Oregon football looks to stay afloat in playoff race vs. Colorado

Colorado travels to Autzen Stadium to take on Oregon football in Friday night #Pac12AfterDark action. Here’s a preview, prediction and how to watch.

The theme of this game is “there’s only one way to change the narrative about us.”

Oregon wants to be viewed as a nationally relevant and — dare I say — elite program. If we are truly objective, there are only three elite programs in the country: Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State (choose your own order).

Oregon wants into that next tier — that Oklahoma and Georgia tier. Changing the narrative means a change in both attitude and philosophy. This is no slight to California and the job Justin Wilcox has done in Berkeley, but you have the superior athletes and supposedly one of the top — if not the top — quarterback prospects in the country.

The Ducks — marred with the Pac-12 stink– are in a place where style points count.

In that Cal game, you’re playing the backup quarterback, and you have Justin Herbert and you still score 17 points. That was one of the most conservative game-plans in a game they should have scored at least 40 points.

Go back and re-watch that game. Cal’s defense was over-matched, and worn down by the end of the third quarter; that’s when you take your shots downfield. That’s not what the Ducks did. The narrative doesn’t change if you stay conservative. They aren’t Alabama so the Ducks can’t put it on cruise control. The country needs to see Herbert unleashed.

Enter, the Colorado Buffaloes. Mel Tucker has them playing pretty well. They’re one of the more pleasant surprises in the country at 3-2. Not many people had them with three wins. It hasn’t been pretty, but Tucker has them believing in the process.

Looking at how hard and physically they play, year one is going as planned. However, outside of Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado doesn’t have much that should scare the Ducks offensively. The advantage for Oregon is Colorado simply doesn’t have a Pac-12 caliber offensive line; the Buffs don’t have a Pac-12 level defensive line either, for that matter.

However, Tucker will have his young men ready to play, and they’ll leave it all on the field Friday night in Eugene.

Here’s how to watch:

Date: Friday, Oct. 11
Time:  10 p.m. ET
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Venue: Autzen Stadium
TV: FOX Sports 1
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go

Keys to Victory

Colorado is out-manned in this game. The Buffaloes’ only hope against a defense that is allowing under 10 points per game is to spread the Ducks out and get the ball out of starting quarterback Steven Montez’s hands quickly. The Oregon defense is too fast and too skilled upfront to give Montez time to go downfield. The Buffs have to hope their receivers can shake loose and get some yards after the catch.

Oregon is a matchup nightmare for Colorado everywhere on the field. It’s up to how they want to approach this game offensively. They need style points, however, and should blow the doors off of the Buffaloes.

Betting Odds

Courtesy of Bovada

Odds: Oregon -21
Over/Under: 59

Prediction

This is no slight on Colorado. Tucker has the Buffaloes trending in the right direction, but they aren’t ready for primetime. Oregon should win this game, and Colorado shouldn’t cover. We’ll see how conservative Mario Cristobal and the Ducks’ offensive staff is in this game.

Final Score: Oregon 49, Colorado 21