Oregon State Beavers

Well I am back, as promised, to tell you the Oregon State Beavers' story.

The Oregon State Beavers have been around since 1893, when the school was known as State Agriculture College (SAC). The son of the school’s president, William Bloss, was the first coach for the Beavers, as well as their quarterback. That would make for an interesting game if it was still allowed for the coach to play on the team.

The SAC team played their first game in November of 1893 on a simple open-lot field surrounded by a fence. That first game, over 500 fans came to cheer on the SAC football team who beat their opponent 62-0. Eventually, in 1897, bleachers were put up for the growing number of people interested in watching.

The “Civil War” game, that I mentioned in my Oregon Ducks blog, is not taken lightly by the Oregon State Beavers either. This rivalry has been long-standing solely due to how close the campuses are (40 miles). The first time the Ducks and Beavers butted heads was in 1894 and have played each other every year since, so over 115 times by now.

The Oregon State Beavers also look forward to playing big time rivals, the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars. Since these schools are so close, the Beaver fans will attend many of the away games.

The huge rivalry that the Beavers have with the Huskies, the Cougars and the Ducks is called the "Northwest Championship". Since 2002, the Oregon State Beavers have won the championship twice and beat all three of their rivals in the same season. Those defeats must have been absolutely epic for the dedicated Beaver fans!

Oregon Ducks

Hello all. I know you have been waiting ever so patiently for today's blog on the Oregon Ducks.

The Oregon Ducks began their football journey in on March 24, 1894 and have accumulated some big time rivals along the way, including the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington Huskies. Apparently these animals don’t get along very well…sorry, bad joke.

At the end of every regular season, the Ducks and the Beavers play each other in the “Civil War.” That is the end all between these two teams and is rotated each year between their home turfs. The rivalry between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon Beavers is the fourth oldest rivalry in division 1A history.

The Oregon Ducks started their program off strong with a 44-2 win against Albany College and continued with an okay season. The next season, however, the Ducks went undefeated. In 1910, the Oregon Ducks had their largest winning margin when they defeated the University of Puget Sound 115 to 0! After years of successful seasons, the Ducks have participated in numerous bowl games and have won eight conference titles.

The Oregon Ducks have had great players and coaches on their team over the years. Many of their players have even gone on to the NFL and Oregon continues to produce excellence, keeping steady their 552–467–47 (.540) record.

That’s all for now folks. Check back next week to get the Oregon Beaver’s side of the story!

California Golden Bears

Today marks number three on our countdown of the Pac 10 Conference teams.

The California Golden Bears football team was established in 1882. And, not until 1886, were the golden Bears officially playing American football instead of a more rugby-like game. I don't know if it was due to the rugby-nature in this group of men, but in 1906 the California Bears football team was suspend...for being too rough! I thought this was a football game, not tryouts for the cheerleader squad.

The University of California-Berkley was able to reinstate their football team in 1916 and granted their team their very own California Memorial Stadium in 1923. Since they began their program, the California Golden Bears have won two national titles and fourteen conference titles.

Jeff Tedford is now the head coach for the Golden Bears football team. Coach Tedford began coaching in 2001 and the first three years they suffered major losses. Finally, Tedford helped revitalize the program to get the Bears back on track, bringing the team to several bowl games.

Their mascot was actually once a live bear, but now a human dressed as a bear. This mascot bear is dubbed Oski and its the identity of all students who don the Oski costume is carefully kept a secret forever.

With its rich history and strong future, I am excited to see where the Golden Bears will go next!

Arizona Wildcats

I am back with the second of ten teams in my string of history exposes. Today is all about the Arizona Wildcats.

The Arizona Wildcats made their premier in 1899 with James "Pop" McKale as the first coach of Arizona football history. Their first years went down with a resounding thud, but were able to pick it up after they found their footing. Around 1914, Arizona received the name "Wildcats" after Bill Henry, a Los Angeles Times correspondent, wrote that "The Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats".

Over the next few decades, the Arizona Wildcats had many prosperous seasons. The Arizona Wildcats have also produced 13 All-American players and have gained six conference champions as a team. Their record today is 546–402–33 (.573).

In 1992 marked the begging of the Arizona Wildcat's "Desert Swarm" defensive era. Dick Tomey was head coach and his defense was a powerhouse with his All-American Rob Waldrop at nose guard. This lineup allowed Arizona to capture an undefeated season in 1993, and continue on to the Fiesta Bowl where the beat out the Miami Hurricanes 29 to zip. This marked the only shutout it the Fiesta Bowl's 23-year history.

The next few years would be filled with victories along with winning the National Championships and winning the Holiday Bowl. When the Arizona Wildcats hit a plateau for a few years, Dick Tomey decided to resign, bringing a large decline in the Wildcats success with him. Eventually Mike Stoops would join the team as head coach, who helped to improve the program, and brought them to their first bowl game since the Tomey era ten years prior.

With this amount of improvement, there's no telling how far the Arizona Wildcats can go! Make sure to keep an eye on them once the football season rolls around again. I am quite sure you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Since the Pac-10 season has come and gone, and I don't have the heart to stop blogging about them until the next season, I thought I'd make it a little routine to give you folks a rundown on each team in our beloved conference.

The Arizona State Sun Devils play for Arizona State University. The Sun Devils have had a successful time in their time as a football team. They won the Rose Bowl in 1987, as well as the Fiesta Bowl in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1982. The Sun Devils played in the Border Conference from 1931 to 1961, before they joined up with the Western Athletic Conference.

They had great leadership, with legendary head coach Frank Kush at the forefront. That first year in the WAC, the Sun Devils football team posted an amazing 62-9 record between 1970 and 1975. ASU moved into the Pac-10 conference in 1978 and defeated the number-one ranked U of So. Cal team, 20-7. This victory was epic. Over the next few years, the Sun Devils had their major ups and downs, but were always in high spirits. Frank Kush would later retire, and be replaced by a list of coaches.

At one point, after a three year struggle (1997-2000) on the field, head coach Bruce Snyder was dismissed due to a serious lack in.. well...coaching. Dick Koetter was given the chance to pump this team up. The first year went down with a thud, but he was able to gradually improve his team over the next few years. Finally, in 2004, the Sun Devils surprised their fans with some impressive victories and an even better record. Eventually, Koetter was let go for sub par performance, making room for Dennis Erickson to take over. They started out, and are still going, strong with Coach Erickson. Go Sun Devils!

Check back next time for the Arizona Wildcats!

A Little History on the Pac-10

The Pac-10 Conference goes back to December 15, 1915. This is when the Pacific Coast Conference began a year ago and was founded at a meeting in Portland, Oregon. The charter members of the PCC were the University of California, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon and Oregon State College. Washington State College and Standfor University joined the league just two years later. By 1928, the Pacific Coast Conference had all10 teams (hence the Pac-10).

In 1959, there were scandals going on with a few of the colleges and the PCC was split up. That July, the Athletic Association of Western Universites was formed with a few of the original PCC's as the charter members. The AAWU was also known as the Big Six. Finally, by 1978, the conference added two more schools to create its Pacific -10 Conference once more. Since then, there have been few changes with random teams joining and leaving, but the conference is going stronger than ever.

75th Heisman Trophy Award winner

Unless you have been living under a rock, which I have for the past few weeks, you would know that Mark Ingram, Jr. has been awarded the 2009 Heisman Trophy award. Mark Ingram is the running back for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and is the son of NFL wide receiver Mark Ingram, Sr. Mark Ingram winning the Heisman Trophy is a huge deal seeing that he is only the THIRD sophomore in history to win it.

Mark Ingram also is the fifth player in history to win both the prodigious honor and a national championship after rushing for a school-record 1,658 yards. Mark Ingram had some tough competition from runner-up Toby Gerhart who was only 28 points behind him. This is the closest finish in the 75 year history of the Heisman trophy, the second closest being a difference of 45 points in 1985 when Bo Jackson be Chuck Long.

Great job Mark Ingram!

Pac-10 2010 Football Game Schedule announced

The games were announced Wednesday. You can find the complete list for 2010 just click here.

Ohio's long awaited Rose Bowl win

Ohio State was thrilled Saturday when they won 26-17 over the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. This was the biggest win for Coach Jim Tressel in a long time. Like all the rest of the Big 10 teams, the Oregon Ducks were expected to crush the Buckeyes.

This victory has brought them closer to redemption, especially since this is the first time the Ohio Buckeyes haven't competed in the Rose Bowl for thirteen years. Although the score was neck-and-neck at half, the Ohio Buckeyes clearly were controling the field. Even if it wasn't for a national title, the Ohio Buckeyes are back and ready to shut their competition up.