So much has changed since the Ducks went up to Corvallis in 2020.
Oregon had a different coaching staff, a different quarterback, and just a feeling of no sense of where the program was headed. There were very few fans in the stands because of the pandemic and the stadium was a lot bigger than it is right now.
But now, the under-construction Reser will have about 26,000 fans from both teams and will gather in Corvallis to witness the game formerly known as the Civil War to see what should be a great contest.
Oregon (9-2, 7-1) will face the surprise of the conference in Oregon State (8-3, 5-3) as both teams have plenty to play for. With a win, the Ducks will earn a trip to Las Vegas to play No. 5 USC for the Pac-12 championship Dec. 4. The Beavers can earn a trip to a very nice bowl game, probably the Holiday Bowl or the Sun Bowl and a 10-win season.
But both teams come into the game (12:30 pm PST, ABC) a bit banged up with several key players very questionable. The big injury news comes out of Eugene with the Ducks’ quarterback Bo Nix.
He was injured two weeks ago against Washington and although his ankle was healthy enough to play the next week, Nix was clearly not 100 percent. He said the ankle is “good to go” for the Beavers, but exactly how much mobility Nix will have remains to be seen.
According to Nix, the training staff is made up of miracle workers.
“It’s doing well. A lot better this Tuesday than it was last Tuesday,” Nix said. “I’m very thankful. Our training staff is doing a great job, and we’re just monitoring it. We should be good to go.”
The Ducks offensive line will go into this game less than 100 percent with Alex Forsyth and Ryan Walk missing practice time. Walk played last week, however.
As for the Beavers, their injury list is longer than Santa’s naughty list. They could be missing players such as running backs Deshaun Fenwick and Jam Griffin, receiver Anthony Gould, offensive linemen Heneli Bloomfield and Tyler Morano, linebacker Jack Colletto, cornerback Alex Austin and safety Jaydon Grant. Who did and didn’t participate in practice is unknown, but OSU coach Jonathan Smith was more hopeful about Colletto’s availability than anyone else’s.
Assuming Nix is on the field, he’ll be facing a tough Beavers defense that has performed a lot better than anyone expected. It’s the only defense that has really slowed down USC’s Caleb Williams. Oregon State nearly upset the Trojans earlier in the year before a late touchdown took them down 17-14.
The Beaver defense is second to only Utah in giving up just 330 yards per game, but opponents are scoring 32 points per contest.
A lot of Oregon State’s success can be attributed to those defenders such as linebackers Omar Speights, who leads the Beavers with 64 tackles. He was an All-Pac-12 player last season and he will be playing on Sundays next year.
But the Beavers received an unexpected surprise when starting quarterback Chance Nolan went down with a neck injury and backup Ben Gulbranson replaced him. Now Beavers fans are saying, “Chance who?”
OSU is 5-1 since Gulbranson took over and while he won’t light up the stat sheet, he won’t make many mistakes. Then again, this is a rivalry game where mistakes are made where you least expect them.
In the end, Oregon has too much to play for to let the Beavers spoil its season.
Oregon 31, OSU 14