Rivalry Day Gameday
And its a rare Game day day game! Just the third one this season! And though its 2 in a row, its the first one at home in well over a year. It will be strange to get home in time to watch at least most of the night game, and stranger yet to actually get to bed before sometime Sunday morning. What is this, the early 2000's?
It's also a relatively rare in recent times rivalry game day where a win for the Beavers isn't at least a tall order, if not a recipe for a blowout loss. Oregon State is still the underdog, but its by a manageable margin, which when coupled with the Beavers' 10-1 record at Reser of late, makes it another checked-off checkbox for Coach Smith before the game even begins.
And it might just make it the season series of one-score games deciding game. The Beavers are 2-2 in last minute (or second) nail-biters, with wins in Fresno (expected to be a 1 play game) and Palo Alto (NOT expected to be one), to go with 3 point lost lead losses to USC & Wahington. Noteably, only one of those was at home, where the raucus and half-full full Reser crowd comes in handy in an otherwise toss-up contest.
It's the first Rivalry Gane, aka Civil War, in Corvallis with fans in 4 years, since when it still was officially the Civil War. That should stir up some Orange blooded Beavers!
And though there will be one more game day in the weeks to come, we don't and won't for another week know when or where it will be. We do know this is the last one in Reser until next September, when that powerhouse UC Davis gallops into Corvallis.
So a great Gameday effort that will have to tide us over for a long time could also keep the 8-3 Beavers in the hunt for a 10 win season, something that would put this season in a class with only 2 others. Regardless of the opponent, or the potential impact of a long list of game morning decisions about the availability of a half dozen key players, the W-L stakes at stake should be all it takes to be there for the Beavers from the beginning of the Battle of the Bands thru the final post-game show of the season.
After all, its Game Day, always the best day, but today, an even bigger than usual Game Day!
Go Beaves!
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com
(Photo by Andy Wooldridge)