Sound Familiar?

When the Beavers and the Stanford Cardinal square-off this Saturday in Reser Stadium, both teams will be in a must-win situation to keep bowl hopes alive for the 2005 season. Sound familiar? Last year, OSU traveled to Stanford Stadium in exactly the same position...needing a victory to remain bowl eligible...and the guys in Orange came through with a closely-contested 24-19 win before 27,850 fans. Scoring 21 points in the first half and threatening to blow the game wide open, OSU managed but a field goal after half-time. Here's a look back at some highlights from the Oregon State/Stanford series, which begins in 1919.

• The two teams have played 71 times. Overall, OSU is 22-46-3, but has won the last four in a row and six of the last eight.
• OSU's biggest win margin was by a 43-3 score in 2003.
• Losing the first-ever Stanford game at home in 1919 by a 6-14 margin, OSU would not record its first victory over the Cardinal until 1938.

The captain of the 1919 team was Ray "Peany" Archibald from Albany (Ore.). During his long career as an engineer, he became one of the country's best-known bridge builders. Beginning in 1939 and up to 1960, series wins between the two schools bounced back and forth. In 1969, OSU began a losing streak to Stanford that would stretch to 1978. From 1969-1997, OSU managed to beat the Cardinal but four times. The only other time OSU has defeated Stanford four games in a row was for the seasons 1955-1958. The coach was Tommy Prothro.

Archibald

• OSU's greatest Stanford win ever came in the 1962 season, when Quarterback Terry Baker led his unranked Beaver eleven to a 27-0 upset victory over the No. 12-ranked Cardinal on the road.