Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers: 2024 summer preview and prediction

Look, heading into the 2024 Oregon football season, the Ducks should be a pretty heavy favorite in just about every game they play. Teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines should be exceptions with this rule. 

The Oregon State Beavers shouldn’t be an exception. 

But, well, predicting the outcome of a rivalry game can be tricky sometimes. Take the Egg Bowl for example. The annual battle between Mississippi State and Ole Miss is bizarre, chaotic, and wild on a routine basis. 

That said, let’s oscillate right back into “the Oregon State Beavers shouldn’t be an exception” territory. Based on recent trends and the current trajectory of both the Oregon Ducks and the Beavers football programs, we can go ahead and make a pretty educated guess about how this game might unfold.

Oregon football vs. Oregon State Beavers: Historical context

Before we get into that too much just yet, let’s talk about some of the history with this rivalry. The Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers boast one of college football’s oldest rivalries. This is a thing that has endured well over a century of meetings with the first matchup dating back to 1894.

This rivalry, formerly known as the “Civil War” has a trophy that looks like a platypus. It’s weird and it’s been played 127 times. 

Oregon State won the first matchup (back when it was known as Oregon Agricultural College), but the Ducks have had plenty of routine success in recent years. The Ducks have thrived in the modern era of this rivalry and from 2008 to 2023, Oregon has won 13 of 16 matchups. 

That’s pretty decent. Oregon State might occasionally pull off a significant upset, but these programs are in very different places right now. 

Oregon vs. Oregon State: Current program trajectories

The Ducks are an ascendant program and the Oregon State Beavers are having to figure out how to move forward into the future after replacing a very good head coach and without any certainty as to what their conference is going to look like.

The Oregon football team is about to officially enter the Big Ten and will be fielding a remarkably talented roster under Dan Lanning, who is entering his third season in Eugene. The Ducks have dominated this rivalry in recent years and they look like a national title contender this year. 

Meanwhile, Trent Bray and the Beavers are trying to figure out who will start at quarterback, what the offense is going to look like with a new offensive coordinator, and what the long term future of the program will be.

Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers 2024 preseason prediction

I feel comfortable saying that this will be a good warm up game for the Ducks as they hit the road for the first time this year when they go to Reser Stadium in Corvallis. There’s a decent chance that Oregon State ends up being a tougher test than the Boise State Broncos in week two and this is a matchup that will give Oregon an interesting look at a team that will likely want to run the ball a lot.

While there’s a good chance that the home crowd in Corvallis could energize Oregon State a bit as the folks backing the Beavers won’t be thrilled to see their rival wearing a Big Ten patch on their uniforms, I don’t currently anticipate Oregon State having near enough firepower to keep up with the Ducks for four quarters.

Score prediction: Oregon 41, Oregon State 20

But we’ll see how this one plays out. Gevani McCoy is a really interesting quarterback who was a great addition to the Beavers’ roster. I’m interested in seeing how Oregon State’s offense shapes up.

Read more: 2024 Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers summer preview