CORVALLIS — They made you watch until the final second. There were times you might not have wanted to look away, but you just couldn’t.
Ten point deficit with seven minutes to go? For most teams, it’s a time to at least let the possibility of defeat cross into your mind.
But for this Oregon football team, after all the improbable comeback wins it had this season, you had to give them their full 60 minutes of football. Because we all have seen the magic that has happened in those precious final ticks of the clock.
There Oregon was, on the Oregon State 10-yard line with 6:10 to play in the game. The Ducks had driven 70 yards down the field, and actually had the benefit of three holding penalties on the Beaver secondary — as opposed to the numerous flags called on the Ducks throughout the game.
Maybe this was it. If Oregon scores here, and cuts it to three, then it’s anybody’s game. Maybe Oregon needed to be down by 10 in the fourth to come back and clinch the prestigious Rose Bowl berth. After all, it would only be fitting.
Joey Harrington accepts the snap…
He begins to roll out and looks for an open receiver in the end zone…
And then bam!
Oregon State defensive end Sefa O’Reilly blindsides Harrington from the right side and drills him in the back.
The ball drops out of the quarterback’s hands, and gets scooped up by Oregon State’s DeLawrence Grant with 6:06 to play in the game.
The sold-out Reser Stadium crowd — except for the clusters of green and yellow clad people — goes berserk.
Ballgame, Rose Bowl and in-state supremacy all gets dashed for the Ducks in that one play.
The minutes slowly wind down as Harrington paces the sidelines. Five minutes… four… three… and then the Oregon defense forces a Beaver punt at the 2:57 mark. But the punt is pinned at the Oregon three-yard line.
All the Ducks care about is that it gets the ball back. Harrington completes two crucial passes to wide receiver Samie Parker to move the ball to the 34-yard line. Then Oregon State commits a personal foul on an illegal blow to the head to push it all the way to the 49-yard line.
There’s still life. Harrington drops back, fires it downfield, but it gets intercepted by Grant to seal the deal.
The scoreboard flashes the words, “It’s a great day to be a Beaver!”
And as you watch the Oregon sidelines, you know exactly what kind of day it was to be a Duck.
When the clock showed 0:00, fans stormed the field as the Ducks ran off of it, trying to escape their nightmare as quickly as possible.
As some students attempted to tear down the goal post, Oregon’s Jason Nikolao stood in full pads with his family. Hugging. Kissing. And hugging some more.
The Ducks made their way down to the basement of nearby Gill Coliseum, where the reality of missing the Rose Bowl slowly started to sink in.
“It was a fatal game,” senior wide receiver Marshaun Tucker said. “We had that right there in the hands and we let it slip away.”
In the days leading up to this game, Harrington didn’t hide his emotions about his love for the Ducks and how much he wanted to win this game. He said he would never forget it, regardless of the outcome, and now knows that the memories will be painful. They’ll be especially painful since he threw five interceptions — after only throwing eight all season.
“We had a chance to do what we wanted to do,” said the junior quarterback, while he sat on a chair with his face down, trying to hide his obvious hurt. “We just didn’t do it.”
Meanwhile, in the Valley Football Center, Oregon State head coach Dennis Erickson danced and talked of how proud his players should be. Those players sported grins as wide as can be and hats with the words, “Pac-10 Champs” on it.
Actually, the Beavers are Pac-10 co-champions, along with the Huskies and Ducks.
Which is where the true ironic twist comes into play. Despite having two teams in the nation’s top-10 clash in a historic Civil War, the state of Oregon gets shut out in the Rose Bowl. Washington gets the berth, along with the extra money, the added television exposure and the feeling of being a real champion.
All Oregon gets to feel is emptiness and despair, and must find a way to gear itself back up for whatever bowl game comes its way.
And for all those heart-broken Duck fans, as well as everyone involved with the Oregon football program, I leave you with a quote from poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
“It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”
Jeff Smith is the sports editor of the Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].