Weaponry Gets More Advanced in Civil War

Those who witnessed the 1983 game in Eugene would have lost their farms betting that, only 17 years later, Oregon and Oregon State would meet in the 104th Civil War as top-10 teams fighting it out for the Rose Bowl.

That’s not to suggest the 1983 game did not have bowl implications.

“You want to talk about toilet bowls,” says former Oregon quarterback Mike Jorgensen, who was on the sideline that day.

In a week where the camps at Oregon State and Oregon have drawn a line in the pines and rekindled a smoldering hatred, 1983 is the one of the few areas of consensus.

“I was there,” former Oregon State quarterback Steve Preece confessed. “It was rainy, ugly. It was the worst game. You just felt sorry for the kids.”

The 1983 Civil War ended in a 0-0 tie and is remembered as arguably the worst game in college football history.

Yes, even worse than the 1931 Civil War, which also ended scoreless.

Jorgensen, Oregon’s starting quarterback in 1983, has spent the better part of two decades defending himself for that Duck debacle.

Not because he played in the game, but because people think he played.

“Guilt by association,” he says. “I was standing on the sideline with a broken leg watching Chris Miller quarterback the 0-0 tie. I think he, because of all the concussions, likes to forget he played the ’83 game, but his brain isn’t that dead. But I was there for it, witnessed the whole thing, and it wasn’t very pretty.”

The game involved two mediocre schools and a torrential downpour.

Oregon State lost two fumbles and quarterback Ladd McKittrick threw three interceptions.

Oregon lost four fumbles and Miller threw two interceptions.

Oregon State kicker Marty Breen missed field-goal attempts of 26 and 48 yards; Oregon kicker Paul Scwabe countered with misses of 20 and 55 yards.

Oregon finished the year 4-6-1 and Oregon State stumbled to 2-8-1.

The schools have come a long way, baby.

This week’s game in Corvallis is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the history of the state.

Oregon (9-1) is No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press poll, and Oregon State (9-1) lurks close behind at No. 8.

The whole Pacific Northwest is in a football frenzy.

If Oregon wins Saturday, the Ducks win the Pacific 10 Conference and go to the Rose Bowl. If Oregon State wins, and No. 6 Washington loses at Pullman to Washington State, Oregon State goes to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1964 season. If Oregon State and Washington win, Washington gets the Rose Bowl bid.

No matter what happens, the three Pacific Northwest schools will finish 1-2-3 in conference for the first time since 1916.

While a long-standing regional rivalry, the Civil War has not had much of a national foothold because the schools have rarely met with anything of consequence on the line.

This is the first time in the history of a rivalry that began in 1894 where the Rose Bowl could be at stake for the winner.

Oregon leads the series, 52-41-10, and has dominated since 1977 when Rich Brooks, an Oregon State grad, became coach. Brooks was 14-3-1 against Oregon State, and Mike Bellotti, his successor, has gone 4-1 since 1995.

It wasn’t always that way.

Preece, who went on to play for five NFL teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, led Oregon State to victories in 1966, ’67 and ’68.

“We were nationally ranked all three years and the Ducks were horrible,” says Preece, who does regional television analysis on Oregon State games for Fox. “In ‘68, we were making up plays in the huddle it was so bad.”

Oregon State won that one, 41-19, but the bottom dropped out of the program in 1971, the first of an NCAA-record 28 consecutive losing seasons.

Preece became so infuriated with the university’s de-emphasis on athletics he quit the booster club and refused to attend games.

He was appalled for nearly three decades by the ineptitude, no more so than when the school hired Jerry Pettibone in 1991 to run the wishbone offense.

“That system had no prayer,” Preece says. “That was a painful time.”

Preece says things changed in 1996 when the school hired President Paul Risser, who fired Pettibone and hired Mike Riley.

Riley built a solid foundation, despite posting an 11-14 record in two seasons, before he left to coach the San Diego Chargers.

Then came Dennis Erickson, a gift from the gods.

“He fell right into our laps,” Preece says.

Disgruntled after a dreadful stint with the Seattle Seahawks, it was Erickson who placed the initial call to Oregon State to offer himself as a successor to Riley.

In two short years, using many leftover players, Erickson has built Oregon State into a national power.

“He’s a hero because of what he’s done,” Preece says.

Oregon State’s resurgence has allowed the Civil War to become uncivil.

“It’s back to the point where families are at war this week, and that didn’t used to be,” says Jorgensen, who does radio color commentary for Oregon games. “Friends that went to opposite schools can’t stand each other for a six-, seven-day period of time, and that’s the way it should be. You need to dislike each other for a week.”

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A quick glimpse at other rivalry games to be played this week:

* USC at UCLA

There are a lot of misty, water-colored memories here, but it’s also a week in which grand theft can be confused with collegiate mischief. This week, more than $30,000 worth of UCLA musical instruments was stolen while band members were playing USC trumpeters in an annual pickup game. Police recovered most of the equipment at an apartment complex near USC. We’re not casting aspersions here, but given that UCLA’s varsity squad has won eight of the last nine in the fabled series, would it not have made more sense to confiscate a few UCLA players?

* Michigan at Ohio State

“The 100-Yard War” used to serve as the annual Rose Bowl semifinal game, but this year’s winner can get to Pasadena only under far-fetched scenarios in which Northwestern and Purdue lose games on the same day. What, you say it happened last week? The game in recent times has been John Cooper’s albatross. The Ohio State coach is 2-9-1 against Michigan. Heart-wrenching losses in 1995 and ’96 cost Cooper’s second-ranked team shots at national titles.

* Stanford at California

“The Big Game.” One of the chants goes like this: Give ‘em the ax, give ‘em the ax, give ‘em the ax, where? Right in the neck, right in the neck, right in the neck there.

Words and music by . . . Lizzy Borden?

* South Carolina at Clemson

This rivalry, which takes on new meaning this year--both teams are good!--used to be played on Thursdays until 1959 to coincide with state fair festivities. Series note: Because of a train accident in 1902, only one official showed up for the game and he called zero penalties in a 12-6 South Carolina win. Still, a riot broke out afterward among fans and the game was canceled until 1909.

* Florida at Florida State

The Governor’s Cup. Given that Florida State was a women’s college until 1947, you’ll understand why no one threw a pancake block until 1958. The rivalry got kick-started in the 1990s after Steve Spurrier arrived in Gainesville. Series note: In 1996, No. 2 Florida State beat No. 1 Florida, 24-21, in Tallahassee to advance to the Sugar Bowl, where the Seminoles expected to play Nebraska for the national title. But Nebraska lost to Texas in the Big 12 title game, prompting a Florida-Florida State rematch. Florida won, 52-20, to win the national championship.

* Washington at Washington State

The Apple Cup. There’s nothing more Washington delicious than a school foiling an archrival’s grand scheme. On this year’s table: If Washington wins, it will improve to 10-1 and either advance to the Rose, Fiesta or, in Rick Neuheisel’s wildest dreams, a national title trip to the Orange Bowl. Washington State may have other ideas. Series note: In 1982, Washington State knocked Washington out of the Rose Bowl with a win in Pullman. The goal posts ended up floating in the Palouse River.

* Auburn at Alabama

The Iron Bowl. Perhaps the nation’s most intense rivalry--the motto is It Lasts 365 Days a Year-- Auburn plays at Tuscaloosa for the first time since 1901. Series note: After Auburn beat Alabama, 40-0, in the 1957 game, Crimson Tide officials were so humiliated they sent a delegation to Texas A&M; to make coach Paul “Bear” Bryant an offer he couldn’t refuse. Alabama won 19 of the next 25 against Auburn.

* Indiana at Purdue

The Old Oaken Bucket. Last week, Purdue stepped in the bucket when it failed to clinch the Big Ten title against Michigan State, losing 30-10. Purdue gets a second chance against its rival as a win sends the Boilermakers to their first Rose Bowl since the 1966 season.

* Yale at Harvard

The Game. Harvard won the first game, 4-0, on Nov. 13, 1875. In 1968, Harvard mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally and tied the score with a two-point conversion after time expired. The headline in the student newspaper: “Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29.”

* North Carolina at Duke

Like USC and UCLA, they play for the “Victory Bell,” but this has always been a better basketball rivalry. The chances of the victory bell tolling for Duke? Not likely. The Blue Devils are 0-10 this season and have held one opponent to fewer than 26 points.

* Lehigh at Lafayette

The 136th meeting in the nation’s most-played rivalry. To give you a little sense of the history, the 100th anniversary game was played on Nov. 21, 1964.

* Montana State at Montana

It’s all on the line: the brush strokes, artistry, the frame, the easel, the canvas, the textures. In case you haven’t heard, the winner of this high-stakes game keeps possession of “The Grizzly-Bobcat Painting.”

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RIVALRY WEEK

Saturday’s rivalry games, with opponents, site and series leader:

USC and

UCLA

Rose Bowl

USC 35-27-7

Oregon and

Oregon State

Corvallis

Oregon 52-41-10

Washington and

Washington State

Pullman

Wash. 59-27-6

Stanford and

California

Berkeley

Stanford 52-39-11

Michigan and

Ohio State

Columbus, Ohio

Michigan 55-35-6

Florida and

Florida State

Tallahassee

Florida 26-16-2

Auburn and

Alabama

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama 37-26-1

Indiana and

Purdue

West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue 62-34-6

Harvard and

Yale

Cambridge, Mass.

Yale, 63-45-8

The Civil War

Oregon won seven games against Oregon State in the 1990s and leads the overall series, 52-41-10.

1990 Oregon 6, at Oregon State 3

1991 Oregon State 14, at Oregon 3

1992 Oregon 7, at Oregon State 0

1993 Oregon State 15, at Oregon 12

1994 Oregon 17, at Oregon State 13

1995 at Oregon 12, Oregon State 10

1996 Oregon 49, at Oregon State 13

1997 at Oregon 40, Oregon State 38

1998 Oregon State 44, at Oregon 41 (OT)

1999 at Oregon 25, Oregon State 14