Colorado’s game at Oregon was the Buffaloes’ first full game without Travis Hunter. That provided a unique measure of uncertainty, more than what CU faced when it played USC a week later. The Buffaloes had a better idea of how to work around the Hunter injury when they faced the Trojans. They learned more about themselves.
Also, the simple fact that Colorado no-showed at Oregon made it more likely that the Buffaloes would play comparatively better against USC one week later, which they did.
We at Trojans Wire think Oregon benefited from getting Colorado in Week 4, and that USC comparatively suffered from getting CU in Week 5. That’s our view.
Ducks Wire editor Zachary Neel offered this reasonable rebuttal:
“I don’t see how flip-flopping the schedule would have impacted the result, to be completely honest,” Neel told us. “Colorado hung with USC because the Trojans can’t defend, while Oregon dominated Colorado because the Ducks’ defense is playing like one of the better units in the nation. I don’t think the order of games would impact that.”
Ducks Wire writer Don Smalley told us the sequencing of games wasn’t relevant, but he did point to another factor as a key shaper of the ultimate outcomes of these two games:
“The order those games occurred wouldn’t have mattered. I think the venue might have changed things,” Smalley told us. “I think the results would have been the same, but the Buffaloes would have played better against the Ducks at home and might have been blitzed in the Coliseum. Colorado’s offensive line is still not up to par to compete with either team and the ultimate result would have been a Buffaloes loss.”
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