Tag: Christian Gonzalez

Notable quotes from Dan Lanning as Ducks take care of business in Boulder blowout

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had plenty to say after the Ducks’ 49-10 win at Colorado.

This game wasn’t expected to be close, and the final product lived up to expectations.

Down a few of their more important players on both offense and defense, the Oregon Ducks traveled to Boulder, Colorado on Saturday and downed the Buffaloes, 49-10, in a convincing win that showed Oregon has much more to offer than we may have previously imagined.

With offensive schemes that dialed up touchdowns for a lineman, and linebacker, and a quarterback on the receiving end, it’s clear that the Ducks were having fun out there. They now stand with an 8-1 record and a good case to move up in the College Football Playoff rankings that come out on Tuesday.

Ahead, they will host the Washington Huskies for the start of a 3-game stretch that will decide whether or not the Ducks get a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game come December. To say this week is important is an understatement.

After Saturday’s win, head coach Dan Lanning met with media members to discuss the victory, and start looking ahead to Washington. Here are some of his most notable quotes from that press conference.

Breakout Oregon defender cracks top-10 in latest 2023 NFL mock draft

After 5 games, one of Oregon’s breakout defenders is being projected as a top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Oregon Ducks have had some positive momentum when it comes to first-round NFL draft picks over the past several years. From Justin Herbert, to Penei Sewell, to Kayvon Thibodeaux this last spring, Oregon is on a 3-year streak of having a player taken in the top 10. Going into the 2022 season, there was once again some buzz growing in Eugene that a top-10 pick was starting to make himself known on the defense; linebacker Noah Sewell, the younger brother of Penei.

That prediction hasn’t quite come to fruition, but Oregon still has a defender that is now being projected as a top-10 pick in 2023.

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez is making a name for himself early on.

According to Pro Football Focus writer Mike Renner, Gonzalez is one of the best players in the 2023 draft, and will be the first CB taken off of the board. So far this year, Gonzalez — who transferred to the Ducks this season from Colorado — has 15 tackles and 1 interception, giving up 15 catches on 25 targets for 143 total yards. Those stats are inflated a bit by games against the Georgia Bulldogs and Washington State Cougars, but in his three best games, Gonzalez has held his receiver to 6 catches on 14 targets for 34 yards.

It’s clear that Gonzalez is among the best cornerbacks in the Pac-12 and now it’s starting to be apparent that he’s in the conversation for the best in the nation. Where would that land him in the 2023 NFL draft? Take a look at Renner’s mock:

Ranking Oregon’s top 10 players in win vs. WSU according to PFF grades

You probably have an opinion on the 10 best Ducks in Oregon’s win over WSU, but the PFF grades may say something different.

To the average fan and media member, it’s a pretty easy process to watch a football game on a Saturday afternoon and determine who played well, and who didn’t. Each week after the Oregon Ducks play, we put out our articles on whose stock rose or fell the most and offer a report card for the various positions on the team. It’s not a hard exercise but takes some time and attention to detail.

When you get into specific grades for each individual player, though, it becomes a massive undertaking. Fortunately for all of us football fans, we can lean on Pro Football Focus to give an assessment of how each player performed in a game, breaking stats up between run plays and pass plays, and giving grades for each. They also look at targets, missed tackles, pressure opportunities, and much, much more.

We wanted to take these grades and see if we could glean any information from it all. How did the Ducks look against the Washington State Cougars on an individual basis?

Here are the top-10 players on the team in that game, according to PFF’s grades. 

Oregon Ducks’ defense well represented on The Athletic’s 2022 ‘Freak List’

To be on the ‘Freak List,’ you have to stand apart from even the best athletes, possessing truly special physical characteristics. The Ducks are well represented in 2022.

Often times on Saturday afternoons, we see athletes do things the viewer could never accomplish, let alone should ever try. That’s why these people are college athletes. They were good enough to continue their careers past high school and deserve to entertain us on the weekends, often making a lot of money for doing so.

However, even among these impressive athletes, a number stand apart. The Athletics’s Bruce Feldman likes to call these the freak athletes. For years, Feldman has been creating the ‘Freak List,’ comprised of the athletes who “generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the unique physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day.”

Last year, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux was on the list, unsurprisingly. This year, Feldman has a number of Ducks and a nod to a few who were left off of the list.

Here are the Oregon football players who made the 2022 Freak List:

Christian Gonzalez will return to Boulder… in a Ducks uniform

Christian Gonzalez lands in Oregon after leaving Colorado.

The transfer portal continues to hurt the Colorado Buffaloes. A large number of players have departed Boulder in just over a month, and who knows when it will end.

Head coach Karl Dorrell voiced his frustration with it recently, although the rule probably won’t be changing anytime soon.

One of the players to leave Boulder via the transfer portal is Christian Gonzalez, the former Buffs cornerback who played well in his two seasons at Colorado.

Well, Gonzalez will be returning to Folsom Field next season in November, with a catch.

Gonzalez will be sporting an Oregon Ducks uniform, yes, those Oregon Ducks.

Oof.

This one stings the most.

The talented corner will now head to another Pac-12 school after registering 53 tackles in 2021 and 20 in his first year in Boulder.

The hits just keep coming for the Buffs, and it hurts even worse when they transfer to a conference opponent, especially Oregon who doesn’t need any more talent.

This makes sense for Gonzalez, however. The Ducks are without Verone McKinley III, who left for the NFL, and saw DJ James enter the transfer portal, causing a gap in the secondary.

Also, former Buffs assistant Demetrice Martin went to Oregon, so Gonzalez can reunite with his former position coach.

The 2022 Buffs team will look vastly different than the team that just played at the end of November, and who knows which player will be next to enter the transfer portal.

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Former 4-star CB Christian Gonzalez transfers to Oregon Ducks from Colorado

Christian Gonzalez is transferring to Oregon, which is a huge pickup for the Ducks, especially after losing both Verone McKinley III and DJ James.

The Oregon Ducks picked up a big player from the transfer portal on Saturday afternoon, with cornerback Christian Gonzalez announcing that he will be committing to the Ducks after transferring from the Colorado Buffaloes.

Gonzalez was a former 4-star recruit who committed to Colorado in the class of 2020. He was also an honorable mention all-conference cornerback for Colorado last season and will be a major addition for the Ducks after safety Verone McKinley III declared for the 2022 NFL draft, and cornerback DJ James entered the transfer portal.

Gonzalez will be following Colorado’s former CB coach Demetrice Martin to Oregon. In two seasons with the Buffs, Gonzalez has 65 total tackles and 10 passes defended.

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Christian Gonzalez, one of the Buffs’ top defenders, enters the transfer portal

Christian Gonzalez has entered the transfer portal

When Demetrice Martin left for Oregon earlier this week, fear began to grow that some of Colorado’s cornerbacks would jump ship. It didn’t take long for that nightmare to come true as second-year freshman CB Christian Gonzalez almost immediately entered the transfer portal on Thursday.

While Gonzalez didn’t specifically cite Martin’s departure as his reason for leaving Colorado, the timing certainly suggests as much. Not to speak something into existence, but it would be a tough blow for the Buffs if Gonzalez followed Martin to Oregon.

In his two seasons at Colorado, we watched Gonzalez develop from a picked-on rookie DB to one of the best cornerbacks in the Pac-12. His five pass breakups led the Buffs last season and he was third on the team with 5.5 TFL’s, an impressive number for his position.

“After long talks and consideration with my family, we have decided it is best that I move on from the University of Colorado,” Gonzalez wrote in a tweet. “I will be placing my name in the NCAA transfer portal.”

We wish Gonzalez the best and he shouldn’t have much trouble finding a new home.

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These players will be game-changers in Colorado’s home finale against Washington

These players could be difference makers on Saturday

The 4-6 Washington Huskies will visit Folsom Field on Saturday to take on the 3-7 Colorado Buffaloes in their first meeting since 2019. With their bowl game aspirations still alive, we can expect a strong effort from the Huskies this weekend as they are coming off of back-to-back losses to Oregon and Arizona State.

Colorado, on the other hand, will be looking to rebound from a disastrous second half collapse against UCLA last weekend and finish its season on a more positive note with at least one more win in the bag. Brendon Lewis has finally shown his ability to throw the ball in the last few games, but Colorado’s offensive strength lies with its running backs, and they will look to capitalize against Washington’s weaker run defense.

Washington’s strength lies in its passing game, which the Buffs have struggled to contain on defense this year. Colorado’s secondary is going to have to step up this week.

With all of this in mind, here are four players to keep an eye on during Saturday’s showdown between the Huskies and Buffaloes.

Up First: Jarek Broussard

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Five takeaways from the CU Buffs’ loss at Arizona State

Five things we learned from Colorado’s Pac-12 opener

Another week, another disappointing result for the Colorado Buffaloes. This time it was a 35-13 loss to Arizona State to open up Pac-12 play. Whether you agree it was a better offensive performance than what we’ve seen in previous weeks, 13 points is more than 0 points. Brendon Lewis still didn’t do much in terms of building a passing attack, but we did see a revival of the rushing game. With two 1,000 yard career rushers in Alex Fontenot and Jarek Broussard, that is likely where the bulk of CU’s offense will continue to come from.

On the defensive side of things, we saw a hard-nosed performance that was shadowed by a lack of discipline in several areas. A couple of roughing the passer penalties hurt the Buffs while Sun Devils QB Jayden Daniels’ arm and legs had several big gains. Below are five things that I took away from Colorado’s third consecutive loss.

Five Buffs that impressed in Week 2 against Texas A&M

Buffaloes Wire applauds five Colorado players who stood out positively in the Buffs’ narrow loss to Texas A&M.

It took a team effort on Saturday to hang with the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies. Even though a win wasn’t quite achieved, the Buffaloes’ effort was nearly impeccable all afternoon. Below are five players who I believe played a key role in turning an expected blowout into a white knuckler.

Karl Dorrell’s near upset was aided by a stellar defensive performance from the D-line to the defensive backs. We saw breakout performances for some and a return to greatness for others. Two of the players listed below even began their college careers at the junior college ranks before transferring to CU. Regardless of their background, these Buffaloes united for one of the most memorable CU games in recent memory.