COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes take on the No. 3 ranked Oregon Ducks in Eugene in one of the top games of the entire season. 

What You Need To Know

  • Dick LeBeau was on the Ohio State team when they played Oregon for the first time

  • The 10-7 win in the Rose Bowl cemented the team as the Coaches Poll National Champion

  • LeBeau says he can't believe the two teams are now in the same conference 

While this matchup will become more common with the Ducks now in the Big Ten, it was typically only in bowl games the two teams would play each other. One Ohio State great who played in the first-ever Ohio State Oregon game shares what he thinks about the west coast team being in the same conference as the Buckeyes.

It was 67 years ago that the Buckeyes and Ducks first played each other.

“We won that game by a score of 10 to 7," Dick LeBeau said. "I remember the game like it was yesterday.”

The first matchup between Oregon and Ohio State was the 1957 Rose Bowl. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

LeBeau, a former OSU cornerback and a member of NFL Hall of Fame, said it was a game he’ll never forget

“At that time, to be totally honest with you, being a Rose Bowl champion was more glorifying than being a national champion because the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of bowls," he said.

The Rose Bowl win in Pasadena cemented the Buckeyes as National Champions.

The Buckeyes won the 1957 National Championship for the Coaches Poll after that Rose Bowl win. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“Absolutely a dream come true," he said.

And now, LeBeau is wrapping his head around the two teams being in the same conference.

LeBeau caries the ball during a game at Ohio Stadium. (Photo Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics )

“If anyone would try to tell me that Ohio State and Oregon would end up in the same conference, I'd say (you're) absolutely, completely out of your mind," LeBeau said. "It's never going to ever happen.”

The team, led by legendary coach Woody Hayes, was 9-1 that season. LeBeau says Hayes was a tough coach.

“There’s an old saying in life, if it doesn’t kill you it’s good for you," LeBeau said. "He didn’t kill me because here I am standing here. But he got me ready for life.”

LeBeau is from London, Ohio, where he grew up a Buckeye fan.

LeBeau in his Ohio State Varsity sweater. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“If you cut me, I actually do bleed scarlet and gray," he said. “Everybody in Ohio almost is an Ohio State fan. My dad was a strong Ohio State fan and several walk, as is my older brother.”

While he remembers and cherishes all the games in his Ohio State career, he’s most thankful for his time as a Buckeye.

“It's still unquestionably, the most impactful thing that I ever got to experience in my life is playing for Ohio State," he said.

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