Not many expect Saturday’s matchup between the 1-7 Colorado Buffaloes and No. 8 Oregon to be particularly close. It’s pretty clear that the 6-1 Ducks are the superior team, but perhaps not in every area.
We went behind enemy lines this week with Ducks Wire writer Don Smalley and he mentioned that Oregon’s kick coverage hasn’t been stellar this season. With Nikko Reed averaging 27.8 yards per kick return and Jordyn Tyson averaging 32.8 yards on his four punt returns, including an 88-yard touchdown last week, the Buffs could excel in this area against Oregon.
However, Oregon placekicker Andrew Boyle has 34 touchbacks on 46 kickoffs this season, so he’s capable of negating Reed’s abilities.
Smalley also said that Oregon hasn’t been putting much pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but we’ll see if Colorado’s O-line can continue that trend.
Oregon hasn’t been able to get much pressure on the quarterback. They average a little under two sacks a game. I thought it would be a lot better than that. It hasn’t hurt them, yet. The kick coverage has been suspect, but given the high altitude in Boulder, I expect the Duck kickers to boot the ball out of the end zone.
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