Game Preview: Oregon State vs #12 Oregon

The oldest rivalry on the west coats finds #12 Oregon (9-2) and Oregon State (6-5) in a familiar position in the 117th iteration of the Civil War: Coming off of bad losses. The Ducks have won five straight in the series and hold a 14-game lead in it overall, but they have lost their final game before the Civil War in each of the past three seasons. The difference is that this time, it wasn't the Ducks' only conference loss. The loss to Arizona last week was also the Ducks' worst loss in half a decade [¯_(ツ)_/¯—Ed.].

For the Beavers, this has been a fairly standard season during the current golden age of Beaver football. Mike Riley's Beavers have their standard 4+ losses and appear well on their way to Las Vegas Bowl glory. Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion leads the country in passing yards, throwing for 34 touchdowns and 13 interceptions—He throws a very catch-able ball.

In a sense, the Ducks and Beavers entering the game after blow-out losses—42-16 and 69-27, respectively—was the only way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Toilet Bowl. The Oregon schools came together to make something truly awful in Autzen Stadium in 1983: The final 0-0 tie in college football history. Eleven fumbles, five interceptions and four missed field goals went into that stunningly inept performance in the pouring rain.

Oregon State will likely be wearing its all-orange uniforms for the game. If Oregon dons its all-yellow uniforms, we'll have a game that will feature a more displeasing aesthetic than that hallowed game. The football should be a bit better. A win for Oregon gives the Ducks an outside shot at a BCS at-large berth. A win for Oregon State would give the Beavs their first win over a top 15 Oregon team since 2000.

Keys to the Game

Please cover that Brandin Cooks guy—Oregon State's Cooks leads the country in receiving yards by more than 200 yards. The Ducks are well-equipped to defend him with two of the top corners in the country, including a likely top 20 pick in next year's draft in Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. 

Run the ball!!!1! — The struggling Oregon running game gets to face the struggling Oregon State run defense—The Beavlings gave up 530 yards rushing to Washington last week—in an epic struggle between the very stoppable force and a movable object. 

FOCUS, FOCUS, F-O-C-U-S — Several Oregon players spent the week prior to the Arizona game saying the Rose Bowl was kind of okay but they've already played it. The team then played like a team that didn't want to go to the Grandaddy of them All. The Beavers played like a team that didn't care about football last week. Can either team regain that fire and drive that they started the season with?

Around the Pac-12

Washington State vs Washington (12:30 pm Fri, FOX) — For the first time in ages, the Apple Cup features bowl-eligible teams.

Colorado vs Utah (11 am, Pac-12 Network) — The two most recent additions to the conference square off once again for last place in the Pac-12 South division.

#25 Notre Dame vs #8 Stanford (4 pm, FOX) — The Pac-12 North Champion Stanford Cardinal host the top 25 by default Fighting Irish.

#22 UCLA vs #23 USC (5 pm, ABC) — The most evenly matched game between these two SoCal rivals in some time.

Arizona vs #13 Arizona State (6:30, Pac-12 Network) — This year's Territorial Cup pits the Wildcats, coming off a throttling of Oregon, against the Pac-12 South Champion Sun Devils.

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