By John Evans

EUGENE, OR - This weekend, the #10 Oregon Ducks will host Deion Sanders and the #19 Colorado Buffaloes at Autzen Stadium to kick off the start of the Pac-12 season for both teams.

They head into Saturday’s matchup with undefeated records, with the Ducks sporting wins over Portland State, Texas Tech, and Hawaii, and the Buffaloes defeating TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State. Oregon’s best win so far was a thrilling 38-30 comeback in Lubbock to take down the Red Raiders, while Colorado’s best win was a road upset over last year’s CFP runner-up, the #17 TCU Horned Frogs, that put Boulder back on the college football map. You can catch the game at 12:30 on ABC, and on KWVA, 88.1 FM, where Ryan Milano and Knight Jarecki will be on the call.

Oregon

The Ducks started the year off ranked as the #15 team in the country, but have risen up to the #10 spot following their wins in the first three games of the season. They opened the season by absolutely demolishing Portland State 81-7, before narrowly edging out Texas Tech on the road, and then last week, defeating Hawaii 55-10 at home. Oregon’s offense has been one of the most high-powered groups in the nation so far this year, with their 58 points per game only trailing USC for the best mark in the nation.

Leading the offense again this year is senior quarterback, Bo Nix, who has been one of the nation’s most efficient passers through his first three games. This season, the former Auburn transfer has completed 76.8% of his passes, a mark that ranks fifth among Power Five QBs with at least 40 dropbacks this season. Because Oregon’s schedule has been so easy so far, ranking 64th out of 69 Power Five teams in strength of schedule per Pro Football Focus, Nix hasn’t really been asked to do much so far this year. While he has been extremely efficient and done a great job protecting the ball, being one of only three Power Five starters not credited with any turnover-worthy plays according to PFF, he has done so while not pushing the ball downfield, with both his big-time throw rate (a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window), and average depth of target are down from last season.

The standout group for the Ducks this season has been the offensive line. For a team only returning one starter from last year, they’ve stepped up to become one of the best units in college football. This season, PFF has graded them as the best pass-blocking group in the country, which has given Nix plenty of time to distribute the ball to his playmakers like Troy Franklin and Bucky Irving. One player who has stepped up in a major way has been center, Jackson Powers-Johnson. Following the departure of center Alex Forsythe, who was taken in the 7th round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, Powers-Johnson had big shoes to fill at the center position. After being a good rotation option at guard during his first two seasons, Powers-Johnson had a new challenge ahead of him, switching positions to take over for Forsythe. He has handled the position switch excellently this season, instantly becoming one of the best centers in the nation. This year, Powers-Johnson leads all Power Five centers in overall PFF grade and is the only center to receive both a pass and run blocking grade over 80.

Colorado

Coming off of a 1-11 season last year, new head coach, Deion Sanders, is looking to shake things up for a program that has had one winning season since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. The Hall of Fame cornerback turned Jackson State into an HBCU powerhouse, with a 27-6 record during his three-year tenure, taking home the SWAC Championship and Coach of the Year Award in 2021 and 2022. In order to turn his team around, Coach Prime brought in the most transfers of any team in the country, including his sons, Shilo and Shedeur, and the former top recruit in the 2022 class, Travis Hunter, all following Deion from Jackson State. Colorado is coming into this weekend's matchup off of a thrilling double-overtime win in the Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado State.

The star of the show for the Buffaloes has been the younger of Sanders’ two sons, Shedeur. After throwing for 6,975 yards and 70 touchdowns with only 14 interceptions during his two years at Jackson State, he immediately proved he belonged as a Power Five QB during his Colorado debut against TCU. In the game, Sanders threw for a school-record 510 yards with four touchdowns as he led the Buffaloes to the upset win. He has helped turn this Colorado offense into one of the most explosive groups in the country, as his 417 passing yards per game are second only to Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. Against Colorado State, Sanders led the Buffaloes on a 98-yard touchdown drive and completed the 2-point conversion to tie the game with just over 30 seconds left before they went on to win in double-overtime. Despite being the most pressured quarterback in the nation, he’s been incredible in terms of both volume and efficiency, as in addition to his yardage totals, he also has the third-best completion percentage among Power Five QBs with at least 40 dropbacks.

The biggest story of this weekend won’t be who’s on the field but rather who isn’t on it. Colorado will be missing their star two-way player, Travis Hunter, who will be out this week after suffering a lacerated liver from an illegal late hit during last week’s game against Colorado State. Hunter, the top-rated recruit in the 2022 high school class, flipped his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State to be able to play under Sanders. With his commitment to Jackson State, he became the first five-star prospect to prospect to commit to play for an HBCU or FCS team. When Coach Prime left for Boulder, Hunter followed, and in his debut became the first player to record over 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game since 2002 while starting at both wide receiver and cornerback for the Buffaloes.

Final Overview

Despite the excitement that surrounds Coach Prime and his Buffaloes, I think that the Ducks well outmatch them and should win this game pretty handily. While Colorado’s offense has been explosive this year behind the leadership of Sanders, it has been entirely through the air, as their 61 rushing yards per game are the second least of any Power Five team. While their skill group is extremely talented, their units in the trenches are some of the weakest of any Power Five team. Their offensive line has allowed Sanders to be the most pressured quarterback in the nation and is ranked 67th out of 69 teams in PFF’s run-blocking grade. Additionally, their defense has surrendered the seventh most points of any Power Five team and they rank 64th in PFF’s run-defense grade. The Ducks should be able to consistently run the ball for first downs, controlling the clock and keeping Sanders and the offense off the field, and I expect a big day for Bucky Irving as Oregon rolls to a victory in their first Pac-12 game of the season.