We’ve finally made it to conference play, and the Oregon Ducks’ first conference opponent is the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado has shaken up the college football world this season due to the drastic turnaround of their program, facilitated by new head coach, Deion Sanders.
Of all the teams they’ve played this season, Oregon definitely has the most history with Colorado. Since 1949, the Ducks and the Buffs have faced off 24 times, with 15 games going to the Ducks, and 9 going to the Buffaloes.
Oregon is on a three-game win streak with Colorado’s last win in the series coming in 2016 due to an Ahkello Witherspoon interception in the endzone in the game’s waning moments.
As I said, the first meeting between these two teams was in 1949. The Ducks won that game 42-14. Despite their lopsided victory, Oregon didn’t go on to have a successful season. That year, the Ducks finished 4-6 while CU finished 3-7.
While the 2016 matchup was significant in many ways, arguably the most famous duel between these two teams came in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl, with Joey Harrington leading the way for the No. 2 Ducks vs. the No. 3 Buffs. It was a banner day for Oregon, going on to win 38-16 and prove that — despite a ton of controversy and confusion — they should have been in the BCS National Championship game against the Miami Hurricanes rather than Heisman winner Tim Couch and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
That 2002 game gave us 4 TD passes from Harrington, a Fiesta Bowl record 3 interceptions for Oregon’s Steve Smith, and the dazzling 49-yard TD run from Maurice Morris that will live in Ducks’ lore for decades to come.
@i5corridor Maurice Morris’ 49-yard touchdown run in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. #goducks ♬ original sound – The I-5 Corridor
Now in 2023. one of these teams has playoff aspirations while the other is poised to have its best season of the 21st century.
Colorado made headlines this week after it was revealed that last week’s double-overtime thriller against Colorado State drew 9.3 million viewers, which was an all-time record for ESPN in the late-primetime time slot. It has been projected that the matchup of Oregon and CU on Saturday could draw an even larger audience.
Since this is likely the last meeting between these two teams for the foreseeable future, it will hopefully be a fun one to watch, because it will undoubtedly be atop a big stage.
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