity against the team up in Corvallis was present. Boettcher flew around and shot through gaps like a homing missile directed at the Beavers backfield. He was a man on a mission and was a major part of a Duck defense that let up just 147 total yards and 67 on the ground — an area where Oregon State can dominate at times.

Nowhere was that better defined than during an attempted goal line stand late in the first quarter. On first and second down from the one-yard line, Boettcher locked onto Beavers’ running back Anthony Hankerson and prevented him from breaking the plane and scoring. 

Although Hankerson would punch it in on third and goal from the one, he did so on a play that was directed sharply away from Boettcher, who Oregon State had no answer for. 

“That’s just flow state,” Boettcher said. “You just see the ball, and obviously you have to know the play and communicate, but it’s the best feeling in the world.”

Teammate and edge rusher Teitum Tuioti relishes the chance to play with a person and leader like Boettcher, as he describes it. 

“That man crazy,” Tuioti said after the game. “But he’s the leader of our defense. Everyone should strive to be like Bryce. Bryce is such a great human on and off the field, he’s a true competitor and he’s always there for the team.” 

Even as Boettcher continues his final season as an Oregon athlete, it’s clear he hasn’t lost sight of his squad’s ultimate goals. 

“I love our team, I’ve been saying it,” Boettcher said. “The way we practice, (the way) we prepare and the discipline. Going into (the season) with a young team, new guys, discipline is the one thing that we lacked, but the way everyone’s grown into their role on the team is pretty incredible to watch.”