All that stands between Oregon and the Pac-12 championship game is an instate rival in the midst of having its best season in 10 years.

The No. 9-ranked Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) travel to Corvallis for the annual "Civil War" game with No. 21 Oregon State (8-3, 5-3) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday (on ABC) in Reser Stadium.

The home team has won each of the last three meetings in the rivalry series, while Oregon is 67-48-10 all-time vs. the Beavers.

"The biggest emphasis is Civil War, what this game means to not only us as players but the whole community of Eugene as well as all the Ducks fans out there. Gotta beat the Beavs, have to every year," outside linebacker Mase Funa said.

Oregon's defensive players and head coach Dan Lannin talked this week about the matchup with a Beavers offense that ranks 33rd nationally in rushing at 192.9 yards per game.

Here were the top 5 takeaways from those interviews ...

There's no mystery as to what Oregon State wants to do offensive, and the Beavers do it well.

They've completed 20 passes in a game only twice all season, leaning heavily on that productive ground attack.

With injuries mounting in what was a deep backfield earlier this season, true freshman Damien Martinez has emerged as the clear lead back, now up to 867 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 6.1 yards per carry. He carried it 22 times for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns last week against Arizona State while no other running back received more than 5 carries, though quarterback Ben Gulbranson can run as well and had 9 carries for 36 yards and a score.

"Extremely well coached," Lanning said. "They're a team that runs wide zone stretch scheme really well. Their quarterback gets into advantageous looks. He's able to make sure they take the ball the right direction and these guys get movement. They find seams and their backs run hard, really similar to the back we saw this past week at Utah -- they're north and south guys. But you can tell the O-line is really well coached. That really shows up."

Oregon is 22nd in rushing defense nationally, giving up 112.5 yards per game, but this will be one of the tougher challenges for the Ducks.

"Tackling is going to be really important in this game. We thought tackling was important last game, I think that's really important this game," Lanning said. "Again, they've done a good job. They have more rushing attempts than anybody else in the conference game in and game out and they do a good job of running the ball, they're committed to it and they're able to find some extra hats at the point of attack. So we're going to have to have some guys win some one-on-onesand do a great job tackling when we get the opportunity."

Like Lanning, a couple of players compared Oregon State's offensive front to that of Utah, whom the Ducks played last week, allowing 156 rushing yards in that 20-17 win.

"They're physical up front, I think a lot like Utah. Big bodies. They have a lot of good players up there," defensive tackle Taki Taimani said. "After last week, it's going to be another fun little battle in the trenches."

Said Funa: "Tons of similarities. They try to hit you with a lot of stretch, try to get us out of our gaps so the running back can hit the creases up the middle, a lot of bounce-back from the running backs."

Oregon State ranks a respectable 38th nationally in third down conversion percentage at 42.9 percent, but the Beavers are even more impressive when going for it on fourth down, as they've converted 70 percent (tied for 10th nationally) of those attempts (14 of 20).

"Really for Coach Smith, third down, especially third-and-short is second down. They plan on going for it on fourth, they're really aggressive on fourth, and most of the time a lot of those runs are QB runs whether it's using [Jack] Colletto or someone like that, so when they use 11 you have to use 11 to stop them," Lanning said. "If you want to get really aggressive and get an extra hat in the box, he's also proven that he'll throw a bomb. So it's tough to commit every hat to the run. The key is really staying on schedule on first and second down."

Colletto is a unique two-way player for the Beavers who plays linebacker but also comes in at quarterback at times in short yardage situations, usually to run the ball. Like Lanning mentioned, though, he is 2-for-2 passing for 53 yards so the threat is at least there.

"I was actually thinking back. When he was at Arizona Western as a quarterback, I think I was at Memphis at the time, which was a long, long time ago, and recruiting, I remember watching him play QB and thinking he was obviously a real talent," Lanning said of Colletto. "Now you watch him on fourth down line up and carrying the ball, the intensity he carries it with and then he can turn around and sling it down the field too. He's a dynamic player. He's certainly different and a challenge for us to be prepared for."

Taimani, meanwhile, said what helps the Beavers be so successful in short yardage is the consistent pad level of their offensive linemen.

"The biggest thing with that is just staying low and not playing high. They play really low, that's what they're good at," he said.