Today marked one of the most anticipated match-ups of the young college football season. The Colorado Buffaloes led by head coach Deion Sanders taking on the Oregon Ducks on the road in Eugene, Oregon.
Seemingly Ducks head coach Dan Lanning took the attention that the Buffaloes were receiving personally. As he was quoted prior to the game saying “they’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins.” More fuel was added to the fire with the arrival of the turnover throne and Colorado players scuffing up the logo at midfield prior to the game.
Oregon was prepared and ready to go. Their opening drive went for 10 plays and 72 yards resulting in a touchdown run by Noah Whittington. A quick three and out, gave the Ducks the football right back.
Slowly and methodically the Ducks moved the football down the field. It took 11 plays and nearly seven minutes for the touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Casey Kelly. Interestingly enough Lanning elected to go for two, yet the conversion was unsuccessful.
At this point the Buffaloes were trailing 13-0. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders needed to get something going for the offense and it looked like he did with a 15 yard completion to Javon Antonio and an additional 15 yards tacked on due to a facemask penalty. After back-to-back incomplete passes and a short completion on third down, Deion Sanders elected to punt from the 38-yard line.
On the ensuing possession for Oregon, a fake punt highlighted that drive as it was from deep in their own territory. Troy Franklin finished the drive off with a 16 yard touchdown reception and Lanning once again went for two and this time it was successful.
What was most impressive was the Ducks defense getting after Shedeuer Sanders, he was constantly under pressure and the Buffaloes’ offense could not get anything going. Even after an interception thrown by Nix.
Lanning did showcase that the Ducks’ offense can score quickly too. As their last two drives in the half which resulted in touchdowns took only a little over three minutes. The score was 35-0 at half and Oregon had 344 yards of offense compared to 23 for Colorado.
With the game already in hand, the Ducks scored one more touchdown to go up 42-0 early in the third quarter. The Buffaloes avoided being shutout with Shedeur Sanders finding Michael Harrison for a touchdown and the extra point got blocked.
Shedeur Sanders finished with 159 yards passing and the touchdown, he also got sacked seven times. Nix was excellent completing 28 of 33 passes for 276 yards, three touchdowns and the interception.
For Colorado, it does not get any easier. As Deion Sanders’ team plays Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans. Oregon’s next opponent is the struggle Stanford Cardinal.
Then again media attention will still focus on Deion Sanders and how the Buffaloes respond to getting blown out 42-6.