Early Primer: Colorado
On Sept. 23, just a day over a month from now, Oregon will host its first conference opponent of the season. Coach Prime will head into Autzen stadium for the first time as Colorado’s head coach.
Hopefully Oregon is 3-0 headed into this contest with a chance to remain perfect on the season.
Dan Lanning chose a little violence already this Fall singling out Colorado regarding its exit to the Big-12. In fairness at the time, Oregon had not made its move to the B1G. I’m sure Colorado is keeping tabs on those comments as they come rolling into Eugene. However I’m not sure even that little bit of “locker room material” will be enough to level the talent field.
What To Expect
I would wager both teams will come fired up for this one. First conference game for each, chance to make a statement of some kind for both teams. I could see a fiery first quarter. But that’s really all the excitement I’m going to sell you on.
By any metric you use, Oregon is talented in a superior way to Colorado. It’s not even close. I know Sanders brought in a couple of high profile transfers but the mass exodus from Boulder is concerning. Not to mention they weren’t all that good to begin with.
Right now, we have no idea how the ‘Deion experiment’ will play out. He’s unproven at this level and he turned over more than half the roster in a single offseason. It really is an experiment. And if it works you could see it duplicated around the country.
But if it fails, which I think it will, it’s going to be a long season for Prime and the Buffs.
Like I said, it could be an interesting first quarter. But the minute Oregon figures out Colorado can’t stop the run game, it’s over.
Top 10
- 1
Governor slams LSU
Live tiger defended, LSU Tigers ripped
- 2
Rara Thomas indicted
Dismissed Georgia WR set to be arraigned
- 3
Connor Stalions
New investigation underway
- 4
SEC fines Ole Miss, LSU
Fines levied for sportsmanship, field rushing
- 5Hot
Kirby calls out Pope
Smart responds to viral video of Jake Pope postgame at Ole Miss
Conclusion
If we’re assuming Oregon is 3-0 at this point, this is a great way to move to 4-0 and get your first conference win. I could see a scenario where Lanning decides to make a statement here. While I think this is a great chance for Oregon to rest some starters, I wonder how much of that will be done.
This is Oregon’s big chance to have both sides of the ball humming before they head to Stanford. And the schedule gets much tougher from there.
Additionally at some point, if you really are going to push Bo for Heisman, he needs stats. And he can’t get them if he’s on the sideline. I’m not advocating Lanning run up the score. But like I said, if you are committed to a Heisman run for Bo, he has to play. And you likely have had a good chance to rest him for half of Portland State and Hawaii already.
Player of the Game: Bo Nix
I know I mentioned above Oregon will lean on the run game because they’ll be able to. But what that really does is open up the passing lanes for Bo and the receivers. I think we’ll see more big plays in this game than we’ve seen in a while and a massive day for Bo Nix knowing there will be plenty of eyes on this one simply because of the storylines.
