Oregon State’s dramatic 30-28 victory in the 110th Civil War all but assured the Beavers their first invitation to the Sun Bowl played on Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas.
But what about Oregon, which now sits tied for fourth at 4-5 in the conference and 7-5 overall?
The Ducks’ bowl plans became a little bit clearer after the weekend, but are not certain.
Arizona State’s victory against Arizona created a four-way tie between Oregon, Arizona, Washington State, and Arizona State at 4-5. UCLA is currently 4-4 but has a meeting with No. 2 USC next Saturday.
If UCLA loses, that leaves Oregon and Arizona State as the only teams with seven wins overall, which guarantees each a bowl berth while all the six-win teams, Arizona, Washington State and UCLA, must wait to be selected.
The available bowl games include the fourth-place Las Vegas Bowl, the fifth-place Emerald Bowl or the sixth-place Hawaii Bowl.
With a UCLA loss, the Las Vegas Bowl would pick between Oregon and Arizona State with the other going to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. Oregon defeated Arizona State this season 48-13 on Sept. 30 in Tempe, Ariz.
A UCLA victory against USC creates a three-way tie for the three remaining bowl games and Oregon could go to any of them.
If the Ducks end up in the Las Vegas Bowl, they would face Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young University on Dec. 21.
The Emerald Bowl, on Dec. 27, pits the Pacific-10 Conference against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s fifth, sixth or seventh place team, which will likely be Florida State or Virginia.
The recipient of the Hawaii Bowl berth will play the hometown Hawaii Warriors on Dec. 24.
Civil War Notes
Oregon State kicker Alexis Serna knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity. Oregon’s kickers would be wise to take a page out of his book after Friday’s performance.
Serna connected on kicks of 49 and 50 yards as well as the game-winner from 40 to lead the Beavers, while the Ducks’ Paul Martinez missed twice from 35 and 34 yards and had an extra-point kick blocked. His replacement, Matt Evensen, had his game-winning attempt from 44 blocked with 20 seconds remaining.
For Serna it marked another chapter in his storied career that began with three missed extra points at defending-champion LSU, one that ended the game in overtime as the Beavers fell 22-21. Last season he won the Groza Award for the nation’s top kicker.
“Stud,” said Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore of Serna. “We knew if we got down there, he would put it through for us and he did. With everything he’s been through, to win a game like this was awesome.”
Martinez knows there will be brighter days.
“Me personally, it was the worst game I’ve ever played,” he said, noting that he wasn’t getting his natural pull to the left on his two field goal attempts that missed wide right. “But I’m not tripping about it, I’m going to bounce back.”
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