Oregon football history: Ducks to face Idaho Vandals for first time in 20 years

While the Oregon Ducks haven’t always been a prominent program, the Oregon football team has a very rich and storied history. There have been numerous high profile games and memorable matchups throughout the years. 

But, interestingly enough, one of the Ducks’ longest-standing series is also one of the most lopsided in Oregon football history. It’s also a series that hasn’t had a game played in it in 20 years. That changes in 2024 as the Oregon Ducks football team welcomes the Idaho Vandals to Autzen Stadium in Eugene for the first time since 2004. 

That’s right, one of the Ducks’ longest series is against the Idaho Vandals, a matchup that spans over a century and showcases Oregon’s growth as a program.

The first matchup in the Oregon-Idaho series was back on November 6, 1901 as the two teams struggled to a 0-0 tie. It’d be five years before the two teams met again, but in 1906, Oregon grabbed the first victory in the series, beating Idaho 12-0. 

Oregon then grabbed 12 more victories before the next tie in the game occurred. Then, in 1924, Idaho grabbed its first win in the series, beating Oregon 13-0. The next year, the Ducks lost again by a score of 6-0. 

It’d be until 1950 that Idaho would actually manage to beat Oregon again. And the Ducks haven’t lost to Idaho since then.

This is a lopsided series and there’s really no foreseeable path to it becoming a competitive one (which is not at all a bad thing for the Oregon football program or Oregon football fans). Oregon should strive to keep winning (by rather large margins) anytime Idaho ends up on the schedule. There’s just too much talent between the two programs for anything else to be okay.