Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Fright Night

Peter E.

November 1, 2009 - 10:34 AM

Success. Saturday night at Autzen Stadium was electric, and the Duck's 47-20 trouncing of USC was sweeter than any Halloween candy. I had the privilege of being one of the 59,592 fans in attendance and contributing to the deafening atmosphere.

The game was fairly close in the first half as the Ducks traded scores with the Trojans, but the running tandem of LaMichael James and Jeremiah Masoli looked promising because they moved the ball at will against a confused Trojan defense. However, the third quarter proved to be the turning point as the Ducks racked up an insurmountable 41-20 lead. When all was said and done, the Ducks knocked off previously #5 ranked USC and now control their own destiny in securing a Rose Bowl birth.

The victory on the field was remarkable and fully satisfying, but the festivities and aura surrounding the match up really made the evening. Nationally televised ESPN College GameDay rolled into Eugene on Friday to record their weekly broadcast from Autzen Stadium, and they typically choose the best game of the week to broadcast from. The fact that they chose Autzen and rolled into Eugene in their bright orange Home Depot bus, rarely coming out west, brought heightened excitement to give Eugene and the University of Oregon national recognition. Fans camped out overnight to be on TV, Phil Knight made an appearance, and both head coach Chip Kelly and Lee Corso (host on College GameDay) donned the Duck head. It's great to see Duck football as a common thread that binds the community, and even the State of Oregon, and it was really incredible to have that amplified on a national scale.

For me, the game marked a great way to satisfy the beginning of the end of my career as a student at Autzen Stadium. I still have Arizona State and Oregon State games to look forward to, but neither game will have the intensity or hype of this weekend's game. The USC-Oregon game was a showdown that will go down in Ducks' history. The combination of a 47-20 thumping, deafening noise, lights-out black worn by fans, Halloween night, and a national broadcast made it a night I (or any Duck fan) will never forget.