Ducks are goin' to the Rose Bowl

Wow.

What a game! Oregon prevailed over Oregon State, 37-33, in tonight's Civil War football game -- the most meaningful of the 113 times the rivalry game has been held.

With a national television audience looking on, the Ducks and Beavers played a game for the ages, with five lead changes, several athletic plays and plenty of drama surrounding the head coaches' strategies and late-game decisions.

And now the Ducks are headed to Pasadena as Pac 10 Conference champions, to play Big Ten champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day. I know where I'll be on Jan. 1 -- planted right in front of a TV.

Click here to check out The Oregonian's outstanding photography before, during and after the game.

Never before had Oregon and Oregon State battled each other with the stakes this high. Either team knew it would go to the Rose Bowl with a win. It was just a shame that someone had to lose.

Though I've been a Ducks fan since the late '90s, when our oldest son enrolled at the U of O in Eugene, and enjoy watching their wide-open style of offense and cool uniforms, I've grown to really appreciate and respect the Beavers and their coach, Mike Riley.

USC gets all the national attention and stockpiles talent (i.e., high school All-Americans at almost every position) like some people collect coins. Oregon State always gets overlooked. Nobody wants to come to sleepy little Corvallis, right? Except that the OSU staff of late have managed to win with the recruits no one else wanted. The Beavers are the classic underachievers, having come within one win of the Rose Bowl this year and last.

But it's Oregon's turn -- their first trip to Pasadena since 1995, when they got hammered by Penn State after winning the 1994 Pac-10 championship. Oregon State will have to wait at least another year before ending a Rose Bowl drought that dates back to 1965.

Go Ducks!

Photo by Jamie Francis, The Oregonian