EUGENE -- Royce Freeman said a prayer before his first game as an Oregon Duck.
It calmed him, he said back in 2014. It was a routine that helped him focus and relax. "Then," Freeman said as a freshman, "I go out there and run hard like I can run the football."
Three years and more than 5,000 yards later, Freeman wasn't his focused self. It was his last game at Autzen Stadium. It was his last Civil War. The normally stoic Freeman was, admittedly, a little bit of a mess.
"There was a little bit more emotion involved," Freeman said.