Civil War: A brief history of the Oregon vs. Oregon State rivalry

Toilet bowl

As many of us know, ties in college football are no longer possible, as every game since 1996 requires overtime regardless if it is a regular-season or bowl game.

While the Civil War doesn’t have the honor of having the last ever tie in college football history (that title goes to a 1995 meeting between Wisconsin and Illinois), the 1983 meeting does have a rather laughable honor related to the topic, it was the last ever game to end in a scoreless tie.

Infamously known as the “Toilet Bowl”, this game was notable because of how poorly played it actually was, complete with it being played in very rainy conditions that actually were part of the city of Eugene’s wettest days ever (in that moment, as it’s been surpassed), with both teams combining for 11 turnovers and a total of four missed field goals.

The Beavers were strongly considering firing their head coach for that season, Joe Avezzano, as a result of the team’s very poor season, however, due to urgings by the university’s athletic director Dee Andros, the coach was given another chance, but he would indeed be fired the following season after having an equally awful 1984 campaign.

As for the Ducks, this game would mark a point in Rich Brooks’ coaching tenure, with the Ducks slowly improving until Brooks’ last season, where the Ducks made the Rose Bowl against Penn State, which remains the most recent meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Ducks up until 2025 when the two will meet at Beaver Stadium.