The Ducks did enough to prove that they are a dominant team on Saturday, blowing out the Colorado Buffaloes by a score of 52-29. If you watched the contest, you know that it was never really that close, either.
The Ducks entered the 4th quarter leading 45-14, and a couple of late scores from Colorado make it look like a game that was played between equals. It wasn’t.
Oregon was the far better team on Saturday, and they proved it. Finally. After hanging around with lesser teams all season, the Ducks got up early and never let this outcome be in doubt. It gave them a 7-1 record on the season and was enough to get a boost in the latest round of power rankings.
It was exactly the kind of game the Ducks needed. Sure, their opponent was a listless 2-5 Colorado squad with little to play for, but after winning tight contests against Cal and UCLA on back-to-back weeks, Oregon needed to make some kind of statement. It did just that by blowing out the Buffs 52-29 as if the entire playoff committee itself was on hand in Eugene. The game was not as close as the final score indicated. Colorado was down 45-14 by the end of the third quarter and scored 15 fourth-quarter points on a Ducks’ defense made up of mostly third-stringers. In what was its best offensive performance of the season, Oregon amassed 568 total yards while quarterback Anthony Brown had one of his best games of the year with three touchdown passes and 345 total yards.
As the College Football Playoff rankings start to officially get released this coming week, we will see what the committee thought of Oregon’s win. No matter where they end up, though, it’s clear that they are moving in the right direction.
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