When you grow up in the state of Oregon, the phrase “Civil War” has two meanings. First, of course, was the war between the Union and the Confederacy after the South seceded from the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America. The second was the annual football game between Oregon and Oregon State.
I don’t need to tell you which held my attention more, although history is my favorite subject in school. I always am intrigued by what happened in the past and what sparked certain events.
That’s why I googled “Civil war football” for this column and the results page came up with 8.34 million hits. I was interested in the history of the football game and I wasn’t disappointed with a few of the results.
The first one that came up (naturally) was Wikipedia. Now, your teachers might frown upon citing Wikipedia in research papers, but it’s a good starting spot for just about any research. There I found the entire series record dating back to the first game in 1894 when the Oregon Agricultural College shut out the University of Oregon 16-0. Oregon won the next three games, but it wasn’t until 1937 that the term “Civil War” came into popular use with the rivalry.
By the 40th year of the game, Oregon State had already gone through several name changes as well. At first the college was Oregon Agricultural College, followed by Oregon State Agricultural College in 1927. Ten years later that name turned into Oregon State College and 1961 marked the year the school in Corvallis settled on Oregon State University.
By 1961, there had already been some memorable moments in the Civil War. The Ducks led the series 30-25-9, but the Beavers won that year in a 6-2 game. That was in the middle of a stretch that saw the Beavers go 11-1-1 against the Ducks from 1959-1971.
In 1933, both teams came into the game undefeated: the Ducks at 7-0 and the Beavers at 5-0-2. The Ducks won, but they lost a week later to the USC Trojans to finish in a tie for the Pacific Coast Conference (the precursor to today’s Pacific-10 Conference) title, while Stanford won the Rose Bowl bid.
Then in 1957 the greatest Civil War game played to date happened. Oregon was 6-1 in conference and the Beavers were 5-2. A win by OSC would have given the college a share of the PCC title. The Beavers won, but the Ducks still went to the Rose Bowl because the orange and black had been to Pasadena the year before and back then there was a “no-repeat” clause for the Rose Bowl. Screwy rule for sure, but it was the last time that the conference championship was decided by the Civil War.
And if we’re doing an overview of some memorable games, how can we forget to mention the 0-0 tie in the 1983 edition that everyone fondly remembers as the Toilet Bowl? Did you know that it was that last time that a Division I game ever ended in a scoreless tie? Neither did I until I read Oregonian writer Seth Prince’s “Civil War: The complete game-by-game
history.” Fascinating stuff.
Since I’ve been alive (1988), Oregon has a 12-9 advantage over Oregon State. I attribute Oregon’s four-game winning streak from 1994 to 1997 as the reason why I associated myself more with the green and yellow. All I remember from the time is that it seemed like the Ducks were invincible against the Beavers and I didn’t want to associate myself with a lowly team like the Beavers.
But as I grew older and I was able to appreciate the history of the rivalry, I came to realize the animosity and passion displayed by both colleges and fans was more of a celebration of the state of Oregon. Out West we sometimes get overlooked by the California schools like USC and compared to the schools back east, OSU-UO doesn’t seem like a big deal. But to Oregonians, it’s the tradition of 116 years and counting that we take pride in and although we have taken sides, we tend to root for the other school the other games of the year unless it impacts our standing in a negative way.
That’s why this year’s Civil War is so amazing. The state of Oregon will own both the Pac-10 champion and Rose Bowl team for the first time ever. Yes, Duck fans would be upset if the Beavers win, and yes, it would make talking to your co-worker that much more difficult, but in the end, you know you’ll cheer for Oregon State if they make it to the Rose Bowl because the team would be representing Oregon.
It’s a no-lose situation for the state and that’s what I’m proud of.
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