| Oregon State Beavers football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1893; 132 years ago | ||
| Athletic director | Scott Barnes | ||
| Head coach | Robb Akey (interim) 1st season, 0–0 (–) | ||
| Stadium | Reser Stadium (capacity: 35,548) | ||
| Year built | 1953 | ||
| Location | Corvallis, Oregon | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Pac-12 | ||
| All-time record | 569–632–50 (.475) | ||
| Bowl record | 12–8 (.600) | ||
| Conference titles | |||
| OIFA:1893,1897 PCC:1941,1956,1957,1964 Pac-12:2000,2024 | |||
| Heisman winners | Terry Baker – 1962 | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 8 | ||
| Rivalries | |||
| Current uniform | |||
 | |||
| Colors | Orange and black[1] | ||
| Fight song | Hail to Old OSU | ||
| Mascot | Benny Beaver | ||
| Marching band | Oregon State University Marching Band | ||
| Outfitter | Nike | ||
| Website | OSUBeavers.com | ||
TheOregon State Beavers football team representsOregon State University inNCAA Division I FBScollege football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893[2] and is a member of thePac-12 Conference.
Their home games are played atReser Stadium inCorvallis, Oregon.
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Football at Oregon State University started in 1893 shortly after athletics were initially authorized at the college, which was then known as Oregon Agricultural College. Athletics were banned prior to May 1892, but when the school's president Benjamin Arnold died, his successor John Bloss reversed the ban.[3] Bloss' son, William, started the first team, on which he served as both coach and quarterback.[4] The team's first game was an easy 64–0 victory on November 11, 1893, over visitingAlbany College.[5]
The university has been in several athletic conferences. Prior to joining the Pac-12 Conference (then called the Pacific-8 Conference), OSU intermittently played as an independent school.[6]
Oregon State has won seven conference titles, done through four different conferences, although two of them have links to the currentPac-12 Conference, as the conference claims the history of the PCC as their own, and the Athletic Association of Western Universities was the first name for the conference that later became the Pac-12 Conference.[8][9]
| Year | Conference | Coach | Overall record | Conference record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association | Will Bloss | 5–1 | 3–0 |
| 1897 | Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association | Will Bloss | 6–0 | 3–0 |
| 1941 | Pacific Coast Conference | Lon Stiner | 8–2 | 7–2 |
| 1956 | Pacific Coast Conference | Tommy Prothro | 7–3–1 | 6–1–1 |
| 1957† | Pacific Coast Conference | Tommy Prothro | 8–2 | 6–2 |
| 1964† | Athletic Association of Western Universities | Tommy Prothro | 8–3 | 3–1 |
| 2000† | Pacific-10 Conference | Dennis Erickson | 11–1 | 7–1 |
† Co-championship
| 1897 Champions of the Northwest |
|---|
The1897 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team compiled a perfect 5–0 record, shut out four of five opponents, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 164–8. The team claimed their second league championship in theOIFA.[10]
The Aggies defeatedOregon (26–8) andWashington (16–0).[11] With those two wins, they then proclaimed themselves regional "Champions of the Northwest".[12]
| 1907 Champions of the Pacific (West Coast) |
|---|
| 1907 Champions of the Northwest |
|---|
The1907 Oregon Agricultural Aggies football team represented Oregon Agricultural College as an independent during the1907 college football season. In their second season under head coachFred Norcross, the Aggies compiled a perfect 6–0 record, did not allow any of their opponents to score, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 137–0. The Aggies' victories included games againstOregon (4–0),Pacific University (49–0), andWillamette University (42–0).[11]
Oregon Agricultural's game againstLoyola, then known as theSt. Vincent's College Saints, was a Thanksgiving Day matchup of the "Champions of the Northwest" and the "Champions of California", with the winner taking home the "Championship" of the entire West Coast.[13] After their victory, the Aggies proclaimed themselves "Champions of the Pacific Coast".[14]
List of head coaches, tenure, and seasons.[15]
Oregon State University has played in 20postseason bowl games.[16] The Beavers have also played in theMirage Bowl, but this was a regular season game and a "bowl" in name only, not a post-season invitational bowl game.[17] The Beavers lost the1980 edition of the game against No. 14 rankedUCLA 34–3 in front of 80,000 atNational Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.
The 20 bowl game total does not include an invitation to play in theGotham Bowl in 1960, when no opponent could be found for Oregon State.[18] The Beavers are 12–8 in bowl game appearances.
| Year | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Lon Stiner | Pineapple Bowl | Hawaii | W 39–6 |
| 1941 | Lon Stiner | Rose Bowl | Duke | W 20–16 |
| 1948 | Lon Stiner | Pineapple Bowl | Hawaii | W 47–27 |
| 1956 | Tommy Prothro | Rose Bowl | Iowa | L 19–35 |
| 1960 | Tommy Prothro | Gotham Bowl | None Found | |
| 1962 | Tommy Prothro | Liberty Bowl | Villanova | W 6–0 |
| 1964 | Tommy Prothro | Rose Bowl | Michigan | L 7–34 |
| 1980 | Joe Avezzano | Mirage Bowl | UCLA | L 3–34 |
| 1999 | Dennis Erickson | Oahu Bowl | Hawaii | L 17–23 |
| 2000 | Dennis Erickson | Fiesta Bowl | Notre Dame | W 41–9 |
| 2002 | Dennis Erickson | Insight Bowl | Pittsburgh | L 13–38 |
| 2003 | Mike Riley | Las Vegas Bowl | New Mexico | W 55–14 |
| 2004 | Mike Riley | Insight Bowl | Notre Dame | W 38–21 |
| 2006 | Mike Riley | Sun Bowl | Missouri | W 39–38 |
| 2007 | Mike Riley | Emerald Bowl | Maryland | W 21–14 |
| 2008 | Mike Riley | Sun Bowl | Pittsburgh | W 3–0 |
| 2009 | Mike Riley | Las Vegas Bowl | BYU | L 20–44 |
| 2012 | Mike Riley | Alamo Bowl | Texas | L 27–31 |
| 2013 | Mike Riley | Hawaii Bowl | Boise State | W 38–23 |
| 2021 | Jonathan Smith | LA Bowl | Utah State | L 13–24 |
| 2022 | Jonathan Smith | Las Vegas Bowl | Florida | W 30–3 |
| 2023 | Kefense Hynson | Sun Bowl | Notre Dame | L 8–40 |
The Beavers play their home games at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. It was originally called Parker Stadium when it was constructed in 1953, and had a capacity of 25,000. Parker Stadium was renamed Reser Stadium in June 1999. Major renovations from 2005 to 2016 increased the stadium's capacity to 43,363, where it stood through the 2021 season.[19] Another renovation project, called "Completing Reser", was announced on Feb. 4, 2021.[20] The stadium featured a temporary capacity of 26,000 during the 2022 season[21] and now has an official capacity of 35,548 at the completion of the construction project for the 2023 season.[22]
Oregon State University's primary rival is theUniversity of Oregon. The two schools enjoy a fierce and long-standing rivalry due to the proximity of the two campuses. The University of Oregon is inEugene, Oregon, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Corvallis.
The teams first matched up on the gridiron in 1894 and have been playing each other almost every year since. The rivalry game between the two schools has traditionally been the last game of each season and was long known as the "Civil War Game." The two schools have played each other 128 times, tied for fifth most among anyDivision I FBS rivalry. Though not officially recognized by the universities, thePlatypus Trophy is awarded annually to the winning alumni association. Oregon leads the series 69–49–10 through the end of the 2024 season.[23]
The rivalry with Washington State started in 1895 when Cougars defeated the Beavers 41–35. It is among themost played FBS rivalries in history. The two rivals have meet 110 times as of 2025 and will play each other twice with a home-and-home series in 2025. Washington State leads the series 57–50–3 through the middle of the 2025 season.[24]
The Beavers' largest margin of victory was 66–13 in 2008, while the Cougars' largest margin of victory was 55–7 in 1991. Oregon State's longest win streak against the Cougars is six straight from 1966 to 1971, while Washington State's longest against the Beavers is 10 straight from 1983 to 1993. The rivalry has not been officially named yet, with suggestions including the "Land-Grant Rivalry", the "Cascade Cup", and the "Colombia River Rivalry".[25]
The Northwest Championship is a rivalry between Oregon, Oregon State,Washington, and Washington State. The fourPacific Northwest rivals began playing in around-robin format in the1903 season. No trophy is awarded to the winner, and no organization grants the title,[26] although in 2002, the Washington Huskies wore homemadet-shirts for the Northwest Championship.[27][28][29]
| Oregon State Beavers retired numbers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Player | Pos. | Tenure | Ref. | |
| 11 | Terry Baker | QB | 1959–1962 | [30][31] | |
Although not a retired number Oregon State has"AL" displayed opposite Terry Baker's number"11" inReser Stadium for long time donor/philanthropist/contributor Al Reser.
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Players
Coaches
†Shared Award
Oregon State has had 53 first teamAll-Americans in the history of the program as of the end of the 2023 season, with 8Consensus All-Americans and 2Unanimous All-Americans.[34]
† Consensus Selection, ‡ Unanimous Selection[35]
The Beavers have had three players and three coaches inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.[36]
| Year inducted | Player/Coach | POS | Seasons at Oregon St. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Terry Baker | QB | 1960–1962 |
| 1991 | Tommy Prothro | Coach | 1955–1964 |
| 2008 | John Cooper | Assistant Coach | 1963–1964 |
| 2011 | Bill Enyart | FB | 1967–1968 |
| 2019 | Dennis Erickson | Coach | 1999–2002 |
| 2022 | Mike Hass | WR | 2002–2005 |
Announced schedules as of September 3, 2025.[38]
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | at Houston | Portland State | vs BYU1 | Sacramento State | Ole Miss | at Sam Houston | Tulsa |
| Fresno State | Texas Tech | New Mexico | Idaho | San Jose State | at San Jose State | Kansas State | Appalachian State |
| atTexas Tech | Montana | atOle Miss | at New Mexico | atWake Forest | atKansas State | Idaho | |
| atOregon | atBYU | ||||||
| Houston | |||||||
| atAppalachian State | |||||||
| Wake Forest | |||||||
| Lafayette | |||||||
| Sam Houston | |||||||
| atTulsa |
Fans of other schools cried that the Northwest Championship was strictly mythical, just another devious Neuheisel ploy. But the Huskies didn't care, and proudly laid claim to it again last year when, in the midst of one of the most chaotic seasons in school history, the lone highlight was beating Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State by a combined 61 points.
Washington is content with its unofficial Northwest Championship. "It had to be enough," quarterback Cody Pickett said Sunday. "Everybody left us for dead. We had to rally around something."
"We just found something to play for. We had games against Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State, so we created a 'Northwest Championship.' We found a rallying cry. We had little shirts with check marks on them," he said. "And we knocked them all off." ... At Washington, Neuheisel found the best way to motivate his players was the perfect storm of playing their top three rivals in successive weeks.
That completed what Neuheisel had dubbed the Northwest Championship, with the Huskies closing out the season with successive victories over Oregon State, Oregon and WSU (after losing to USC, Arizona State and UCLA the three weeks prior). Neuheisel even had T-shirts made up with blank boxes to check off after each win. [...] The Huskies wore those T-shirts as they marched back onto the Autzen Stadium turf for their postgame brouhaha.
