On quick turnaround, turns out the Ducks and Beavers have plenty on the line
"I just see a sea of orange pile down to the field."
EUGENE — Marcus Harper II expected noise.
It was a rivalry game, after all. What surprised the Oregon offensive lineman after the Ducks blew a 21-point lead to the Beavers in Corvallis was that the sound came from half the building.
“It was loud and the stadium behind us wasn’t even finished,” Harper said. “We had a big lead going into the fourth quarter and then it wasn’t there anymore. The defense was on the field last and I just see a sea of orange pile down to the field. It was hard to sift through that. That’s what eliminated our Pac-12 championship hopes. I just remember that moment.”
That moment — Oregon State’s 38-34 shocker amidst the Reser Stadium renovations — came in 2022. Ten months ago in Eugene, Harper and the Ducks got thorough revenge with a 31-7 win that sent the Ducks to the conference title game.
And while the 295 days between that November game and Saturday in Corvallis marks the quickest turnaround since the teams played twice in 1945, there’s never been a more transformative period for the two programs.