Oregon and Oregon State football are headed for a pause in their rivalry game in 2026.
The Beavers and Ducks are set to continue the historic series beginning in 2027, but next season will be the first time the game hasn’t been played in more than 80 years.
There have been just two previous pauses since the rivalry series began in 1894. The first came amid controversy and planted the seeds for one of the rivalry’s defining traits.
1911
With William Howard Taft in the White House, revolution breaking out in China, and the Titanic setting sail on its maiden voyage, the rivalry game between the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State) was not played in 1911.
The reason? A riot that broke out after the 1910 game.
The Webfoots (now Ducks) beat the Aggies (now Beavers), 12-0 in Corvallis. Postgame, a shouting match broke out between fans of the two teams as Oregon fans made their way to the train station. It increased in intensity with conflicting reports about what occurred, described as “rowdy hat-grabbing behavior.”
How UO responded to the incident was the breaking point for the game.
Public relations staffers from UO supplied members of the statewide media with stories about OAC fans’ unruly behavior. The media ran with it, and that coverage infuriated those at OAC, who already felt a pattern of elitism and disrespect coming from UO.
As a result, OAC students decided to sever all athletic ties with UO (an idea that modern-day OSU fans might not be opposed to, either). There was no game in 1911, and the 1912 and 1913 games were played at a neutral site in Albany to mitigate any potential riots.
A temporary, 10,000-seat stadium was hastily constructed in Albany by a group of carpenters in the week before the 1912 game. Albany police officers had to escort students from both schools into the stadium from opposite sides of the field. They weren’t allowed to walk into downtown Albany before or after the game.
Oregon won the 1912 game, 3-0. In 1913, a 10-10 tie on the same field was celebrated as a win by OAC fans, which led to classes being canceled the following Monday to throw a parade in Corvallis.
1943 and 1944
Because of World War II, neither school fielded a football team in 1943 or 1944.
The game returned in 1945, with both teams made up of servicemen returning home.
Oregon and Oregon State played twice in 1945, similar to the way Oregon State will play Washington State twice in 2025 in the final year before the Pac-12’s revival.
Oregon also played Washington and Washington State twice each that season, and Oregon State opened the season by hosting the football team fielded by the U.S. Army’s Camp Beale based in Northern California (a game which ended in a 14-14 tie).
The first 1945 game between OSU and UO was held at Bell Field in Corvallis, a 19-6 win for Oregon State thanks to two touchdowns by Bob Stevens. The second, played at Hayward Field in Eugene to finish the season, was a narrow 13-12 win for the Beavers despite two touchdowns from All-American Jake Leicht of Oregon.
The joys and antics of the rivalry game would continue on from there as the world grappled with postwar life. OSU won the 1946 game, 13-0, in a muddy affair described at the time by Oregonian sports editor L.H. Gregory as a “squishing bee.” That same year, Oregon State students kidnapped Oregon’s live duck mascot, Puddles.
2026 will be the first year without a game since that era, as seismic changes in college football put the Oregon and Oregon State programs on two decidedly different paths. Yet the rivalry persists through it all.
Oregon State (0-3) at No. 6 Oregon (3-0)
- When: Saturday, Sept. 20
- Time: 12 p.m. PT
- Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene
- TV channel: Big Ten Network
- Watch: You can watch this game live for free with Fubo (free trial), or with DirecTV (free trial).
- Stream: DirecTV (free trial) or Fubo (promotional offers) or Sling (college football season pass is just $199). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
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