Save the Gatorade shower for after the game

Ryan Plourde / Staff Writer / The USD Vista

It had been 41 years since the Oregon State football team had beaten a No. 1 ranked opponent. Most of the players on the current team were negative twenty years old the last time it happened. But on Sept. 25 the Oregon State Beavers beat the No. 1 ranked USC Trojans and ended their losing streak. In an offensive battle with a defensive end, the Beavers, led by freshman running back Jaquizz Rodgers, defeated the Trojans 27-21 and sent the college football world into chaos. It was an amazing upset that almost didn’t happen for one reason, the infamous Gatorade bath jinx.

While the Beavers led most of the game, actually carrying a 21 point lead into the locker room at half time, the Trojans mounted a second half comeback and found themselves a touchdown away from avoiding the upset with about three minutes left in the game. It was at that point, with an eternal three minutes left in a game where anything can happen, that two Oregon State players decided to celebrate the upset that hadn’t happened yet by pouring a cooler of blue Gatorade on head coach Mike Riley.

This scene was all too familiar as flashes of the Bluegrass Miracle cluttered the memory. For those who don’t know, the Bluegrass Miracle refers to the 2002 match-up between No. 14 ranked LSU and unranked Kentucky. After four quarters of play, Kentucky led the game 30-27 with only seconds on the clock and LSU almost 70 yards away from the end zone. And just like the Beavers had done, two Kentucky players decided to give head coach Guy Morriss the celebratory Gatorade bath.

Unfortunately this bath was a few seconds to early. The very next play LSU quarterback Marcus Randall threw up a prayer that was answered by wide receiver Devery Henderson. The LSU Tigers completed the Hail Mary pass that ended up in the end zone and defeated Kentucky 33-30. The amazing upset for Kentucky was turned into the Bluegrass Miracle for LSU. One can’t help but wonder if it was all the result of some karmic imbalance caused by the untimely waterfall of Gatorade.

Luckily Oregon State coach Mike Riley knew better than to let karma fall out of order. Upon feeling the blue electrolytes go down his back, Riley turned around and furiously screamed at his players to stop the celebrating and go back to the bench. Riley understood something these naive, young football players did not; the game isn’t over until it’s over. As every sports fan knows, prematurely celebrating may just bring on enough bad karma to turn that upset into a heart wrenching loss. Oregon State went on to intercept a bad pass thrown by USC quarterback Mark Sanchez and defeat the Trojans; there was no Trojangrass Miracle to be had. Still potential upseters beware, the jinx of the Gatorade bath is still out there and karma’s cruel humor can strike at any time.