**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature an essay from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Andrew Haubner, an assistant sports editor at the the CU Independent.**
If we’re talking pure zoology, a Buffalo tramples a Duck 10 times out of 10. In the world of football, the Ducks enter Saturday as heavy favorites, boasting one of the best offenses in the country.
So you’re saying there’s a chance.
In fact, there is a chance, albeit slight, as the Buffaloes are no longer the proverbial doormat that they were 12 months ago. Colorado returned multiple weapons on offense, as well as a defense that has saved them from annihilation countless times this year.
Offensively, CU boasts one of the Pac-12’s best passing games, led by junior wide receiver Nelson Spruce and his nation-leading 99 receptions. Even when the Buffaloes struggle, he has been exemplary, recording no fewer than six catches in a game. Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is slated to return this week, but Spruce is one of the best route-runners in the country. Also, while he is the centerpiece of this Colorado offense, he isn’t the only effective player. Freshman receiver Shay Fields is a constant deep threat, complementing a running game that gets more potent each week.
This spells trouble for the Ducks, who give up an average of 25 points per game, and surrendered as much as 41 points against the University of California in week 8. Cal’s high-flying, aerial assault offense is eerily similar to Colorado’s. The Buffs pass the ball, on average, 48 times per game.
Defensively, this game could very easily turn into a shootout, and that’s based off of watching Marcus Mariota for two years. The Buffs are decimated in the defensive backfield after losing safeties Tedric Thompson, Marques Mosley and Terrell Smith over the course of 10 weeks. It also doesn’t help that sophomore Addison Gillam still isn’t the player he was last year. Illness has brought him down to a lowly 207 pounds, and senior Brady Daigh has taken on a lot of the second-level workload.
That being said, this defense has adopted something of a ‘never say die’ mentality, which constantly keeps the Buffaloes in games that they otherwise would have no business being in.
As an editor for the CU Independent, I am here to prop the Buffaloes up as much as I can, but I can’t ignore the flaws in our squad. To me, if you’re saying there’s a chance, then there certainly is one.