On Saturday the number one team in the nation, the Oregon Ducks, will travel to Corvallis to take on their arch-rivals the Oregon State Beavers in what is known to college football as "The Civil War."
The first Civil War rivalry game between the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (present-day Oregon State) was played in 1894, making it the fourth-oldest rivalry in Division 1 College Football and the seventh-oldest rivalry in all of College Football.
The rivalry's name,"The Civil War," couldn't be more appropriate for the annual showdown, as the game has proven to be just that...a war. Plenty of green/yellow and black/orange blood has been spilt on and off the field between these two universities. Fans pelting opposing fans with vegetables, brawls between the two sides, and even students "capturing" a student from the opposing school and parading them around their campus has been common ground in this war.
While the rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State is bitter, the reward to the winner of the annual game is sweet...really sweet.
Beginning in 1959, the winning team would receive a trophy for its victory on the battlefield. Not just any trophy, but one of the best rivalry trophies in college football and definitely the one that makes the most sense.
It's name: The Platypus Trophy. It's a 2-foot wide, 1.5-foot tall platypus sculpted out of pure maple wood. The Platypus was selected for the trophy because it contains features from each of the teams mascots. It has the bill of a Duck, and the tail of a Beaver. Pure genius is all I can say.
Oregon State won the inaugural trophy and took it to Corvallis with them in '59. The 1960 game ended in a tie, but Oregon students stole the trophy and took it with them to Eugene. Oregon State won the trophy back in 1961, and took it back to Corvallis...only to have it stolen back from those pesky U of O students again.
The trophy then disappeared in Eugene...until 1986. The Platypus was found in a trophy case at the University of Oregon's pool complex. It was being used as a trophy between the two schools' water polo teams. Talk about falling from grace. The trophy disappeared once again when the pool facility was ruled outdated, and demolished in 2000.
Four years later a sportswriter in Oregon wrote an article that sparked a search for the mysterious missing maple Platypus. The search proved a success. The old platty was found in a utility closet at the University of Oregon's basketball arena, McArthur Court (better known as "The Pit").
In 2007 the Alumni Associations of each school decided to take over the exchanging of the wooden masterpiece, as the trophy had a strange habit of going missing when the two football teams performed the exchange. So since '07 the winning school's Alumni Associations gets the fine pleasure of displaying the slippery souvenir.
This year the Ducks have a lot more riding on line than just the enchanting Platypus Trophy. If Oregon can defeat their unranked underdog rivals, they'll play in the National Championship game for the first time in school history.
Now this may sound like an easy task since the Ducks are the top-ranked team in the land, while the 5 and 6 Beavs are no where to be found in the polls. But I must say not so fast. In the past thirteen UO/OSU meetings, the home team has won 11 of those 13 games. Did I mention the game is in Corvallis this year?
The Ducks have the all-time lead in the series with a 57-46 record, with 10 ties between the two teams. We'll see if the Quack Attack can win their third straight over the Beavs, and more importantly make it to the National Championship Game and play for a crystal football to go with their wooden platypus.
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