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This story first ran in the Nov. 26, 2014, edition of WW—back when the Oregon-Oregon State game was still called “the Civil War.” What might or might not be the last of these annual clashes starts at 5:30 pm tonight in Autzen Stadium. It’s airing on Fox 12.
College football is dominated by bitter rivalries and weird trophies.
A lot of it’s pretty silly—golden eggs, bejeweled shillelaghs, golden wagon wheels, a little brown jug, and Oregon’s own Civil War might be the silliest of all thanks to its grandiose name and short-lived wooden platypus trophy.
The University of Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers have been playing each other nearly continuously since 1894 for, to quote former OSU Coach Dee Andros, “The right to live in the state.” The series between these two schools located 47 miles apart has also borne witness to fisticuffs, a duck kidnapping, students dunked in the Millrace, abducted homecoming queens and what’s widely regarded as the worst game ever played.
Longtime Oregon sports writer Kerry Eggers’ The Civil War Rivalry takes a comprehensive look at the most-played rivalry on the West Coast.
With the 118th matchup between Oregon and Oregon State taking place at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on Saturday, Nov. 29, Willamette Week chatted with Eggers.
WW: What makes the Civil War special?
Kerry Eggers: There’s two major schools in the state. You’re either a Duck or a Beaver in this state—sometimes it even splits families. It’s been an up-and-down rivalry; right now the Ducks have the upper hand. There was a time when the Beavers did.
As someone who grew up in the modern era, it was fascinating to read when the Beavers dominated the rivalry in the ’60s. Especially in the Dee Andros era (1965-75).
Because he put so much emphasis on the game, it was kind of the antithesis of [former Oregon Coach] Chip Kelly’s philosophy that “every game’s the Super Bowl.” But in the Dee Andros era, the Civil War was the Super Bowl.
Let’s say the Civil War is tied at the half—the winner goes to the Rose Bowl or, I guess, the Pac-12 title game. Which coach would you want giving the halftime speech?
Andros would be the guy. He was most known for his pep talks, bringing his players to tears. [Former Oregon Coach] Rich Brooks would be in the conversation, too.
If you factor in Brooks’ record when he played for the Beavers and then coached Oregon from 1977-94, he was a combined 22-3-1 in the series.
His record is incredible. He’s just such an intense, bright guy. He coached under Andros and bought into that theory. It didn’t matter which of those teams was better on Civil War day, his team was gonna win.
Were there any specific challenges to researching the early history of the rivalry?
I was lucky to talk to three or four people from the ’40s. Andy Landforce, a 97-year-old who was a member of the ’41 Beavers team that played in the transplanted Rose Bowl [moved from Pasadena, Calif., to Durham, N.C., due to fears of a Japanese invasion following the attack on Pearl Harbor]. Another was former Oregon Gov. Vic Atiyeh, who passed away. And Chief Snider, who coincidentally introduced my mom and dad, he also passed away after I talked to him. I was glad to get to talk to all of these people because once they’re gone, their stories evaporate, too.
Some of the press clippings included in your book had great details from early games, like an Oregon State player getting kicked out for punching a ref in 1897.
I spent a lot of hours looking through microfilm—because the Internet wasn’t around for most of the series. It wasn’t the funnest thing, but I was able to mine a few nuggets to make the older years more interesting. There’s a whole chapter on the fisticuffs and hanky-panky of the rivalry.
Like when an Oregon State player punched an Oregon fan as they were tearing down the goalposts in Corvallis in the early ’70s?
How about when [Oregon State lineman] Steve Bielenberg punched out the Duck mascot before the [1971] game? That was my favorite one.
What would you say to anyone who argues that the Oregon-Washington rivalry is more important than the Civil War?
There are many Ducks who hate the Huskies. And I found through this book that the majority of Beavers hate the Ducks. There’s a segment of Ducks who hate the Beavers, but there’s just as many who hate the Huskies. I think it’s lessened a little with Oregon winning 11 in a row [over Washington]. Not that the Ducks will stop disliking the Huskies, but until the Huskies make it a series again, the Civil War rules in that regard.
Any predictions for this year’s Civil War?
I’d certainly pick the Ducks. They’re No. 2 or 3 in the country, and they have a lot on the line.
Arizona State had a lot on the line when it lost to the Beavers 35-27.
Right, but I think the Ducks are a better team than Arizona State.