After playing in their first Civil War, an Oregon football player’s eyes can be opened to the intensity that surrounds the rivalry.
“It’s a learning experience,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “A lot of players who come from out-of-state don’t realize how severe the decision-making process is as to whether you’re a Beaver or a Duck.”
Growing up in California, as many Oregon athletes did, the words “Ducks” and “Beavers” evoked more confusion and laughter, as opposed to fire and passion.
“It sounds like a forest or something,” said linebacker David Moretti, who hails from Pleasonton, Calif. “If I was back home, I probably wouldn’t have thought much of it. But since I’ve been up here and experienced it, it’s definitely changed my mind.
“We want to win this game more than any game all year.”
Jason Willis, now a junior starting receiver, remembers being a redshirt freshman in 1998 and listening to then-quarterback Akili Smith fire up his teammates with a speech about how important it was that Oregon beat Oregon State.
“Akili was all talking about how big a game this was, and I’m like, ‘It’s just Oregon State, they’re right up the road,’” said Willis, who hails from Los Angeles. “It wasn’t that big a deal to me at first. People had to explain it more to me.
“But I’ve learned to hate Oregon State.”
Certainly, Oregon’s dislike for its neighbor “right up the road” only grew more last year after the Beavers spoiled the Ducks’ season.
Oregon entered the Civil War on Nov. 17, 2000 in Corvallis needing to beat the Beavers to claim the outright Pacific-10 Conference championship and thus earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. Instead, Joey Harrington threw five interceptions and Oregon State capitalized, beating the Ducks 23-13 and forcing a three-way tie atop the Pac-10.
For Moretti, a junior college transfer who played on special teams last season, his first Beaver experience was a first-hand lesson as to what the game means.
“You feel the emotion just walking out to the field from the locker room and people are throwing stuff at you and calling you all kinds of names,” Moretti said. “I had no idea what it was all about and then I realized how big it was.”
As is customary when players get older, it’s now Moretti’s turn to tell stories about last season to his younger teammates who didn’t experience it. Stories are a big part of what gives the Civil War its historical feel.
Just like the previous 104 contests, Saturday’s 105th affair will again be heated and will no doubt include moments that will turn into tales in the years to come.
“I didn’t know anything about it. I just heard stories and a lot of them weren’t good,” said Allan Amundson, a San Rafeal, Calif., native. “You always hear the bad stuff.”
For those Ducks who are Oregon residents, like Eugenean Chris Tetterton, they don’t need history lessons or motivational tactics. Tetterton sees the immediate difference in his out-of-state teammates when they take the field against the Beavers.
“As much as they say, ‘Oh, it rains in Oregon too much’ and ‘I’m not an Oregonian, I’m a Californian,’ that’s all B.S.,” Tetterton said. “They come here and they know. Their first game, it all changes. They become an Oregonian.”
So, as freshman defensive end Igor Olshansky prepares to play in his first Civil War, he claims that he feels no ill will toward Oregon State.
“I don’t have any hatred right now,” Olshansky said.
Think the San Francisco native ever will?
“Talk to me after the game,” he said with a smile.
Assistant sports editor Jeff Smith can be reached at [email protected].