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5 Things To Watch: Colorado
09/22/23 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The No. 10 Ducks will host No. 19 Colorado on Saturday (12:30 p.m., ABC).
EUGENE, Ore. — The eyes of the nation will be on Autzen Stadium on Saturday when Oregon opens Pac-12 Conference play by hosting Colorado in a battle of unbeatens.
The No. 10 Ducks won their home opener over Portland State, then earned a hard-fought win at Texas Tech before returning home to beat Hawaii last week. The No. 19 Buffaloes have become a national sensation under first-year coach Deion Sanders, with wins over TCU, Nebraska and Colorado State to open the season.
Oregon leads the all-time series between the two, 15-9, including nine of the last 10. The exception was a 41-38 win for Colorado in Eugene during the 2016 season.
Saturday's game will be televised by ABC, with Joe Tessitore providing play by play, analysis from Jesse Palmer and sideline reporting by Katie George.
Some storylines to watch come Saturday afternoon …
1. Colorado has thrived in the national spotlight so far this season, and it will follow them to Eugene this weekend. The Ducks will need to play with maturity given the hype around the game.
"Play the game, not the occasion," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "It's another game, it's a different game. It's a worthy opponent — they're really good, a good team. But play the game, play your game."
2. Something has to give in the race to win the turnover battle Saturday.
Oregon is one of two teams, along with Penn State, that has yet to lose a turnover this season. Colorado is one of five teams leading the nation with 10 takeaways.
Can the Ducks keep the Buffs from padding that stat?
"They're a havoc team," Lanning said. "They find ways to make sure their players have good vision of the ball. They have some instinctive players that play with a level of aggressiveness that you can see, and they do some challenging things that are going to create that."
3. It's a different story statistically when it comes to the matchup of Oregon's rushing offense against Colorado's run defense.
The Ducks lead the Pac-12 with 11 rushing touchdowns and are second in the conference with 7.24 yards per carry. The Buffs, meanwhile, are 12th in the conference in rush defense, allowing 195.33 yards per game.
Colorado hasn't leaned on its own run game, either, rushing for a conference-low 61.0 yards per game.
4. The Buffaloes have thrived despite those numbers in the run game in part due to the success of quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
He's throwing for 417.0 yards per game, with 10 touchdowns against one interception.
"He always keeps his eyes downfield and looking for opportunities to find open receivers," Lanning said. "… I would describe him as a guy that scrambles to throw, not necessarily scrambles to run, but when he has to run with his feet he can. He's extended plays, and when you extend plays it's hard to cover for a long time. So we have to do a good job of not allowing him to extend plays, but also make sure that we plaster guys in the back end when he does."
5. And finally, Lanning would like to see the Ducks limit penalties better than they have the last couple weeks.
Oregon is being flagged 8.3 times per game on average, for 73.3 yards. It hasn't cost them a game yet, but the level of competition is going up in Pac-12 play, and mistakes can be more painful.
"It drives me nuts when we have post-snap penalties, plays outside the whistle," Lanning said. "There's gonna be aggressive penalties within the framework of the game at times, but we can't be having those penalties that cost us after the snap."
The No. 10 Ducks won their home opener over Portland State, then earned a hard-fought win at Texas Tech before returning home to beat Hawaii last week. The No. 19 Buffaloes have become a national sensation under first-year coach Deion Sanders, with wins over TCU, Nebraska and Colorado State to open the season.
Oregon leads the all-time series between the two, 15-9, including nine of the last 10. The exception was a 41-38 win for Colorado in Eugene during the 2016 season.
Saturday's game will be televised by ABC, with Joe Tessitore providing play by play, analysis from Jesse Palmer and sideline reporting by Katie George.
Some storylines to watch come Saturday afternoon …
1. Colorado has thrived in the national spotlight so far this season, and it will follow them to Eugene this weekend. The Ducks will need to play with maturity given the hype around the game.
"Play the game, not the occasion," UO coach Dan Lanning said. "It's another game, it's a different game. It's a worthy opponent — they're really good, a good team. But play the game, play your game."
2. Something has to give in the race to win the turnover battle Saturday.
Oregon is one of two teams, along with Penn State, that has yet to lose a turnover this season. Colorado is one of five teams leading the nation with 10 takeaways.
Can the Ducks keep the Buffs from padding that stat?
"They're a havoc team," Lanning said. "They find ways to make sure their players have good vision of the ball. They have some instinctive players that play with a level of aggressiveness that you can see, and they do some challenging things that are going to create that."
3. It's a different story statistically when it comes to the matchup of Oregon's rushing offense against Colorado's run defense.
The Ducks lead the Pac-12 with 11 rushing touchdowns and are second in the conference with 7.24 yards per carry. The Buffs, meanwhile, are 12th in the conference in rush defense, allowing 195.33 yards per game.
Colorado hasn't leaned on its own run game, either, rushing for a conference-low 61.0 yards per game.
4. The Buffaloes have thrived despite those numbers in the run game in part due to the success of quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
He's throwing for 417.0 yards per game, with 10 touchdowns against one interception.
"He always keeps his eyes downfield and looking for opportunities to find open receivers," Lanning said. "… I would describe him as a guy that scrambles to throw, not necessarily scrambles to run, but when he has to run with his feet he can. He's extended plays, and when you extend plays it's hard to cover for a long time. So we have to do a good job of not allowing him to extend plays, but also make sure that we plaster guys in the back end when he does."
5. And finally, Lanning would like to see the Ducks limit penalties better than they have the last couple weeks.
Oregon is being flagged 8.3 times per game on average, for 73.3 yards. It hasn't cost them a game yet, but the level of competition is going up in Pac-12 play, and mistakes can be more painful.
"It drives me nuts when we have post-snap penalties, plays outside the whistle," Lanning said. "There's gonna be aggressive penalties within the framework of the game at times, but we can't be having those penalties that cost us after the snap."
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