A Grip on Sports: Giving the ever-changing nature of college athletics these days, it is quite possible WSU and Oregon State are headed down the rivalry road, though they haven’t arrived just yet

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Did you know college football’s Rivalry Week – the capitalization courtesy of ESPN – just finished? How could you not, the way the self-proclaimed WorldWide Leader pounded you over the head with it for the past seven days? Did you buy in?

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• If you are a college football fan, my guess is you did. In a big way. Even as the sea changes within the sport have torn apart many traditional rivalries like a tsunami.

As I watched Washington State throttle Oregon State last night, the ethereal nature of a rivalry game seemed to be hovering over Gesa Field like a fog. Between The CW’s Ted Robinson and Ryan Leaf, they must have mentioned the phrase at least a dozen times. But does calling it such actually make it true?

Maybe?

Look, the Beavers and Cougars have been enjoying sort of a truce recently. When the Pac-12 split into a half-dozen pieces, the duo were the only ones left. We get that they banded together. Us against the World and all that. Litigation buddies. Holding hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.”

Before then? The two schools haven’t really been pals. Heck, the ugliest, most bitter battles during Paul Wulff’s short stay as Cougar football coach came against Oregon State. One game in Corvallis ended with a garbage-time OSU touchdown pass in a 66-13 game. The next one at the place? It began with a Cougar linebacker driving the Beavs’ best running back out of bounds – all the way into the wall that used to surround the field. And then wearing the unnecessary roughness penalty with pride.

The Cougars won that one 31-14, taking a knee at the end then crowing about winning with class.

That animosity disappeared when Wulff did, buried by a Mike Leach winning streak against OSU that included some of the best offensive games of his Pullman tenure. As did any thoughts of a rivalry, in that WSU, which has won 58 of the 110 games between the schools, dominated the past decade or so.

As in 10 wins in the last 13 meetings. But even those numbers come with a caveat. After their 10-7 win the first day of this month in Corvallis, the Beavers had won three of the last four meetings. And talked loudly about it.

Of such things rivalries are born, right?

It seemed that way Saturday night in Pullman. The Cougars dominating 32-8 victory was marred by more verbal confrontations than a congressional committee meeting. And more pushing and shoving than a Beastie Boys mosh pit.

Referee Chris Wiggins’ crew assessed seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, four on OSU and three – including a game-disqualifying two for safety Tucker Large – on the home team. That’s rivalry proof. And proof, as well, scheduling two college football games between the same teams was a bad idea for years and still is.

So is the timing. Of course, the Thanksgiving weekend has been historically reserved for playing your rival. At least since college football’s schedule expansion encompassed the holiday.

But rivalries are also marked by the presence of enthusiastic, trash-talking, finger-pointing crowds. There was none of that Saturday night at Gesa Field.

A second game of the season against woeful Oregon State? Only a handful of students seemed interesting in returning to campus early to watch. Empty seats abounded on the other side of Martin Stadium as well. The crowd was listed at 24,806, a number that seemed as ethereal as the rivalry by the fourth quarter.

There is hope, however.

The phoenix that is the Pac-12 rises from the ashes next season. Five Mountain West schools join. So does Texas State. Six of the eight football schools that encompass the conference will have bowl games on their 2025 resume. New rivals will be needed.

Instead of anointing them with the mistake of having two games scheduled each season – with eight schools, that is the only way to get to an eight-game conference schedule – our advice is to let them grow organically.

Oregon State and Washington State have enough of a history to put their matchup in that category. But who matches up with Texas State? Fresno State and San Diego State may share a California connection, but the two schools have little else in common. Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State have more but three into two just won’t do. The Rams will probably have the Bobcats rammed down their throat as rivals, though I’m guessing new CSU coach Jim Mora Jr. will have something pithy to say about that.

It’s too bad the conference didn’t sell their TV rights to ESPN. The folks in Bristol would have no trouble dictating rivals. And selling them relentlessly all during Rivalry Week.

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WSU: The Cougar victory was written in stone by a defensive front that not only stoned the Oregon State running game but came at freshman quarterback Tristan Ti’a like an avalanche. Greg Woods’ game analysis highlights the defense’s role in the 32-8 win. … Greg shares some of the players’ thoughts about the rivalry nature of the matchup. … So does Colton Clark’s three takeways and his difference makers. … Greg also helped the folks in the office with the recap and highlights. … The rivalry nature of the game was Jacob Thorpe’s column subject this morning. … Tyler Tjomsland was in Pullman and has this photo gallery. … I thought about linking the Oregon State coverage throughout the column but decided one-stop shopping was best for the game links. There was also an off-field story out of Corvallis yesterday. … The WSU women faced their biggest challenge of the season last night. And were not up to it. Fifth-ranked LSU rolled 112-35 at the Paradise Jam. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner gets us started with his usual Saturday night thoughts in the Mercury News. … John Canzano had an early column Saturday and then added his thoughts on the Oregon win at Washington. … Wilner took a look back at what Arizona’s win over Arizona State meant for the two schools. … The Mountain West will decide today the two teams participating in its football title game. Four schools tied, including two future Pac-12 ones, Boise State and San Diego State, with 6-2 records. … Utah is headed to a bowl. Which one? … Did you start your viewing day Saturday watching Ohio State end its losing streak to Michigan? The Buckeyes have been among the winners all season.

• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 games this week, listed chronologically and including the latest Associated Press rankings where applicable.

– Kansas State 24, Colorado 14: The good and bad are always tossed on a college coach’s shoulders. Especially when said coach is as outgoing as Deion Sanders. The Buffs finished 3-9 in Sanders’ third season in Boulder.

– Texas State 49, South Alabama 26: The Bobcats have one more game before they pack up and head to the Pac-12. A bowl game.

– No. 5 Oregon 26, Washington 14: Which team does the outcome say more about? The Ducks, who once again showed they are more about grind than flash, though their game-clinching score reflected the latter? Or the Huskies, who can dominate the average but struggle when matched up with the great? As with all things, a little of both.

– No. 19 USC 29, UCLA 10: The Bruins stayed in this, that is for sure. Until the fourth quarter. But the Trojans made more plays down the stretch and won going away. This a rivalry game that lives up to its billing most years, even when one team is awful.

– California 38, SMU 35: The Bears played the ultimate spoiler’s role Saturday and, in the process, may have spoiled the ACC’s chances to earn a CFP berth. The Mustangs’ loss sent five-loss Duke to the conference title game against Virginia. If the Blue Devils win, they don’t deserve to be in the postseason instead of, say, a 12-1 James Madison. It just is more chaos in a CFP field that seems destined for chaos. 

– No. 9 Notre Dame 49, Stanford 20: It wasn’t all that long ago the Cardinal could matchup up front with teams like the Irish. Those days are gone. Notre Dame wore down the hosts and rolled to a win.

– Fresno State 41, San Jose State 14: This is another of those rivalry games that seem to be more on the edge of such things. No matter. The Bulldogs walloped the beat-up Spartans.

• In basketball news, the Oregon State men are struggling. They lost for the fifth consecutive time. … Utah State is undefeated – only barely. The Aggies edged visiting Montana State. … Second-ranked Arizona had no trouble with Norfolk State. … The Arizona women kept winning, running away from Cal State Bakersfield in Tucson. … Oregon State rallied but lost to Virginia Tech.

EWU: The San Francisco Chronicle has this story on former Eastern receiver Kendrick Bourne and how he rediscovered his mojo with the 49ers. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the first weekend of the FCS playoffs allowed second-seeded Montana State and fourth-seeded Montana the opportunity to rest and watch their opponents play. The Bobcats will host Yale. The Griz welcome in South Dakota State. … Northern Arizona just missed the playoffs. Now the Lumberjacks are focused on recruiting, from the high school ranks and the portal. … In men’s basketball news, future conference member Utah Tech evened its record with a win over UC Riverside. … Its fellow incoming school, Southern Utah, lost over the weekend. … Sacramento State, who will be leaving after the season, is off to a slow start as well. … Weber State picked up a win over Kansas City. … The Montana women lost at home to Utah.

Idaho: The UI women won again, topping Wichita State 83-61 at America’s most-beautiful campus, UC Irvine (yes, we said it two consecutive days but only because it’s true). It was the Vandals’ sixth consecutive victory.

Preps: High school basketball season is underway. Dave Nichols headed out to Mead to watch the Panther boys host Wenatchee. They romped to an 72-51 victory. … Cheryle Nichols has this roundup of other action.

Chiefs: Spokane’s power play has been shut off recently. And, as Dave tells us, that cost the Chiefs in a big way in another home loss to Kelowna. 

Seahawks: The storyline heading into today’s game (1 p.m., Fox) revolves around quarterback Sam Darnold. It should be. He is coming off a tough game and is facing his old team. 

Kraken: With their leading scorer sidelined by injury, the Kraken were unable to score against Edmonton at home a fell 4-0.

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• It would be an interesting social science paper in about 50 years if Oregon State ascends to the top of the Washington State rivalry list. It would take that long, I am sure. So there is no chance I will be around to read it. Until later …