This week, OBD will face a harrowing task going into white out conditions at Beaver Stadium for a prime time, Top 5 battle with Penn St. This venue should not be underestimated in a way that Ohio St. appeared to have underestimated Autzen last year.

The question I have is whether this Saturday will be the toughest road environment the Ducks have ever played in? I think it could be.

There is bound to be some recency bias, but here are some potential previous candidates and reasons why I don't think they reach the level of this Saturday:

1) Anything prior to the 1990's - were the Ducks ever good enough to command the attention of a frothing fanbase like a Top 5 battle warrants? Did fans froth prior to 1990's like they do today? (Just kidding - I know they did). Also, I'm looking for good Duck teams where it was clear the venue affected their play and they weren't just overmatched.

2) Any Pac-8/10/12 venue. I have to be careful here, because if I discount Pac-12 venues, it throws some shade on Autzen as well. We all know smaller stadiums can still affect games in significant ways. There have been some wildly difficult conference road games like Washington (2023), Arizona (2009, 2013), Utah (every night game), Arizona St. (every night game), Cal or USC in early 2000's, or Washington St. (2018). But do any of them rise to the level of Beaver Stadium this Saturday?

3) Michigan (2007, 2024) and Tennessee (2010) - these are two of the largest venues the Ducks have played in, but the games ended up being uncompetitive and it turned out the teams were going in different directions.

4) Nebraska (2016), Michigan St. (2015), Boise St. (2009), Oklahoma (2004) - All tough road losses.

5) "Neutral" Site Games - Auburn in the natty (2010-2011), LSU (2011), Auburn (2019), Ohio St. in the natty (2014-2015), Georgia (2022) all proved to be virtual road environments, but not quite at the level of playing in Death Valley or Athens.

6) Ohio St. (2021) - We all have to admit that Ohio St. fans were not quite awake for this game. We came in under the RADAR, took the crowd out early and earned an awesome road win.

Are there any other candidates for the toughest Duck road environment ever?

Fusky Stadium isnt exactly friendly to the Ducks.

Depends on the outcome, the environment doesn’t seem as tough when you win. Hard to quantify what makes something tough, but we have no shortage of appearances in some of the toughest venues.

That being said of the most cited top-10 toughest places to play (which includes Beaver stadium) we’ve actually only played at Ohio Stadium and Autzen to date. So Beaver stadium should be in the running.

Two not listed in most lists that are very tough when the teams are good IMO are Martin and Husky stadium.

Edited yesterday at 05:46 PM1 day by JabbaNoBargain

Penn State's record in White Out games is 12-8. PSU has won the last five games. No wins over a top 10 opponent in the last five.

With the new media deal, PSU does not always play the opponent they want to play in a White Out. 2024 saw the game vs. Ohio State as the Big Noon game. Ohio State was the WO game PSU wanted to play. Instead, the WO was against Washington.

The five straight WO wins include last season's PO win against SMU.

James Franklin and PSU's biggest WO win came in 2016 when the Nits defeated Ohio State 24-21. Two-loss PSU won the B1G that season, but one-loss Ohio State was chosen for the PO. Ohio State was mugged by Clemson. Penn State was beaten by USC in the Rose Bowl, 52-49, Clay Helton's SC high-water mark.

PSU got what it wanted this season. A WO game vs. top 10 Oregon. James Franklin's record vs. top 10 teams is 4-20. 1-15 against top 5-ranked teams, with the win coming over Ohio State in 2016.

I doubt that the WO crowd on Saturday will be louder than what OBD has experienced in Seattle and Salt Lake City before the game turned into a blowout vs. Utah.

Big Ten coaches voted Beaver Stadium as the loudest in the conference. Josh Pate, among many others, not caring about giving the nod to newbie OBD, ranks Autzen No. 1.

10 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

Big Ten coaches voted Beaver Stadium as the loudest in the conference. Josh Pate, among many others, not caring about giving the nod to newbie OBD, ranks Autzen No. 1.

I'm glad we don't have to play us at Autzen 😄

Yes, there have been some wild environments in our old conference. Fans can cause the home team to get frisky and turn what should be easy games into nightmares.

15 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

Penn State's record in White Out games is 12-8. PSU has won the last five games. No wins over a top 10 opponent in the last five.

With the new media deal, PSU does not always play the opponent they want to play in a White Out. 2024 saw the game vs. Ohio State as the Big Noon game. Ohio State was the WO game PSU wanted to play. Instead, the WO was against Washington.

The five straight WO wins include last season's PO win against SMU.

James Franklin and PSU's biggest WO win came in 2016 when the Nits defeated Ohio State 24-21. Two-loss PSU won the B1G that season, but one-loss Ohio State was chosen for the PO. Ohio State was mugged by Clemson. Penn State was beaten by USC in the Rose Bowl, 52-49, Clay Helton's SC high-water mark.

PSU got what it wanted this season. A WO game vs. top 10 Oregon. James Franklin's record vs. top 10 teams is 4-20. 1-15 against top 5-ranked teams, with the win coming over Ohio State in 2016.

I doubt that the WO crowd on Saturday will be louder than what OBD has experienced in Seattle and Salt Lake City before the game turned into a blowout vs. Utah.

Big Ten coaches voted Beaver Stadium as the loudest in the conference. Josh Pate, among many others, not caring about giving the nod to newbie OBD, ranks Autzen No. 1.

This.

The Big House isn't listed as a very difficult place to play despite it's size.

I think the white out atmosphere is likely more exciting than intimidating to the away team. Sure it's always tough on OLine communication like any loud stadium.

Also I believe the start time is to our advantage. It'll be 4:30pm to our guys while 7:30 for PSU. Their players might be looking for a cot by the 4th quarter, having not played this late in about a year.

So much like the bye week issue, the home field advantage issue isn't necessarily the big advantage it would seem on the surface. It could be a liability.

Edited yesterday at 06:41 PM1 day by Solar

There have been 21 such white-out games dating back to 2004 (2024 had both Washington and SMU).

Penn State is:

13-8 (5 of the 8 to OSU or Michigan)

9-7 vs ranked

4-1 vs unranked

3-5 vs teams ranked top ten

Coach Franklin is 8-3 with 6-0 in last 6.  He is 2-1 vs teams in top ten in the white-out.

The white-outs are definitely games that PSU fans look forward to. And, Franklin is 6-0 in the last six.

Has Oregon ever played that far east at night? Playing at Penn State will be very difficult. Not only for the noise, but also for the fight and long bus ride from Harrisburg. Getting back home won’t be a picnic either.

Washington is always a difficult venue, but it’s a short flight, so the team can handle all Friday pre-game activities in Eugene before jetting up to Seattle.

In 1964, Oregon QB Bob Berry led then-unbeaten Les Casanova-coached Oregon to a 22-14 road win over Penn State.

Oregon finished the season 7-2-1. 1-2-1 in the Athletic Association of Western Universities. Two of OBD's five home games were played in Multnomah Stadium in Portland.

Not sure if the team flew, bussed, or hitchhiked to Penn State?

There was just a story on the '64 game. They flew, but had plane trouble and a 3 hour layover in Denver for repair. Cas took the players to a local high school to have a practice run through that they would arrive too late to do in Happy Valley.

Franklin calling on the fans

James Franklin issues challenge for Penn State fans against No. 5 Oregon - Yahoo Sports

Games like this are what Oregon fans, Oregon players, and Oregon coaches live for...

10 hours ago, Solar said:

Also I believe the start time is to our advantage. It'll be 4:30pm to our guys while 7:30 for PSU. Their players might be looking for a cot by the 4th quarter, having not played this late in about a year.

LOL. These are 18-22 year-old college athletes who will be hyped up for a big challenge. I seriously doubt any of them will be looking for a cot in the 4th Quarter. I'd be more worried about the Ducks getting a good nights sleep on the road the night before. I also don't know where the team will be staying, but I hope that it is reasonably close to Happy Valley to avoid a lengthy bus ride to the stadium on game day. Go Ducks!

5 hours ago, Nevada Dawg said:

LOL. These are 18-22 year-old college athletes who will be hyped up for a big challenge. I seriously doubt any of them will be looking for a cot in the 4th Quarter.

I was thinking the same.

As a young college student, I stayed up a lot later than I can now. I’m more worried about myself. At least it’s a PAC-12 after dark game…

I’m sure that Beaver Stadium at night will be up there with the toughest environment these players will ever experience, outside of Autzen. However, many in the national media have noted how loud Husky Stadium was a few years ago when they beat OBD in a close game.

Oregon ever played that far east at night?

Last season the Ducks kickoff at Purdue was 8:00 pm local. This week Penn State is 7:30 pm local. Both are in the Eastern Time Zone. Though PSU is approx 500 miles east of Purdue.

Longest surface travel trip?

Miami, likely followed by a game at Army, as the two longest trips. Both games in the afternoon.

Miami was a 2-0 loss. Yes, a safety. Army was a 22-22 tie.

Ducks at Maryland in 2027, and back to Penn St in 2028.

7 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

I was thinking the same.

As a young college student, I stayed up a lot later than I can now. I’m more worried about myself. At least it’s a PAC-12 after dark game…

Do you guys realize why PAC12 after dark games always were crazy is because strange things happen when you are playing your heart out physically around your usual bedtime. Mental and emotional regulation drops.

These players don't have the luxury of staying up late like most students. To physically recovery at a elite level requires a good night sleep. Like 8.5 hours plus, and with full schedules they can't sleep in, so they have to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Oregon doesn't have to adjust to the new time zone. Go in your hotel room after sunset and stay up until your usual time. Let 7:30 feel like 4:30 for the game start, and then you don't have any reverse jet lag on the way back.

Great post and topic!

This will be the toughest that I can remember. I believe the Michigan / Tennessee matchups you mentioned earlier could be considered on par in terms of stadium capacity and number of fans, but the mystique about the "White Out"--plus the ranking of both teams--puts it over the top for me.

I personally think the outcome of the game is irrelevant to the environment. The environment is the environment until you overcome it, or succumb to it.

So excited (and nervous) for this game!

23 hours ago, HDuck said:

There have been 21 such white-out games dating back to 2004 (2024 had both Washington and SMU).

Penn State is:

13-8 (5 of the 8 to OSU or Michigan)

9-7 vs ranked

4-1 vs unranked

3-5 vs teams ranked top ten

Coach Franklin is 8-3 with 6-0 in last 6.  He is 2-1 vs teams in top ten in the white-out.

The white-outs are definitely games that PSU fans look forward to. And, Franklin is 6-0 in the last six.

Thank you for the stats on this.

IMO, this shows that Penn St. isn't invulnerable in this environment, but the Ducks definitely have their work cut out for them.

1 hour ago, Solar said:

These players don't have the luxury of staying up late like most students. To physically recovery at a elite level requires a good night sleep. Like 8.5 hours plus, and with full schedules they can't sleep in, so they have to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

I knew a handful of Oregon football players, including a couple of starters, when I was in school. They did not go to bed early, especially on the weekends. They were 18-22 year old college students enjoying college life, just like the rest of us. (They were just a lot bigger/stronger/athletic/faster and a heck or a lot better at football than the rest of us.)

Perhaps things have changed and that’s why we are winning a lot more football games now then when I was in school…