No. 19 Colorado completely dominated in 42-6 loss to No. 10 Oregon

Deion Sanders and No. 19 Colorado were brought back to reality by No. 10 Oregon. And it wasn’t pretty.

Sanders and the Buffaloes have been the biggest story in sports amid their sizzling 3-0 start, but they were blown off the field 42-6 by the Ducks on Saturday in Eugene.

Oregon was completely dominant. The Ducks scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions as they built a 35-0 halftime lead. Oregon outgained Colorado 378 yards to 21 in the first half as the Buffs had no answers for Bo Nix and the Oregon offense, nor could they keep quarterback Shedeur Sanders upright in the face of the swarming Oregon defense.

Included in that first-half onslaught from the Ducks was a fake punt from inside their own 20. Already up 13-0, Oregon perfectly executed the fake on fourth-and-4 from its 17. The ball was snapped to the upback, 305-pound defensive lineman Casey Rogers. Colorado was completely caught off guard and Rogers galloped for an 18-yard gain and a first down.

It was a play that summed up the ballgame pretty well. During the week, Oregon coach Dan Lanning didn’t give the sound bite that Colorado State’s Jay Norvell did about Sanders to provide an added layer of motivation for the Colorado side.

Lanning kept his feelings internal until allowing ESPN’s cameras in the locker room for his pregame speech. He did not hold back.

“The Cinderella story is over, men. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins,” Lanning said to his team. “There’s a difference. This game ain’t going to be played in Hollywood. It’s going to be played on the grass.”

Indeed it was, and Lanning kept his foot on the gas even with the game well in hand.

Oregon punched in a touchdown on fourth-and-goal on its first drive of the second half to make it 42-0. Later in the third, Lanning kept his offense on the field on fourth-and-goal from the 5. Though that try resulted in a turnover on downs, it reflected Lanning's and Oregon’s approach to this game — complete domination.

And on defense, the Ducks kept sending the house and daring Colorado’s overmatched offensive line to make the blocks. The Buffs couldn’t do it.

Shedeur Sanders entered Saturday’s game with 1,251 yards and 10 touchdown passes while completing 78.7% of his attempts. That was an average of 417 passing yards per game. On this day, Oregon limited Sanders to just 158 yards on 23-of-33 throws and was sacked seven times. With constant pressure in his face — and with star Travis Hunter out injured — Sanders just didn’t have a chance.

In all, Colorado could muster only 199 yards of offense and many of those came in garbage time. The Buffs also committed 12 penalties for 103 yards in the loss.

And as dominant as the Oregon defense was, the Oregon offense put on a clinic in efficiency. Bo Nix went 28-of-33 for 276 yards and three touchdowns before the backups were put in early in the fourth quarter. The Ducks also rushed for 240 yards in the win.

By the time the dust settled, Oregon averaged 7.2 yards per play. For Colorado, it was only 3.4 per play.

Colorado, which went 1-11 in 2022, had shown cracks in the foundation amid the 3-0 start. The defense was gashed by TCU but forced a few timely turnovers in a 45-42 win. The offensive line struggled to protect Sanders in the Nebraska win. And then the Buffs needed a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime versrus Colorado State before winning in double-overtime.

Now 3-1, the Buffs will need to quickly regroup with Caleb Williams and USC visiting Boulder next weekend.

Oregon is up to 4-0 on the year and will almost certainly improve to 5-0 with a trip to Stanford next weekend. A bye week follows before an Oct. 14 showdown with No. 8 Washington in what could be one of the biggest games of the season.