You might not know it if you didn’t live in the great northwest, but the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State has become one of the premiere rivalry games in college football. If you were look at it on paper, you might just assume that the Ducks would handle the Beavers without much distress, but that’s not the case. Oregon State always brings their “‘A’ game” against the Ducks. In last season’s matchup the Ducks needed a heroic late touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to Josh Huff to escape with a 36-35 victory.
If anyone on Oregon’s roster can vouch for the intensity of the rivalry, it’s linebacker Ivan Faulhaber. Faulhaber is a Eugene native, and his father worked at Oregon State University. The linebacker spoke with FishDuck.com today on what the rivalry means to him, the team, and the state of Oregon.
“I knew it was a big game growing up. You could see a good majority of the Oregon State fans at the stadium. It made for a really cool atmosphere. It was always fun to see the mutual hate and respect for one another,” Faulhaber said.
Faulhaber elaborated that there was a time when his allegiances could have been a little blurred. “The funny thing is that my dad worked for Oregon State as a financial advisor, and there would be times that I’d go visit him.” Faulhaber went on to say, “My dad always had a little Oregon helmet hidden away to just to keep his faith truthful to the Ducks because he went here, and I was always a Duck fan growing up.”
Josh Huff going down the sideline in last years classic Civil War.
The Eugene native went on to say how the Civil War game has a little more meaning than the other games on the schedule. “A lot of the guys that come in don’t know what the rivalry is all about. You see a lot more competition in these games compared to others. I don’t know if everyone realizes that at first, but after you play in a couple of these games you start to realize it.”
Saturday will mark the 118th battle in the Civil War rivalry. For Oregon State, the opportunity to dismantle Oregon’s title hopes would be something that they could hang their hats on for years to come. The Beavers have had a down season, but all of that will be forgotten if they could play spoiler to their biggest rival. For the Ducks, they know that they can’t take the Beavers lightly (Oregon State just ended Arizona State’s playoff hopes two weeks ago in a massive upset), and they’ll have to be on top of their game to come out with a victory.
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Tyler graduated from the University of Oregon’s journalism program back in the spring of 2010. Tyler has loved the Ducks since the days of his youth, and that love has only grown as he’s gotten older. Outside of Oregon football Tyler dives deep into Major League Baseball every year, and considers himself to be a baseball historian of sorts. He also has a Black Labrador named “Page” after Jimmy Page of the mighty Led Zeppelin. In his spare time he enjoys fishing, golfing, and snowboarding even if his skills are questionable at best in those areas.