Running with The Buffaloes: Colorado Game Preview
Arizona could go 0-12 and I'd still think CU might be the worst team in the Pac-12.
We will break down this week’s matchup as Oregon hosts a not super great Colorado team, but first let’s have ourselves a quick check-in with the Duck passing game, and with The Haters at-large.
The Haters begged for the Oregon offense to push the ball down the field, and they did just that against UCLA. Efficiently, too, I might add!
16 of Anthony Brown’s 29 completions went for first downs.
The Haters also begged for the Oregon offense to utilize their generational depth at the wide receiver position.
AB spread the ball around to 11 different receivers, including helping three different guys get four or more receptions with deep balls of 32, 29, and 25.
And The Haters BEGGED for Oregon to simply show some general offensive power and to stop losing the yardage game.
Oregon ran 63 plays to UCLA’s 91, but despite that 28-play deficit they still outgained a Chip Kelly offense by nearly 70 yards.
“But James, I thought the Ducks were a run-first team?”
They are, but it turns out they’re also pass-curious.
Like it or not, Joe Moorhead and Mario Cristobal aren’t all that interested in conducting a diversified offense just for the sake of doing so. They only want to zero-in on a team’s weakness and then exploit that over and over and over again until they bleed.
With Ohio State, it was the option towards the boundary and a relentless attack on the Buckeyes’ rush defense.
And with UCLA, JoMo had no interest in testing the Bruins’ 9th-ranked run stopping (hence the mere 24 total attempts*).
*5 of UO’s 24 rushes were touchdowns.
Nope, we just woke up and decided that we were gonna win through the air.
Don’t know when it happened, but this oft-maligned Duck offense has suddenly decided that they can beat you any which way they choose.
On the surface, Colorado comes to Eugene at 2-5 (1-3), and as the second-worst team on the Pac-12—a title they won outright by beating the winless Arizona Wildcats a few weeks ago.
‘Rado, as the kids say, also gave Texas A&M a real scare earlier this year, but the Buffs rank at or near the bottom half of the nation by nearly every relevant statistical measure.
Out of all 130 FBS football teams, CU is 127th in the country in points per game with just 15.1. They are 125th in passing offense, 98th in rushing offense, 52nd in passing yards allowed, and 83rd against the run.
When it comes to exploiting vulnerabilities, the Ducks sure have a few to choose from, but the first thing to watch for will be CU’s offensive line versus Oregon’s incredible defensive front.
Colorado has given up 22 sacks this year (3.14 per game) and they literally fired their offensive line coach on Monday.
If you thought Kayvon had himself a game last week…
The second thing to watch is CU quarterback Brendon Lewis (#12). Lewis is a 6’ 2” “covid freshman” who has thrown just three picks on the year, but is completing only 54% of his passes, and has thrown for under 100 yards in 4 of his 7 games—and he has thricely thrown less than 70 yards.
Of course, he could conceivably have his best game of the season against the Ducks, but that still wouldn’t be saying very much, and also good luck finding any time to work with the aforementioned Kayvon Thibodeaux in your face.
Wideout La’Vontae Shenault (#5)—yes, Laviska’s little brother—will also be back in CU’s lineup for the first time since Week 1 after serving a suspension. But once again, it is shaping up to be a battle just for Lewis to get the ball in the air, let alone in the hands of any memeber of the Shenault family.
Ralphie’s leading rusher, Jarek Broussard (#23), would’ve easily been a 1,000-yard rusher in 2020 if he had a full season to work with, but he has yet to break 100 in a single game this year. He is obviously following behind a lackluster offensive line, but he still might be their most proven and electric threat on offense.
However, Oregon also held a great rushing UCLA attack to a lowly 2.4 yards per carry last week, so running might be tough for the Buff too.
CU’s defensive standings were at least in the Top 90, but they’ll be without their leading tackler, linebacker Nate Landman (#53). Landman being injured is a loss that is hitherto undreamt of for the Buffs, as he has averaged 10.1 tackles a game, and he is clearly vital to their defense because he has 24 more tackles than the second-leading tackler on the team.
So, it is once again, a three-pronged approach for the Duckies:
Attack a bad and coach-less offensive line with the #1 Draft pick (and all his friends).
Compound that pressure with an overall chokehold of an anemic offense.
Exploit the gigantic gap that’s left been in the middle of their defense due to injury.
Oh, and also as a fourth thing the Ducks should hope that your fans are adult enough not to boo them in their home stadium. Yeah, that would help too.
All of that is very hopeful—as we’ve learned all too well with this Ducks’ team.
There is of course a chance that Oregon will do all or most of those things on their way to a convincing victory over a “lesser” team, but there’s also an equal chance that they play with their food for a little longer than any of us would like them to, and they find themselves in a ten-point game in the fourth.
But I have a pretty good feeling about what last week’s big road win did for the team’s morale and mentality. And I sure do hope they get the hero’s welcome they deserve at their home damn field.
I’d like to think I’ve exercised all our demons with my whole “predict the Ducks to win by just one point” schtick (side note: last week’s 35-34 prediction feels like my closest to-date, and it was mostly a joke).
So I’ll say we’re winning by three scores, 42-20.
Go Ducks.