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CULTURE

The Greatest Football Game I Ever Saw

People will tell you that there are really only two religions in Oregon—craft beer and college football.

Undoubtedly there were numerous stimulating things happening on October 13, 2018 around the Pacific Northwest. But for sports fans, football fans in particular, there was only one thing happening: the Washington Huskies were playing the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Kickoff was set for 12:30pm; earlier than usual. The tailgate festivities started around 9am. The sunny and crisp October morning had offered a glorious day for athletic competition, and provided the ideal backdrop for the greatest football game I have ever attended.

In Eugene, Saturdays in autumn are dedicated to Ducks football. Whether it’s a road or home game, the vibe builds in earnest beginning Friday when townsfolk ranging from grocery store clerks to bartenders to people walking down the street sport their green and yellow shirts, ballcaps, hoodies, and other Duck regalia. On home game days, Eugene is engulfed by football fever: traffic jams throughout town and up and down I-5, fans thronged within a two mile radius of Autzen Stadium, and the diehards packed into a tailgate scene that encircles the playing field. It’s a smart time to grocery shop if you yearn for an empty market or to spend time enjoying a city park if you harbor an aversion to crowds.

Game days with early kickoff times are the best. Night games bring with them a distinct excitement, but they can also be very cold, very tiring, and chocked full of well-inebriated fans. Certainly, people are able to achieve a sufficient level of drunkenness prior to a mid-day contest, but the volume of sloshed stadium-goers is significantly decreased by early kickoffs, which disallow folks the ability to spend the entire day downing IPAs, whiskey, and Jell-O shots. To be truly tipsy prior to a noontime game takes real dedication—rapid fire imbibing at a time most folks are usually finishing up their breakfasts. While I enjoy having a drink as much as the next person, a football game is a much more pleasant experience when there are not multiple brawls in the stands, when fans are eager to watch the game rather than fight with their girlfriends, and when you are spared having to clean someone else’s vomit off of your sneakers.

The Oregon versus Washington rivalry goes way back. Other than beating the Oregon State Beavers, the other must-win game for the Ducks each season is against the hated Huskies. Over the past couple of decades, Oregon has enjoyed a rise to college football prominence and has been a perennial contender as one of the top teams in the nation. But prior to the Ducks ascent, the Huskies routinely trounced the webfoots year after year.

For previously downtrodden Oregon, the turning point came in 1994. Washington was visiting Autzen and surprisingly trailing the Ducks 24-20 with just over one minute left in the game. But the Huskies had driven down the field, made it all the way to the nine yard line, and looked poised to score an inevitable touchdown and once again pull off the victory over the boys in Eugene. It was then that Washington’s quarterback dropped back and threw a pass toward the sideline that was intercepted by Oregon defensive back Kenny Wheaton. The broadcast call of the play, which came to be known as “The Pick,” is now a part of Ducks football lore. As Wheaton blazed down the sideline with Husky players giving chase, long-time Oregon announcer Jerry Allen cried out in euphoric disbelief: “Kenny Wheaton is gonna score! Kenny Wheaton is gonna score!” Indeed, Kenny Wheaton scored. The Ducks won the game 31-20, and a new era of Oregon football was birthed.

While Oregon had dominated the series of late, the Ducks fell on hard times in 2016. The Huskies absolutely embarrassed their rivals by the gaudy score of 70-21 at Autzen that year. In 2017 the outcome was virtually the same up in Seattle with the purple and gold boat-racing the green and yellow at a clip of 38-3. With Oregon fielding a much improved team and a new head coach in 2018, the showdown versus the Huskies was greatly anticipated.

My wife and I attended her company’s tailgate party that morning. Nothing to get you pumped up for a rivalry game like a lukewarm Coors Light, a breakfast burrito, a good game of cornhole, the marching band making its appearance amongst the cookouts, and the Duck mascot high-fiving its way toward the stadium. We entered Autzen prior to kickoff, found our seats near the western end zone, and settled in for a doozy.

The place was packed, filled to the brim. Mostly Ducks fans, but a decent contingent of Husky boosters could be spotted throughout the seats. The national anthem was sung, we were reminded by the video scoreboard of The Pick, and a coin was flipped at midfield. Eventually, the Ducks kicked the ball to the Huskies and the festivities were under way. Oregon went on defense to start the game and I will never forget the first play. As Washington came to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball the thunderous call of “Oooooooooooohhhhh!!!” reverberated throughout the stadium. I looked to my right and saw a young mother and her infant son. The mother’s hands covered her son’s ears as a worried expression crossed her visage. They both grimaced as the sound penetrated into their ear canals. After the play had ended and it was a bit quieter, I turned to the woman and told her: “You might want to go up to the concourse and see if you can get some earplugs because it is going to be loud like this all day long.” She nodded and headed off toward the stairwell.

On the third play of the game the Ducks intercepted a pass and Autzen exploded in cheers. But, despite the early turnover, the game would prove to be a see-saw battle. Both teams scored 10 points in the first quarter. Both teams scored seven points in the second quarter. Both teams scored seven points in the third quarter. And both teams scored zero points in the fourth quarter. The Ducks would punch in a touchdown and the Huskies would immediately respond in kind. Washington would push the ball across the goal line and the Ducks would turn around and orchestrate a scoring drive of their own. It was a rollercoaster of an emotional game. Both squads were fighting hard, playing their asses off. Both teams badly wanted the win.

With only three seconds left in the game, it looked like the Huskies might secure victory. They lined up for a 37-yard field goal to seal the deal. The kick went up, sailed to the right, and missed the uprights. He hooked it. Autzen exploded in jubilation. There would be overtime.

In the overtime period the Ducks defense stood strong and held Washington to a field goal. Oregon got the ball next. If the Ducks failed to score then the Huskies would win. If Oregon could muster a field goal, then overtime would continue. And if the team in the neon yellow uniforms scored a touchdown, then there would be a city-wide party in Eugene on Saturday night.

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert made a couple of great throws, the offense pushed forward, and the Ducks found themselves on the nine yard line. On third down, Herbert handed the ball to running back C.J. Verdell who burst through the defensive line as if he were shot out of a cannon. C.J. rumbled into the end zone for the touchdown. Game over. Ducks win. Let the party begin.

The entire team came running from the sideline toward the end zone where they dog piled on top of each other. Then the fans streamed onto the field from the stands and amassed at the 50 yard line—jumping, chanting, fist-pumping, singing, waving their arms in the air. There is entertaining video footage of high school senior Kayvon Thibodeaux who was on a recruiting trip to Oregon that day. As Thibodeaux—now a star defensive end for the Ducks—is engulfed by the hoard of people at midfield he looks around wide-eyed in astonishment and you can see him mouth the words “This is crazy!” As the hoopla wound down the camera once again found Thibodeaux walking off the field. He was asked what he thought: “This is the best college game I have ever been to!” I agree wholeheartedly, Kayvon.

As we exited the stadium the feeling was inescapable. The buzz was real. Tens of thousands of Oregonians were going home very, very happy. It was impossible not to be swept up in the moment. People hugged. People smiled. People floated as they walked out of Autzen. It was the unmatched intoxication not of alcohol, but of unabashed collective joy. Sanity had been restored. All was again set right in the Oregon college football universe. On the afternoon of October 13, 2018, everything made sense once again in Eugene.