By George Edmonston Jr.

Dee Andros, photo from the 1966 Beaver.

Editor's note: This story was written and submitted before this writer learned about the passing Wednesday morning of legendary OSU Head Football Coach Dee Andros. Next week's history feature in Eclips will feature a tribute to the man thousands of Oregonians knew as the Great Pumpkin.

To the average football fan, living in the now rules the season, that is, staying focused on the game being played, cheering passionately, hoping for the best.

For the sports historian, both the current game and looking to the rear are just as important. Indeed, some historians have the audacity to think the past is like a crystal ball. Peer carefully into the clear glass and the future magically appears.

This Saturday’s critical Pac-10 matchup between the Washington State Cougars and the visiting OSU Beavers contains enough grist for both mills.

For the Beaver fan, it’s do or die. A defeat leaves OSU with two conference losses and no post-season trip to Pasadena. Maybe no post-season.

For Cougar Believers, a win puts their team in the driver’s seat for back-to-back conference championships and a return to the Rose Bowl. Also at stake is a little something called a No. 6 national ranking.

For sure, it’s a big game for both schools, enjoying as they currently do a resurgence of respect that has garnered high doses of national attention. But all of it---the trophies, the TV appearances, the talented players, the national rankings---stands in stark contrast to their football pasts.

The irony in this picture is that these two present day football success stories sit at the bottom of the Pac-10 in overall wins and losses. In a litany of games and scores going back more than a hundred years, OSU is dead last, with the Cougs a close runner-up. They are also the only teams in the conference who have not yet reached the .500 mark for all games played. Within the conference, OSU remains at the bottom in Pac-10 wins; WSU is just ahead of the Oregon Ducks at No. 8.

In a sense, the coming game will be a battle of the bottom dwellers. With all that is high and mighty on the line, also up for grabs will be a chance for the winner to crawl one more notch away from history’s dead end.

Who will it be?

Who knows, but maybe there’s an answer in the past. Here’s a look at some of the interesting facts and figures that highlight the long-standing rivalry between the Pacific Northwest’s only land-grant universities. If you’re so inclined, use this stuff as a rag to polish your crystal ball.

*OSU’s series with Washington State is as old as dirt. Of the teams that hold Pac-10 membership, only Oregon and Washington (in this order) have played more games against the Beavers. The first meeting between the two schools was in 1903. Back then, OSU was called Oregon Agricultural College, and the team’s mascot was a Presbyterian minister named J.R.N. Bell. With or without divine intervention, the Agrics triumphed over the Pullman gridders, 6-0. The game was played in Corvallis.

*Until 1986, when OSU lost to UCLA 49-0 in the last game the Beavers would play at Portland’s Multnomah Stadium (PGE Park), the Beavers routinely scheduled one or several "home" games per season in the Rose City.

Beaver running back Sam Baker getting hit by a host of Cougars in the 1952 loss. Photo from the 1953 Beaver.

Of all the Pac-10 teams Oregon State has hosted in that historic facility, WSU has been the visiting team the most often. The last game played between the two at OSU’s home-away-from-home was in 1952. The result was a 33-20 loss to the Cougs, giving them the edge in the Portland series at six wins against five defeats and one tie.

*From 1979 to 1993, WSU "owned " the Beavers, racking up a total of 13 wins against one tie. This was pay back for the years 1960-1971, when OSU won 11 of 12 games.

*According to OSU’s Football Media Guide, the first time OSU played a nationally ranked Washington State team was in 1940. The No. 15 Cougars won that game 13-0. In 1964, OSU’s last Rose Bowl season, the Beavers were ranked No. 20 going into their Oct. 31 game with WSU. The Beavers won going away, 24-7, before a smallish crowd of 16,000 in Pullman. On Nov. 12, 1988, OSU lost to WSU, then ranked No. 20, by a score of 36-27. In 2000, OSU, at No. 18, beat the Cougs 38-9. In every instance, save one, the team nationally ranked going into the game has won. The exception was in 1994, in Corvallis. The Beavers defeated WSU, at No. 24, 21-3.

1927 game versus WSU, photo from the 1928 Beaver.

*Starting over: Going back to the beginning of the rivalry in 1903, the series has been a start-and-stop affair ever since. In 1904, the two teams didn’t meet. OSU won the 1905 game, 29-0. In 1910, after a four-year layoff, OSU won again, 9-3. No game was played in 1918, but when the two slugged it out in 1919, it was Oregon State winning once again, 6-0. The same was true in 1927, after a two-year break, with the Beavers taking the Cougars by a final of 13-6. In 1987, the two teams did not play and when the series resumed in 1988, OSU was thumped, 36-27. After not playing for the 1997-98 seasons, OSU won the ’99 game, 27-13.

*1945 was a bad year for the Beavers vs. WSU. Playing the Cougars twice, OSU came up short...twice...by scores of 33-0 and 13-6. This was a resumption of the series after both schools had suspended football for the 1943-44 seasons due to the war.

*States OSU’s football web site: "Washington State leads the overall series 45-39-3. The Cougars are currently on a one-game winning streak as a result of downing the Beavers 34-27 at Pullman in 2001. The two teams did not face each other in 2002. WSU is on a one-game winning streak at Pullman. OSU won at Pullman in 1999 by 27-13. Over the years, WSU has a 22-15-2 edge over the Beavers at Pullman. OSU leads 19-18-0 at Corvallis."

* Games between the two schools have generally been played to a final result. There have been but three ties in the long rivalry. Compare this to the 10 ties OSU has put up against the Ducks...oops...the Ducks have put up against the Beavers.

*OSU and WSU have the smallest stadiums in the Pac-10. This means that both schools generally finish at the bottom of the conference in home game attendance.

*Oregon State school records are sometimes set when the Beavs and Cougs meet

1930 WSU game, photo from the 1931 Beaver.

and the ones that are on the books are significant. In 1930, OSU punter Coquelle Thompson got off an 80-yarder against WSU that has withstood the test of time. A 7-0 loss to Washington State in 1937 saw the Beavers gain but one first down the entire game, still an OSU record. In 1966, Pete Pifer scored four TDs against the Cougars, a record he shares with four others, including Ken Simonton, who did it twice. In 1979, Oregon State’s Steve Coury caught three touchdown passes in one half against the Cougars to establish an OSU mark, equaled in 1985 by Reggie Bynum against Idaho. The most first downs OSU has ever put up in the first half of any game were 19, against WSU in 1979. The feat was equaled against Pacific in 1985. Other records: Roger Smith’s 45 carries against WSU in 1971 and QB Scott Richardson’s four TD passes in one half in 1979.

Have a great game fellas.

George Edmonston Jr. is editor of the Oregon Stater and Eclips.