Last Sunday, as I read through all of my go to college football websites to recap Saturday’s action, I came across this point from The Athletic’s college football insider Stewart Mandel: “Finally, if you’re about age 45 and older, you remember when Oregon State was a decades-long punching bag in the old Pac-8/10, before rising up in the late ’90s ...

Those Damned Beavers

That 2001 team that throttled Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl was really good. They came on strong as the season progressed. If the 12 team playoff existed then, they may well have run the table.

1 hour ago, TexasDuck said:

That 2001 team that throttled Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl was really good. They came on strong as the season progressed. If the 12 team playoff existed then, they may well have run the table.

That they were. The 1 year rental team (2000) before the portal even existed.

We’ll never know. They certainly seemed very good but that was a weird year for the PAC. Only OBD, UW, and Beavis had more than 6 wins overall that season. Beavis only beat two teams that ended up ranked after the bowls.

12 team playoff would have been amazing that year.

Edited Friday at 04:46 PM2 days by JabbaNoBargain

(2000 actually) That thought has crossed my mind in the past. That team was rolling!

3 hours ago, TexasDuck said:

That 2001 team that throttled Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl was really good. They came on strong as the season progressed. If the 12 team playoff existed then, they may well have run the table.

And with a really good QB named Jonathan Smith?

I hope I'm not making a MIstate, but I hear he went Michigan?

I prefer today's Dammed Up Beavis. 😁

The OSU/ND Fiesta Bowl game was a blast to watch. Even diehard Duck fans had to enjoy the ND beatdown by the Beavis.

Leading up to the game all the pundits were saying the Beav's didn't belong in that game. Turned out they did.

And, they would have won by even more if they hadn't had been such hooligans. Stupid flags, celebrations, etc... But, hey, throwing together a talented group like this at OSU at the time required overlooking some character flaws, I don't blame 'em. It kick started them becoming respectable. They might have to dive back into that playbook, lol.

Edited Friday at 07:03 PM2 days by Darren Perkins

Before the Erickson revival, those 28 consecutive losing seasons (1971-1998) made Parker/Reser Stadium about as miserable a football environment as can be imagined.

Towards the end of that string, I remember Civil Wars there almost more for the incredible number of student teams roaming the aisles in order to break-up the many fights and eject the alcohol-fueled participants.

It was just different, something akin to a 36,000 seat open air road house bar.

I went to all but one of the Beavers home games that season. Our church (I was the pastor) had several OSU alum members and any time someone had an extra ticket I was invited. Those were certain heady times for Oregon State. I have contended all along OSU should have gone to the national championship game. If they had, I'm pretty sure they would have won it. A 12 team play off, they just might have won also.

As I've gravitated to rooting for the Ducks, reasons I've shared in other threads, I still haven't become "hostile" to OSU. I had a lot of good times rooting for them and back then Reeser was rocking!

A bit of a reality check for Beavis that might fly under the radar.

James Franklin is the leading candidate at VaTech as of today. That is probably a program Beavis would have considered themselves (incorrectly) better than 3 years ago. Franklin wouldn’t even give them a whiff now.

Edited Saturday at 04:47 PM1 day by JabbaNoBargain

9 minutes ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

A bit of a reality check for Beavis that might fly under the radar.

James Franklin is the leading candidate at VaTech as of today. That is probably a program Beavis would have considered themselves (incorrectly) better than 3 years ago. Franklin wouldn’t even give them a whiff now.

No way Beavis could afford to rent him, now!

18 hours ago, OhioDuck said:

I went to all but one of the Beavers home games that season. Our church (I was the pastor) had several OSU alum members and any time someone had an extra ticket I was invited. Those were certain heady times for Oregon State. I have contended all along OSU should have gone to the national championship game. If they had, I'm pretty sure they would have won it. A 12 team play off, they just might have won also.

As I've gravitated to rooting for the Ducks, reasons I've shared in other threads, I still haven't become "hostile" to OSU. I had a lot of good times rooting for them and back then Reeser was rocking!

Since my step-Dad played for the Beavers until Pearl Harbor, I pretty much grew up surrounded by, as well as watching the beach rats play.

I grew to like the Ducks in spite of that, which made some days of my youth more difficult to endure.

When Dad's boss realized I was a Duck fan, he began sharing his donor seats with me and my friend, and later with my son.

They were three rows back, around the 40 yard line, for quite a while.

Im still watching!

On 11/14/2025 at 7:39 AM, TexasDuck said:

That 2001 team that throttled Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl was really good. They came on strong as the season progressed. If the 12 team playoff existed then, they may well have run the table.

I remember waking up, laying in bed, listening to the radio and hearing the announcement of Dennis Erickson going to Oregon State.

My first thought was, "That's got to be a mistake news story."

And although he wasn't there very long, they certainly won some football games in 2001. The only one they lost was at Washington by 3.

And although, I naturally can't stand the Beavers, I loved seeing them absolutely dismantle Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

Agreed that if the playoff existed, they very possibly could have won the whole thing.

Edited Saturday at 06:13 PM1 day by Desert Duck

I have two “what if’s” that may have changed the trajectory of the Pac-12. One is that OSU wins the Natty in 2001. The other is that Dennis Dixon doesn’t get hurt and we win the Natty a few years later. I believe that if either or both happen, the conference grows in strength in the early 2000’s and stays together.

AND instead of parlaying that major win into national stardom...Beavis opted to go back to mediocrity!

Oregon parlayed Joey's good season into a Heisman campaign and NATIONAL brand recognition...

Weird how one team made the B1G and the other didn't! I think the SEC would've taken OBD but then again they wouldn't have wanted to play in Eugene every other year!!

GO DUCKS!! Bust the condoms...