Maybe I’m biased, but I’ve rarely experienced prettier environments than Eugene, Oregon in autumn. It’s the climate, to an extent, and, of course, the passion of the fans. A pair of green and white Nikes is catnip to me.
And tonight, for the first time as a Big Ten conference member, the football Ducks will have the opportunity to demonstrate exactly what I’m babbling about to a national audience for a crucial contest with fellow Top 5 travelers from THE Ohio State University.
As DUCKS WIRE’s Zachary Neel bragged to his readers in a story that dropped yesterday afternoonL
The eyes of the college football world will be on Eugene this weekend as the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes go on the road to face the No. 3 Oregon Ducks in the first-ever top-five matchup in Autzen Stadium history.
ESPN’s College Gameday is in tow for this one, bringing a grip of fanfare ahead of the matchup that many have had circled on the calendar for over half a year. Early on Saturday morning before the sun is up, students will be packed together in the Memorial Quad on the Oregon campus and getting rowdy as guys like Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, and Nick Saban preview the loaded slate of college football games.
As this is being written, the histrionics have already begun. The center campus quad that usually is where folks congregate in the summers for track and field championships is overflowing with students, fans and locals who clearly haven’t slept.
Davis was particularly illustrative in exactly how meaningful this is to not only his network but the sport itself:
It’s the crown jewel game of Big 10 realignment. You have to always give the proper respect to Ohio State and Michigan, because of the history of the rivalry. But in terms of realignment and conference expansion, this is the game everyone has pointed to. Even with the rematch of the National Championship or the National Championship uniforms — the players aren’t very similar — but even Michigan vs. Washington last week, I think wasn’t quite as highly anticipated as this, because both of these teams are legitimate national championship contenders. So it’s the type of game that realignment, conference expansion, and producing better content for the media partners, is what it’s designed for. And not just for the media partners, but for the fans. Fans are demanding more high-level games. And this is, this is Exhibit A of what it can provide.”
There is a pre-established rivalry, albeit not one that most Ducks fans are all that proud of. Per USA TODAY NETWORK’s Ohio State football correspondent John Leuzzi in his early morning dispatch from mere minutes ago:
(W)hile Saturday’s contest is the first official Big Ten game between both programs, it isn’t the first the Buckeyes and Ducks have faced off on the gridiron.
In fact, both programs have quite the history against each other over the years, including a College Football Playoff national championship game.
According to Ohio State football’s record books, Saturday’s Big Ten matchup will be the 11th time both Ohio State and Oregon have played each other.
It will be the first time that both programs have played each other since a 2021 nonconference game at Ohio Stadium, when the 11th-ranked Ducks upset No. 3 Ohio State 35-28 in Columbus. Behind running back CJ Verdell’s big day on the ground of 161 yards and three touchdowns, the Ducks handed the Buckeyes their first loss in the regular season under Urban Meyer since 2018.
Ohio State has traveled to Autzen Stadium and Oregon just once in the previous 10 meetings between both programs, coming in 1967, when the Buckeyes shut out the Ducks 30-0.
Autzen Stadium was just a year old at the time, and I wasn’t much older. I do remember watching it, albeit briefly. Woody Hayes was the Buckeyes’ coach, and soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Rex Kern led them to an early and ultimately insurmountable lead. There wasn’t much reason to keep watching–at the time the Donald Duck doppleganger that does push-ups for every point scored wasn’t around, and even if he was it was obviously a moot point.
While it’s expected said mascot will be slightly busier tonight, per THE ASSOCIATED PRESS his team will need a two-way effort to pull of what at least per rankings would be an upset:
Ohio State leads the nation in total defense, allowing opponents only four touchdowns collectively and an average of just 202.4 yards offense per game. Oregon has been averaging 458.8 offensive yards a game with 20 touchdowns. For the Ducks to have a chance they’ll have to lean on the experience of quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a transfer this season from Oklahoma, who has thrown for 1,449 yards and 11 touchdowns and leads the nation in completion percentage.
And:
(Oregon d)efensive end Jordan Burch was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week after he had a career-high 2 1/2 sacks, four tackles and a fumble recovery against Michigan State last Saturday. He’s tied for eighth nationally with a career-high five sacks this season. The Buckeyes have allowed just four sacks all season, tied for 11th nationally.
The Cleveland Guardians are hosting a winner-take-all ALDS game today, and it’s been ostensibly moved to early afternoon from a potential head-to-head slot because of impending bad weather. I’m not fully buying it. When Ohio State is involved on an autumn Saturday, everything else is secondary. And for a matchup featuring both the current day and historic implications that this one portends, I sure wouldn’t have wanted to be a Guardians’ official looking at thousands of fans staring at their phones.
So this way, they can hunker down in warmer surroundings, hopefully ones with adult beverages at the ready, and take a look at this kind of beauty and a setting that even at night looms to be idyllic. Here’s hoping the game can produce more than a few Ohs.
Courage…