COLORADO 3/0/0/0 - 3
OREGON 7/17/14/7 - 45
EUGENE, OREGON - The Duck defense made sure the Nation knew they were the real deal by limiting the Colorado’ offense to just 299 yards and just three points. The Buffaloes averaged 35 points and 450 yards a game on offense behind senior quarterback Steven Montez, but the hellish confines of Autzen proved too much for the PAC-12 foe.
Oregon started things off strong with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with a seven-yard pass to Jacob Breeland for the opening score. On quarterback Justin Herbert’s next outing, the Ducks turned over the ball on downs after failing to convert on 4th-and-three at the Buffaloes’ 19-yard line - a decision most likely made easier by the unreliable kicking of Camden Lewis. Steven Montez then led his team on their best drive of the game, using 13 plays to travel 72 yards to score their only points of the game off a 27-yard field goal.
The Ducks responded by marching down the field with another long drive, featuring a heavy dose of Cyrus Habibi-Likio, and this time when the offense stalled in the Colorado red zone Cristobal elected to give his freshman kicker a shot. Camden Lewis made good on his opportunity by making his second career field goal to put the Ducks up 10 to 3. Oregon scored two more touchdowns before halftime: a one-yard carry from Habibi-Likio in clean-up duty, and a three-yard sweep from Jaylon Redd set up by a Verone McKinley red zone interception that ended the previous drive.
The Ducks took a huge blow to their roster when tight end Jacob Breeland suffered a left leg injury during the first half of the game that ended his career at the UO. The senior tight end was in the middle of his best season with a team-high 26 receptions, 405 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
The rest of the game turned into a nightmare for Montez and the Colorado offense. Motivated by an interception from Bryson Young on the second play of the third, Oregon capitalized on the change of possession by tallying another touchdown pass to Jaylon Redd. McKinley III recorded his second pick of the game, and nearly tallied his first pick-six by returning it 53 yards to the Colorado 7-yard line, but once again Habibi-Likio walked on the field to make short work of another short-yardage touchdown.
Nick Pickett joined the turnover party by intercepting a bomb from Montez that wound up in the Oregon end zone. The Colorado defense forced a punt, but then turned the ball over on downs when a short pass to Dimitri Stanley was blown up by Haki Woods Jr. CJ Verdell quickly put the Ducks back into Colorado territory by picking up 70 yards on Oregon’s next possession, then Habibi-Likio was back in the end zone after five consecutive carries.
It appeared that the Buffs would add to their total late in the final quarter, but then they missed the 33-yard field goal attempt.
"We're confident. But the thing is, we fear complacency.”
Safety Verone McKinley
Oregon Offense (total: 527 - pass: 275 - rush: 252)
Colorado Offense (total: 299 - pass: 131 - rush: 168)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 4 - INT: 4)
Colorado Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
UO (5-1, 3-0) CU (3-3, 1-2)