They say history can teach us a great deal. They say you can never know too much about the past. They say never let the mistakes of the past repeat themselves.
“History is important because we want to learn from the past so we don’t make the same mistakes in the future.” It’s a clichéd response — one that many history majors know all too well.
And although it is a cliché, it can provide some valuable insights.
Remember the past. Learn from the mistakes. Make things easier and better in the future.
Today’s lecture: How not to get the “hell” kicked out of your football squad.
The date: Nov. 2, 1964 — a time of civil unrest, Cold War and … Stanford football?

The place: Hayward Field.
The coach: Len Casanova.
The star quarterback: Bob Berry.
The result: Stanford 10, Oregon 8.
Flash-foward: Oct. 19, 2001.
The place: Autzen Stadium.
The coach: Mike Bellotti.
The star quarterback (need I say it?): Joey Heisman, er, Harrington.
The result: ?
At first glance, the parallels seem minor. But further evidence suggests some eerie coincidences.
Heading into the 1964 matchup against Stanford, the “Webfoots” were 6-0. In an era that still ran first, threw if necessary, Oregon was led by Berry, who at that time was considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in program history (in fact, Berry is still among the top-10 quarterbacks in school history in several statistical categories).
Harrington’s smooth-as-a-baby’s-butt demeanor on the field and coolness under pressure have also awarded him great admiration among players, fans and the media.
Casanova coached Oregon for 16 years, becoming the most renowned coach the school has ever seen.
Bellotti, assuming he hangs around, is well on his way to the same plateau.
At 6-0, Harrington, Bellotti and Co. are embarking on one of the most substantial seasons in school history. In fact, the 2001 Ducks are only the fourth Oregon football team to begin a season flawless after six games, with two occurring in the 1930s and the most recent occurring in, yep, you guessed it, 1964.
Nov. 2, 1964: Stanford comes into the Webfoots’ home and trounces all over Oregon’s Rose Bowl dreams with a last-second field goal by Braden Beck, a left-footed placekicker.
One excuse was Berry’s aching legs, injured the previous week against Washington, which aided him in a dismal 4-of-13 passing performance against Stanford.
Put more simply, though, Casanova said: “They just kicked the hell out of us.”
Let’s hope Oregon’s learned its lesson and doesn’t allow any “kicking” on Saturday at Autzen.
Just to add insult to injury, Stanford leads the all-time series against Oregon 41-21-1.
Of course, Stanford doesn’t get any significant edge Saturday because of its successful history against the Webfoots.
But for the sake of argument, let’s just hope the Ducks have taken their share of history classes.