Home Football Civil War (Pre-Game)

Civil War (Pre-Game)

139

People (or a lone wolf) are calling for a Civil War thread.

I had to decide: do I write about the Civil War or trim my nose hairs, pick the lint out of my belly button, or take a pumice stone to my calloused toes? When presented with those alternatives, I decided to cave in and write about the Civil War.

This one is so easy to predict that I'll just bullet point it:

  • Ducks will score early.
  • Chip Kelly goes for two, Ducks up 8-0.
  • Beavs drive but stall inside the 30, settle for a FG attempt.
  • Romaine misses the FG.
  • Ducks score, Chip decides to kick the extra point. 15-0.
  • Beavs drive again, Riley thinks "We need to get on the board" and settled for a 45 yard FG attempt.
  • Romaine kicks a low line drive that hooks just inside the left upright. 15-3.
  • Ducks get a monster kick return and regain momentum. James runs for a 50 yard TD. Telecasters gloat "His speed [blah blah blah]…you have to wrap him up."
  • Chip goes for two to make it an even twenty. 23-3.
  • Mannion leads a good drive. Beavs score. 23-10.
  • With a minute and a half left, Ducks have the ball at their 20. Riley thinks they'll take knee and go into the half, but they drive down to the 20 yard line. Only thing that stops another score is the clock, now at 7 seconds. Ducks tack on a FG and regain momentum going into the locker room. 26-10
  • Beavs get the kickoff, return it to the 30.
  • Mannion throws an interception.
  • Ducks score. 33-10
  • Beavs defense is tired, bordering on wiped out.
  • After a 3 and out by the offense, they have to take the field again.
  • Ducks score. 40-10
  • Mannion drives the team into FG range. Riley rightfully passes on the FG attempt, goes for it on a 4th and 3. Autzen goes crazy, Remmers false starts. It's now 4th and 8. Mannion completes a 7 yard pass. Ducks ball, turnover on downs.
  • Black Mamba gets in on the action, ripping off an 80 yard run. 47-10 Ducks.
  • 4th quarter. Beavs are happy the game's almost over. Defense is sucking wind.
  • Riley spotted on the sideline laughing it up with Banker. Lip readers think they see a "You'll get 'em next year, Mark"…status-quo advocates rejoice.
  • Ducks show some mercy. D. Thomas milks the play clock after each 12 yard run. 4th quarter ends with a whimper and one more score. 54-10, Ducks.

139 COMMENTS

  1. Angrybeaver, thanks for the “lone wolf” title, but I’d rather be call the ” The Lone Beaver “, hi ho black…..away!

    Good write up and play by play. But you forgot to mention the fast moving and emotional chewing gum and rifle speed application of chap stick by Mike Riley on the sidelines. So exciting isn’t it. Game will probably go the way you described, sadly enough.

    New coach for Arizona, aggressive and a “want to win” type coach. At the same time the Beavers will be stuck with boring BDC and “blame it on the team” Mike Riley.

    I hope the ducks suit up in their Beaver BLACK uniforms and duck fans have black out day again. Should make our team feel right at home……..with our players in pumpkin orange again. Thanks for starting this thread anyway.

    Fightingbeaver

      • The Civil War has become more “traditional” uniforms by the ducks. They will probably break out the yellow helmet with interlocking OU on it and green jerseys with white pants. They wore those 2 years ago. I hope the beavs wear their white jerseys with black pants. that’s a way better look for them on the road than the all white. I’ll be at this game and I think our defense will surprise people with our speed. Remember, Oregon isn’t like Stanford in trying to out muscle teams and we actually stuck with Stanford. I think the Beavs will be up to the task of “keeping it close” if nothing else.

        • I’d like to see the Beavs take a opening kickoff penalty for wearing home jerseys. That would be awesome. It worked before I think, was that the 0-3 sunbowl they last had a penalty like that?

  2. Beavers win 10-9 after scoring on a Rueben Robinson pick-six in the third quarter, and a 57-yard field goal as time expires by Lettuce. Game ball goes to Darrell Catchings, who drops it.

  3. Angry, are you talking about the game Saturday or were you somehow watching my son kick my ass in “College Football 2011” for the 100th time in a row?

  4. Chip Kelly doesn’t ever go for 2 on the first score. They line up in a read play and if certain guys are not covered they run the conversion if they are covered they kick.

  5. 63-10 will be the score. You forgot about the Darron Thomas run for a score and a Remmers holding call in our own endzone that gives them a safety.

  6. Beavers win 32-29. Down 29-14 in the fourth at the Duck 25 on a fourth and goal, Darrell Catchings comes in, Mannion fires a deep ball into the corner of the end zone to a wide open Catchings, it hits his hands, helmet and he hits the ball in the air trying to catch the ball and it lands in James Rodgers’ hands for a touchdown. Beavers bring in Ryan McCants and he runs it in for two thanks to two amazing Mike Remmers and Burke Ellis pancake blocks. Lettuce kicks an onside kick and lettuce recovers it and then spikes it into the ground and taunts Oregon, getting the ball moved back to the 10 yard line on two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

    Mannion hits Wheaton on two deep passes, then hits James Rodgers down to the Oregon 5 yard line. After 3 incompletions, Remmers reports as an eligible receiver. Mannion fakes it to Rodgers on a fly sweep and throws it to Remmers who juggles it and runs over three Duck defenders for a touchdown. He then spikes the ball and does a belly flop in the end zone and gets a 15 yard penalty. Game tied at 29.

    Beavers kick to DeAnthony Thomas and he looks like he can take it to the house, but McCants trips him up.

    Oregon takes it to the Beaver 15 with 45 seconds left, then on a QB read option play, Frahm reads it perfectly, begins to wrap up LaMichael, then Rueben Robinson delivers a bone crushing hit, this causes a fumble and Anthony Watkins, who always is in the perfect spot picks up the fumble and takes it to the Oregon 30 yard line with 25 seconds left.

    Mannion centers the ball and Riley takes a timeout with 15 seconds left, showing why he’s simply the best clock management coach. He sends Romaine on for a 48 yard field goal. Romaine drills it but there’s a penalty. Remmers decided he wanted to chop block for some reason and gets called for a chop block. Announcers calling it the dumbest decision in the history of football. We know it as Mike Remmers being Mike Remmers. Beavers try a 63 yard field goal and Romaine misses it wildly but a roughing the kicker penalty is called on the Ducks. Romaine tries a 48 yarder that misses 45 feet to the right, but Chip Kelly called a timeout. Romaine then drills a FG but the whistle blows. Mike Remmers false start, end of regulation. Riley gives Remmers a high five on the bench for his great play. To overtime we go.

    In overtime Oregon gets the ball first. On a third and 1, Rueben Robinson shoots the gap and delivers a monster hit on LaMichael James, he loses 4 yards. Oregon’s kicker hits a 46 yard field goal as it barely crosses the cross bar.

    Beavers take over with a chance to win it. With McCants the only healthy running back available he continues to get his carries. Beavers attempt to run it up the middle but uses his lightning quick speed and busts it outside. With Remmers leading the way McCants appears to score. But there is a flag. Grant Johnson, upset by Remmers getting all the flags, pulls a facemask at the 1 yard line and gets a 15 yard penalty. The next play Catchings gets a fly sweep and appears he will score, but the ball squirts out and it him in the helmet. This knocks the ball 5 feet in the air and goes backwards. Just like always, Remmers is in the right spot, picks up the ball and scores a touchdown. Beavers win 35-32.

    Beavers hit Mark Banker with the gatorade shower. He gets to keep his job. He’s credited with the greatest defensive coaching job in Oregon State history. He held the Ducks offense to 697 yards of total offense. The Ducks missed 2 field goals and turned it over 3 times inside the Beaver 15, 5 turnovers total. His intimidating defense is credited with causing the turnovers.

    Danny Langsdorf runs on the field and is carried off the field into the locker room. Once in the locker room, game ball is shared between Catchings and Remmers. Catchings proceeds to drop the ball. Remmers gets excited and throws a chop block at incoming freshman Isaac Seumalo, causing Seumalo to miss the entire 2012 season with a torn acl and mcl. Remmers ends his career in style.

  7. The only reason to watch this game is the David vs. Goliath myth… and the hoops game will end in the first quarter.

    But I’m still wearing my Beavs colors this week, and my son went to school today in an orange shirt.

    And apparently my son has informed us that he likes “Justin Beaver.” I decided to reinforce it since it’s better than anything OSU does marketing itself to the younger generation. If he decides he likes everything “beaver,” i figure I have an in.

    And my three year old daughter tells me that she “really loves watching basketball” for some reason. It’s not like that’s all that’s on during the day. I mean… there’s Spongebob too. Since we’re told she’s going to be 5’10” I figure I can start getting the ball in her hands. But if she doesn’t grow out of the “pink fairy with wings” phase, then she might turn Duck on me.

    Dammit!

    I guess it’s good practice to try to save my children from cult of personality in this town starting now.

    • Not to let this blog descend/ascend into parenting suggestions – but do you take her to girls/women’s bb games – high school or college? Even a 3-year old is fascinated. Besides, anymore, 5’10” is short for women’s bb.

  8. There were far too few false starts on the Beaver’s offense in that game summary. Remmers will have 3-4 alone. That was the main reason we lost last time the game was at Autzen. Too many false starts killed drives and put Canfield in 3rd and long situations, rather than 3rd and 1 or 2. Haven’t heard anything about the team practicing with the noise cranked up so they can’t hear each other. It’s gonna be LOUD in Autzen on Saturday. Ducks win, but Beavs keep it respectable up until half time.

    Don’t kick it to D’Anthony Thomas!! Kick it out of bounds!!
    Really hope Riley doesn’t try to pull the Hecker punt fake. Everybody will be expecting it. Need something more creative and Langsdorf doesn’t do creative.

    • Also, anytime Thomas fakes the handoff and our defense over pursues the QB, go ahead and cream the guy. He needs to feel the hurt if he wants to keep faking it. You won’t get a roughing the passer penalty in that situation so why not?

  9. Prior to last year’s 2010 Civil War game at Reser Stadium, Mike Riley gave the players 3 days off during the week before the December 4th game. The ducks practiced every day that week plus a closed practice on Friday. That’s how much Riley cares about winning.

    Fightingbeaver

    • The ducks practiced everyday that week? You have proof of that? If so that is an NCAA violation. There are limits to how much a team can practice. If the ducks practiced for 7 straight days, that is well above the limit that is allowed by the NCAA.

      I get people are upset with Riley this season (myself included) but get your facts straight before you bash someone!

  10. i still wonder why Boise is the only team to ever attack their TE’s. They only ever block to the outside for misdirection or if they’re the inside of a two-TE set to one side and they pull. Otherwise, they block down or release. Boise always put someone to the outside of Nikegon’s TE’s, and they bulled them into the backfield or got a free run into the backfield if the TE blocked down. That free run either meets a pulling guard(s) or someone with a ball. But Boise didn’t bother with the ball if the pulls were present. They contained those pulls by taking them head on before they met the edge, leaving the ball exposed in space without blockers and relying on their LB’s and DB’s to swarm to the area.

    I’m not the biggest fan of Boise, but they have proven that if you contain Nikegon’s line and bully their TE’s out of the passing game, then you make it frustrating for their offense.

    Of course, you still have to make tackles in space, which some teams can’t do. But that’s what I’ve seen.

  11. The Ducks will win huge. They will score pretty much at will. However, I expect them to play a ton of reserves as they will have a game next friday and have a few injuries. The sad thing is that their second string players are better than most of our starters. I also see Manion getting sacked 5-6 times. I hope that kid does not get hurt. For the first time in decades Oregon will have graduating seniors that have never lost to the Beavers. That is really sad. The good thing about Saturday will be the fact that this miserable Petabonian season will come to an end.

    • Will be the first time in 14 years a senior class of Oregon hasn’t lost to the Beavers. It wasn’t that long ago.

      Sucks to see the Beavers being so bad right now, but unfortunately that’s the reality.

    • Hey!! Wait a minute….. I had nothing to do with this 2011 debacle! Poor recruiting, average facilities and unimaginative coaching are just a few of the reasons for two consecutive losing seasons.

      I don’t think this stretch will go another 26 years, but it’s starting to look similar. BeaverNation is turning into LeaverNation.

      PS: Maybe I should copyright “Pettibonian”

      • No Way!! I coined the term “Pettibonian” after the Sac st. game. Have angry check the record! Go Steal Jack’s witty comments!

  12. Curious on some of the thought process: To a man (other then Paea and maybe Doc) wouldn’t you say that we have better player/athletes in every position on defense compared to last years team? Why would you anticipate Oregon (who’s offense hasn’t played as well as 2010) will put up that many more points then the 37 they put up last year when they were firing on all cylinders (and had a better receiving corp.) I understand we’ve pretty much moved on to basketball, and this season has been an obvious downer but aren’t we overreacting a bit? I expect we play with fire, leave it all out on the field, but come up short in the forth quarter like the last 2 years. Good Guys 31 – Evil Pricks 42

    • Last year we had Quizz. At least he kept them honest. Without any rushing game they can Blitz and Blitz and Blitz. I anticipate a ton of three and outs and that will keep our D on field longer and they will tire out and make mistakes. Oregon exploits this with the zone read and overall team speed. Our D is better than last year but they are put in a tough spot because our offense is so terrible. Sorry this one get ugly. Also, Oregon’s D is pretty good. There is no way we score 31.

    • Well, here’s why things are down. Paea had a great game against Oregon. He played with fire and was making plays. You need a DT against Oregon to make plays. Who do the Beavers have at DT that is going to do, well anything? Nobody. You need fast OLB who are sure tacklers. Feti Unga the MLB can tackle but Doctor and Collins have missed a lot of tackles and often put themselves in bad positions. Robinson will also get a lot of time and he can’t shed a block or tackle at all. The secondary is coming along and making plays, but against Oregon and that running attack they probably won’t get too many opportunities to make plays. Only way they do is if Chip outsmarts himself and starts throwing too much. If he’s smart he will run play after play.

      Crichton, Wynn and Fernando will all need to have absolutely monster games. They will need to probably force a couple fumbles and play amazing football.

      On defense it is hard to think OSU scores 31. Washington’s O-Line was destroyed by Oregon’s pass rush. The Beavers have a worse O-Line. The Beavers likely will have no run game and Mannion will get hit repeatedly, will have no time to throw and probably force a few bad passes to avoid some more sacks and will turn it over.

      If the Beavers win I will ecstatic. I will be rooting hard for them to win but I’m trying to be realistic here. It will take an amazing performance to win. The Beavers can’t make any mistakes and have to catch some breaks. They also need a lot of their guys to play absolutely out of their mind. That is a lot to ask for.

      • Doctor is a great athlete. Against most other teams, what has stood out was his poor tackling, but I think that his athleticism will be a good asset against Oregon.

        Unga will at least be able to make some of the tackles on the 3 RB’s.

        But realistically, nobody will stop James all of the times and nobody will catch Black Mamba any of the times.

    • That is a good question. 95% of the players probably are better, but most of those guys are inexperienced or just not playing well. I can’t really pinpoint my reasoning other than this feels like the worst possible matchup. Could be the soft middle. Beavs have high school quality DTs.

      On offense, I think Mannion throws 90% of the time. Beavs won’t run at all on the Ducks. At least not between the tackles. They might have a little success with fly sweeps. Ducks will sack/force Mannion into errors.

      The only things the Beavs have going for them are they have nothing to lose, and the Ducks might be bummed they missed the title game.

      Hey, I have been wrong before…it would be an amazing ending to a horrible season.

  13. The ducks scored 60+ in a civil war where we had a winning team, thinking Rose Bowl. I think the score will be higher than that, unless Kelley somehow finds some mercy or compassion. But I dont think he has any of either.

    This could be one for the record books. Ok, gotta go work on them nose hairs…

    • The Ducks scored 60+ in 2008 because of Banker. He messed up the gameplan. He confused his own players and they were always out of position. Beavers defense would have been alright if he didn’t royally screw everything up. Which, as we know he did. Also, there were two pick 6’s by Moevao. Offense really score 51.

      I actually expect Oregon to start slow. It’s an afternoon game and they just came off a heartbreaking loss. I don’t think they will come out as fast as a lot do. The Beavers will play with a lot of heart and fire for the first half and keep it relatively close. Something like 18-7. Then in the second half Oregon will start getting the offense going and score like 31 points and win 49-17.

      • So you are saying….since Banker is gone, we will do better this time…..

        ….wait, Banker is still HERE. ??????????????/

        I think UO will be pissed off from that USC game and want to make a statement.

        But hell, if Riley is actually a great coach….maybe he will come out of the closet and reveal that.

        • I don’t think you understand. I was saying he screwed that gameplan way worse than he usually does. Last year his gameplan wasn’t actually that bad. They just had no speed at linebacker. I don’t care how pissed Oregon is, I don’t think they will start fast. They just had two emotionally draining games. They were extremely focused on just beating Stanford. They did. Then they had to have a huge comeback and any chance to play for a national title went out the window on the missed kick. Even if it is a rivalry game it is hard to get up and play at a very high level for a 3rd week in a row. All really good teams have a game after a couple emotional ones where they have a lackluster first half. That will happen on Saturday. Then after getting yelled at during halftime they get their shit together in the second half. That’s what I see happening in the Civil War.

          It will be on the Beavers offense to take advantage of a lackluster first half by the Ducks. If the offense takes care of the ball and scores touchdown in the first half then they got a shot. It’s highly unlikely this will happen though.

          I just have trouble seeing Oregon clicking on both sides of the ball from the opening kickoff. That should happen in the second half though.

  14. The short answer is no. Our interior defensive line is atrocious, probably the worst DT’s we’ve had in the past 15 years, and we have zero depth there or at MLB. The Ducks will pound the middle of our defense into submission, probably before half time. If we overcommit safeties to stop the ass pounding , then they’ll make the necessary adjustments and kill us on the edges or down the field with Paulson and DAT.

    We have one decent defensive tackle (Seumalo). Frahm, Motter, and whoever else plays (Fifita?) are not Pac-12 caliber. Our starting tackles are probably worse than any other Pac-12 team’s backups. We couldn’t stop Utah’s or UCLA’s one-dimensional running attack; thus, the multi-dimensional Duck offense is really going to light us up.

    The worst thing about it is I feel like we actually have decent speed at OLB and at DE, and probably the best DBs we’ve had since Hughes and Lewis. That just goes to show how bad our DTs and our MLBs are,. The only MLB able to hold his ground is Unga, but he’s banged up, probably wont be able to play the whole game, and you need to rotate guys in or you will get worn down by the Ducks anyways. Thus, we default to R. Robinson and T. Wilson and we know how that goes.

    The other issue is with our offense. We wont be able to run the ball against Oregon’s speedy defense, which just means more 3 and outs and turnovers because the DE’s and blitzing LBers are going to Tee-off on Mannion. Poor guy, he has no chance. This wont be pretty, folks.

  15. momentum will turn when kevin frahm chases james down from behind to take a touchdown away. the ducks will have no answer for rueben robinson. he’s going to play like ray lewis on crack. rashaad reynolds is going to have two picks, after the second of which banker will turn blue in the face, get carried off the field on a stretcher, never to be seen again. colby prince will turn a two yard out into a 60 yard marshawn lynch type run that sends duck fans to the exit. in the postgame interview, jovan stevenson will be heard saying to riley “i loved you, dad”, followed by an emotional hug at midfield. then, i will wake up and head to my buddys tailgate and try to lose track of how many bloody marrys i have before noon. (sighs) go beavs.

  16. 54-10 is too rough on the beavers.

    We will certainly lose. And embarrass ourselves. That said, 54-10 assumes that all the things that can go wrong will in one game.

    Ducks are reeling from SC loss, OSU is happy from UW win. I think that Our offense can push themselves early to put 17 or 21 points on the board. The second half is where the game really goes the ducks way and they take it in a blowout. Maybe 33-21 if we play well, 40-17 if we don’t., I doubt we will score any after the first half when it becomes clear that Oregon will take the game away far and away.

    • The momentum argument is irrelevant in this game. The Ducks aren’t “reeling”, they are more than likely hyped up to destroy us and win the Pac-12 North Division so they can compete for the inaugural championship. The Beavers had momentum after Arizona and after WSU. But, they laid a big fat egg in the next game. I still say that our worst Beaver team in a decade is not going to score more than 3 FGs against a Duck team very hungry to destroy and embarrass their rival on their own home turf and claim the north division championship.

  17. Another thing I don’t understand right now… Why do athletes pick the positions they do?

    I know that the ducks give their athletes, especially their 5 stars, a choice of what position they would like to play. That said, I can’t imagine that this is good for their future.

    Colt Lyerla and De’Anthony Thomas are 2 examples. Colt Lyerla was rated 5 star by the recruiting services as a Linebacker, and DAT as a cornerback. Colt chose to play TE, and DAT chose RB. Admittedly, I find Colt’s decision more foolish that DAT’s. USC wastes more 5 star talent than any other school I have seen.

    Colt was heralded as the next Brian Urlacher after his play in the army game, and DAT’s situation I am not entirely sure of. Although I know that he was ranked very highly as a DB.

    While I am sure that these players can play their respective positions very well, wouldn’t it make sense to play LB, a much more highly paid position in the pros than LB, if you have 5 star talent as a LB? I believe cornerbacks are also paid higher than RB’s if you look at median salaries.

    Is anyone telling that to these athletes? or are the athletes just not listening? they want to be the guy on the big screen with the ball in the endzone?

  18. i think angry is spot on. in prior years we would have a shot at least of keeping it close – not this year. they showed the 2007 civil war on espn classic last night – think i’ll have it in a continuous loop rest of week to drown out this year’s mismatch……

  19. I know it’s been a long and frustrating football season. I don’t know, I guess I’m crazy. I just don’t see this years Duck squad matching up to last years. Do you remember how insurmountable the task seemed last year, with Pankey and Robinson as our OLB’s going up against the vaunted Duck Offense. We had the ball in a position to take the lead towards the end of the 3rd quarter. Some statistical food for thought:

    2010 Ducks : Offense- 507 yards and 47 points per game. Defense 4th in the PAC 346 yards/game

    2011 Ducks : Offense- 496 yards and 45 points per game. Defense 6th in the PAC 391 yards/game

    Our offense was obviously more consistent last year with the threat of Quizz, but we were still 1 dimensional just favoring the run instead of the pass (pass statistics after James went down were nothing to write home about.) Our defense is actually ranked 5th this year only giving up 387 yards/game instead of the 408 last year. And the 4 games with a horrific run defense that skewed the stats, Unga was out. I may be reaching a bit but I feel better then I did at this point last year. Thank you Washington Teams.

    • The Beavers were in no position to take the lead in the second half. Towards the end of the third the Beavers were down 23-7, then they got two field goals.

      • I stand corrected. Within 10 points going into the 4th quarter. I’ll make sure I drink less this year so I can be factually correct having this discussion next year. No matter what, a less talented beaver team played better then most of us expected against a better Duck squad IMO.

  20. The 20 OL for UO average 292 lbs. whereas the 21(didn’t count Castro due to injury) players on OSU’s DL average 263 lbs. That’s a difference of only 19 lbs. In football, that’s not a whole lot of difference. If it was 35 or more, yes, that is a big difference, but my dad is 6′ 3″ while I’m only 5′ 10″ and I weigh around 260 and he weighs around 240…we’re pretty evenly matched when it comes to us pushing each other around. So there’s more to it than weight and height…it’s speed. Who has more speed? I think that is pretty evenly matched with Wynn and Crichton as our ends and the Beavs have been lining up more to the outside with their defensive ends.

    Look at the 00:26 mark, 00:51 mark, 1:04 mark, on this video to see what I mean.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmP_po4sur0&feature=related

    • Great write-up. I think you may actually be really close to the final score. However, I don’t think the Beavs really get close to the endzone this game. I think a couple of field goals will get on the board (let’s say 3 FGs for 9 total points). The Ducks will score into the 50s.

      I’ll be sickened by halftime and will look anxiously toward the rest of the basketball season to somehow provide hope for Beaver athletics in 2012.

    • Yeah, in most cases it is actually better to have lighter defensive ends because they are often more athletic and can work around the outside better and faster.

  21. Predicting scores is hilarious.

    UO’s offense is a little worse than last year; missing their star TE and a bunch of linemen hurts, but their skill position players are all the same. Slight loss.

    UO’s defense this year has been porous. Part of that is the pace they play, which wears down their own defense(on the field longer because the offense is on it shorter), and part is just losing a ton of playmakers.

    Our running game is nonexistent, but our passing game is much improved over last year. Even without James, it’s better(and with James, it’s awesome). And Mannion doesn’t make the same dumb mistakes that Katz did; he’s more accurate, and can dissect a defense.

    Our defense is better this year. While missing Paea and some good LBs hurts our interior D, our secondary has really caught on the last few weeks(Reynolds is starting to get it, Lance is playing like the stud he should be). And we finally have speed and a pass rush, which we’ve lacked for a long time.

    No, I don’t think OSU will win, but a 50-point W for UO seems pretty insane. You’re all disappointed and disillusioned, so am I. But UO doesn’t have a power running game like the teams that have really hurt us this year(Cal, Wisconsin, Utah), so we match up better than last year, even with Quizz.

  22. To Angry’s initial prediction:

    I can picture everything happening exactly like that EXCEPT Riley laughing and yukking on the sidelines. Even after watching the Utah game, I’d be flabbergasted to see that. I think Riley puts 2-3 times the effort into the Civil War than he does any other game (every year, not just this one). And I think the rivalry means a ton to him- I think he would take 7-6 with an Oregon win over 9-4 with an Oregon loss.

    Also, he knows well that an Oregon win and a 2 game streak going into the offseason will give him enormous leverage to not make some very painful staff decisions. If we’re losing badly, Riley will show the pain.

  23. Someone explain to me how we went from Linebacker U(West coast edition) to the crap we have there now? It’s the same coach, and we never had the best recruits. But we went from Singler?Barnett/Kristic over a decade to this. How does that happen, other than apathy?

  24. I think I might be the only one here, but after last weeks win against UW, I’m thinking we have a shot to slow down the *ucks’ offense. We don’t have the same inept LB’s and DE’s as we did last year….we have FASTER guys at those positions. So I’m not saying we’ll win by any means, but I think OSU will give Oregon a scare in the first half for sure. It will be an entertaining first half for sure. OSU has been playing at 12:30 or 1 pm in Oregon all season long, so that plays into OSU’s favor unlike Oregon who’s been playing mainly LATE/NIGHT games!

    • Rueben Robinson will have plenty of playing time. He’s not fast and can’t tackle. I really don’t want to see him whiff on tackle after tackle.

  25. I think a loss is guaranteed (I’m guessing 56-17), but would like to see:

    Romaine kicking it out of the back of the end zone – no returns (probably won’t be many kickoffs, but still);

    Nickel and dime packages with Welch and Murphy getting a lot of reps;

    Plenty of two tight end sets, and in the red zone with Hamlett and Gwacham at TE- take advantage of their height, with speed on the outside (Wheaton), do not settle for field goals inside the 30;

    Don’t use play action so much – the Ducks don’t have to respect it and Mannion will need all the time his porous line can muster. Get the ball out of there, run a damn slant now and again;

    Stevenson, Ward and Agnew all getting reps with Riley calling plays – I know Agnew has ball security issues, but I think his strength will be needed. The run game won’t be great, but I think a diverse approach is best, with most reps going to stevenson;

    If it moves, hit it. I don’t know what the rules are on this (e.g. roughing the passer penalty interpretations) but given UO’s reliance on ball fakes, if somebody is even acting like they have the ball, de-cleat them. Be clean, not cheap, but hit them hard, particularly Thomas. Could begin to effect handoffs and UO can get sloppy with the ball sometimes;

    A few trick plays – I’d like to see something as simple as Katz in behind a fullback, getting a pitch, rolling out, and throwing the ball a mile to Wheaton or Rodgers. Do it first by substituting him in quickly with the FB, getting to the line quickly, and going with short count. Have an underneath option like Gwacham at TE.

    Give McCants a pitch and let him try to get some speed up to the outside;

    Mainly I want to see a core group of players that will emerge next year as leaders and impact players. We know Crichton, Wynn, and Poyer will play all out and probably have good games. I think Reynolds will do well overall, but get victimized a few times. Mannion will do well considering, and won’t get overwhelmed by the rivalry or environment. Everyone really needs to just play with abandon and have fun.

  26. If I saw a Beaver LB make a tackle less than 5 yards downfield once all season I’d see ya’lls’ point and concur that they have a shot. Riley could prepare for five years and still lose this game by 30. For me it boils down to the DTs…
    It’ll be like 12 vs 9 out there.
    (Actually, if you factor in the refs and home crowd it’ll probably be more like 14 vs 9).

  27. OT…
    Stanford pumped a continuously inept oSu to remain the lone undefeated Pac team. They look pretty good. I really was excited at the end of last year when we beat that team twice. I knew they were up and coming, as were we.

    UCLA down a pretty continuous 10 to Michigan halfway through the second half.

    Zonies are coming back at home against SDSU after getting blown off the line with a 16-2 SDSU start.

    Nikegon is looking mediocre against a mediocre Nebraska squad… check that… Nebraska is making Nikegon’s 1-2-1-1 three-quarter court press and their transition D look silly. And Nebraska is still mediocre.

    I am no longer worried about Montana as a possible trap game coming home. They seem to freak out when North Dakota plays man D on them. They look unusually weak, slow and confused.

      • Yeah, UCLA is getting spanked in a bunch of games they should easily win. Whatever is going on down there is Twilight Zone, for sure.

        • Not the twilight zone, more of Howland giving Lazeric Jones meaningful time. He’s averaging 10 shots a game and is shooting 23.5% from the field. He’s terrible. Guard play and Josh Smith have been the reasons for their early struggles. Those aren’t gonna go away. Their starting backcourt tonight shot 1 for 11 from the field. Lamb is inconsistent to say the least. I see Lamb struggling for a good portion of the year and of course Jones will give them nothing all year.

          • That’s too bad, I enjoy Duck defeats. They were getting way too much love in the preseason media, so I’d like to see them fall flat on their faces.

    • Do you have DirecTV sports pack? i was trying to watch the Montana game as I pride myself on my alcohol drenched scouting abilities, but I can’t handle that crappy standard definition on Fox College Sports channel. Geez, it’s almost 2012.

      • I gave up on the Montana game when i watched North Dakota go on a 14-1 run… or more if they did more… I changed the channel. I was left wondering if I knew anyone in the stands, so I figured I could watch the Zonies lose instead.

        Damn if Nick Johnson isn’t an awesome frosh! I so hope he’s wun-n-dun.

  28. I don’t see the Beavs winning, I am hoping for a result close to the Duck/Huskie game. 34-17 would be more than respectable. The only way I see this being any game at all is if the Ducks turn the ball over and the Beavers have no turnovers and they score a TD everytime they’re in the red zone. Stranger things have happened, but not likely this year.

  29. Kind of random, but one time promising Beaver, Pete Lalich has apparently stopped drinking long enough to be lighting it up at the D-2 level for California, PA. He is close to some school passing records and the team is in the second round of the playoffs. Not sure if he is NFL material, but he has next year to get some notice as he is still just a junior.

    • Mannion will be NFL material without the rest of the drama.

      Trust me, its good we cut such kids. We don’t know which ones will turn out well and which ones will accrue 5 digits of speeding tickets.

      • I’m glad to see he’s doing well. I agree that you never know who will turn their lives around, but that’s why they were let go in the first place. If anyone actually knew a kid was going to change for the better, he might stick around. It’s too good a guaranteed story to pass on.

  30. I think you guys are way off base with the Ducks posting 50+ points. I also think the seniors will leave it all on the field and the defense is going to be playing inspired ball. The big question mark for me is which offense will show up. If we can establish a run game, I think we keep it close. If we can take the crowd out of the game we have a chance. This is our bowl, the playbook will be wide open. Granted it could also go the other way for us, but I still don’t see this being a blowout.
    Go Beavs!

    • Here’s the problem with your analysis. You use terms like “if”. “If the Beavers can establish a run game”. What makes you think that they will establish something in game 12 they couldn’t establish in the previous 11? There were really no signs of a dominant run game. Mannion is going to have to pass…a lot.

      You really think we are going to take the crowd out of the game…at Autzen? Seriously? The only way that would happen would be a 30 pt lead with 5 min to go in the 4th quarter. By then, it becomes a symptom of the victory and not a cause of it.

      In the last three years, the Beaver defense has been unable to stop the Ducks. This defense is not good against the run…at all…the Ducks will do whatever they want to do against the D. It’s that plain and simple.

      And before you complain that this negative attitude contributed to 28 losing years in a row, I propose you explain exactly how in the world that is possible. I was never once on the sideline telling the players they sucked, that they had no chance. I was never running around high schools in search of potential Beaver recruits telling them to look elsewhere. I never prayed for them to lose.

      It is a ridiculous statement to blame the fans for a team’s failure.

      • If you don’t think a crowd can change momentum in a game and that fans can make a difference, then sir you do not understand the game. Although it is not the only cause of this teams past failures, it certainly does not help. Also you have never been to a game at Autzen stadium. This year I have been to three, and in all three the crowd was taken out of it for a portion of the game. If we can keep momentum on our side, then it could be for the whole game. Duck fans are used to winning and especially at their house. They don’t know how to deal with being behind and not seeing crazy huge plays. You should really know what the heck your talking about before trying to breakdown my “flawed” analysis. Go back to cooking your turkey and leave the analysis to those of us that actually understand the game.

    • If you have any idea how we can establish a run game, please call Riley ASAP. LaMichael James individually has more rushing yards than our entire team this season. That is so sad.

  31. I have two predictions:
    1. Ducks will score over 60 points and maybe close to 100 points just because they can and the Beavs will score as few as 3 points.
    2. Beavs will win in some wild, random, totally weird way.

    More than in any other game, the relationship between Beav defense preventing and Beav offense scoring is the key.

  32. I must admit that I enjoyed all the Bizarro World CW senerios, espicially those involving Catchings finding the ball in his hands. But alas, the Beaver D can’t stop the ducks and although the offense finds other parts of their playbook it’s Red Zone field goals all over again. ducks 56-16 (Poyer’s pick-6 is the Beaver TD).

  33. My Civil War prediction is for the ducks to win with the most disgusting lopsided officiating we’ve ever seen. Larry Scott refs doing their best. We get blown out, and we leave the game feeling if even half of the bad calls go our way we win dominately. Riley says nothing about the officials and is the typical mouse on the sideline.

  34. Man the naysayers come out when they smell blood in the water. It is this kind of pessimistic shit that led to 20+ losing seasons. Support the team during the season, leave your bitching for the offseason. These kids deserve better.

    • Huh?

      There’s no blood left in the water. There’s also no body. It floated away in the gulf stream long ago.

      For most of us this game is like a friend running up to us and screaming, “I KNOW YOU HATE BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND SURPRISES! SO DON”T GO HOME, AND LET”S GO OUT TO DINNER INSTEAD! YOU CAN GO HOME AT 6:30 PM!!!!”

      • Ha :) thanks for the bit of cheer. That was pretty funny. I hope there is some hope left in this fan base and this team. I am not ignorant to the fact that it would take some monumental effort to beat this duck team, but I do believe in these kids. This duck team is not as good as they have been the last couple of years. They have some seriously weak corners. They are always looking for the interception though, and sometimes they get lucky. The duck d is not very good though, the offense pounds the team into submission and the D feeds on that. Football, more than any other sport IMHO is driven off emotion. I played the game at the college level, I know this from first hand experience. I just hope this team hasn’t lost that hope and can muster the emotion to be able to win this game. Because if the Beavers do win, it will be because of heart, not because of coaching, talent, or anything else. Happy Thanksgiving to all AND GO BEAVS!

    • Naysayers?!? I dont see any on here. I see a bunch of objective predictions, and a lot of them fairly optimistic. I myself am optimistic — I think we will score a couple touchdowns, and the ducks wont get over 60-70.

      One huge problem is that the coaches, for whatever reason, decided to open the playbook for the UW game. So I expect this to be one where they do their usual and go totally predictable again.

      What leads to 20+ losing seasons is bad coaching….which is what we now have. I suggest that the kids deserve better.

      • rsteve503, you may have been lurking for a while, but only started commenting recently. The majority, if not all of your comments have been negative. You belong in that naysayer group. I would guess you never played college football, possibly never played varsity football at all. If you did, you would know that coaching is an important ingredient in the game, but certainly not what leads to 20+ losing seasons.

  35. “I think we will play hard. If we can make some plays and keep them from getting huge plays, I’m feeling real good about this game” – Riley

  36. This season’s team lost me 90% of the way right from jump when they tanked against Sac State at home in the opener, an ignominy which will stain them forever. If Sac State can score at will on these guys, how they gonna stop Oregon?

    • Different time, different team. It sometime happens with young teams. Look at Michigan and Appalachia State a few years ago. Stain them forever.. doubtful. With inspired defense, like was played in a few games this year, anything can happen.

  37. AH….the sweet stench of impending doom. It feels exactly like when I was coaching! It’s too bad these type of message boards didn’t exist during my tenure. With this type of support I wouldn’t have had such a nice long tenure.

    I predicted the UW win. Sark was trying to steal a win and rest his starting quarterback. It didn’t work out very well, did it? No such luck this week. A healthy, motivated Duck team will make this a long, long afternoon. No “hip-hip hoorays” from the visiting locker room this year. JB

    PS: I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving. We can all be thankful that this season is almost over. The Beavs can regroup and take it out on Nicholls State in Sept.

    • Happy Turkey Day PB.

      Just think… this impending doom we have for this one week will be returned to the Ducks in the form of NCAA sanctions. In the end, we lose on the field but we win the war.

      To everyone else out there, notice how Nikegon is floating lines about the investigation in order to try to sway public opinion. Their latest line (which is being parroted by planted trolls on comment sections everywhere) is that “sanctions aren’t leveled against a school unless a player has directly received impermissible benefits.”

      Never mind that this line is utter bullshit. Looking beyond the propaganda, they are starting to crack. Now they are just setting up the emergency room to run damage control.

  38. On the officiating, I agree the holding calls are going to be frustrating – or lack of holding on UO.

    I dreamed last night that OSU was leading 40-10 early in the third, as if Riley and staff could coach a game like that.

    I hope it isn’t as bad as that snoozer blowout when Ryan Gunderson started in Autzen years ago. I think this team will have more will/hope than that team.

    I’m sticking with the Ducks going for 50+.

  39. Happy Thanksgiving everyone……..

    I live in middle of duck country and proud to fly my Beaver flags on my car and wear my orange and BLACK OSU shirts and hats. The ducks spin everything. There is a double legal standard in Eugene, one for duck football players and one (more severe) for the rest of city’s citizens.

    The U of O is tainted with slime. From Bellotti’s non-existant contract and $41K per month pension, to the cover up of the the latest recruit scandal. What can you say for a university that has no respect for its own school colors and wears its rival color instead. Ducks should concentrate on playing real football instead of wearing fu fu looking uniforms.

    OSU graduates great engineers, veterinary doctors and ocean scientists. U of O turns out crooked and greedy lawyers.

  40. Just to clear the record for everyone; we played SacSt with 1/2 of a horrid Katz, a 1st-time starting redshirt freshman QB, and no James Rodgers. The team has significantly improved and progressed since then. So the argument that, “Oh, we lost to SacSt, how can we beat UO!” is pretty useless. You aren’t talking about the same team that played 2 months ago.

    • There is simply NEVER an excues for a Pac-12 team losing to an FBS school. Never! This loss will haunt us. I literally wanted to puke after that game. Riley never came to play that day and rarely has his players ready coming out of camp. He is to blame and we will never achieve national respect with him at the healm. If I do not renew my tickets next year, this is the reason!

  41. Random predictions:

    1: If Riley keeps the running game 98% on the perimiter the beavs will have a chance. Combine it with screens and slants to get the ball out quick because you know the blitzes are coming.

    2: If they waste 1st and 2nd downs on runs up the middle for a 3 yard loss I predict the Beavs will end the day with a negative rushing yards total and the zeros will rack up 50+.

    3: Zeros will try to keep away from the ends and pound LMJ up the middle all day.

  42. Giving just a little more credit to our teams ability to show up for this game but still have to be realistic. I have no idea when Riley will ever beat the Chip Kelly led Ducks. It’s not a great feeling for a Beaver fan.

    Oregon 49, OSU 20

    Oregon St. @ Oregon (115th Civil War) Preview:
    http://beaverbyte.com

  43. You know what I’ve just now come to realize? I’ve just now realized that if we give up on OSU football like most fans did with basketball and the 28 years of consecutive bad seasons, then how in the WORLD are we any different that *uck fans in being “fair weather fans” when it comes to the win loss record. I guarantee you if the *ucks and Beavs situation were swapped, Autzen would be emptier on Saturdays more often than Reser has been all season long. The attendance for games has been anywhere between 41,000 – 43,000 all season long. It has not dropped. I see improvement in some areas this season over last season, but the areas we were good at last season have become almost non-existent(i.e. the run game was better/more consistent than last year).

    I would say the one phrase that sums up this years team is this, “Inconsistent play equals a loss, but not showing up with heart or the expectation to play your best game in and game out equals a losing season.” You can’t pick and choose when you decide to show up for a game, you have to play at the same level and proceed to get better every game! We just haven’t done that this season. Call it coaching, call it young players, call it what have you, but all I know is, something needs to change and I honestly feel that it’s attitude from the coaches and players. For the Wisconsin game, I would love to hear, “We will put forth our best effort and there is no reason for us not to be in this game because we definitely have the talent to play with these guys, but it’s up to the players to want it bad enough.” That would speak volumes. That doesn’t mean you don’t think your opponent is lesser than you, but you also don’t think that you are overly matched. What Riley did say was, “They’re a darn good football team and we have to do our best to make sure we play to the best of our ability and that we don’t turn the ball over and make silly mistakes. We also need to be able to establish the run. This will be a difficult game, but it should be a fun and exciting experience for our players.” Riley also needs to be able to help his players IGNORE the atmosphere they’re going to such as: hostile environment, loud fan base, and others as well.

    GO BEAVS!!!

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