Colorado football: 3 takeaways from blowout loss at No. 10 Oregon

It stands to reason that we knew this would happen at some point. Reflecting on No. 19 Colorado football and its 3-0 start, the Buffaloes were deeply flawed. Shedeur Sanders had been sacked 18 times in 14 quarters. Stand-out two-way player Travis Hunter was out because of a hit he took against interstate rival Colorado State.

Oregon isn’t the tenth-ranked team in the country because their jerseys are cool — and their jerseys are cool — they have a Heisman Trophy contender and perhaps one of the best offense-defensive line combinations in college football. In addition to being elite in the trenches, the Ducks have a deep running back room.

Everything Oregon does well exposes Colorado, especially along the line of scrimmage. To make matters worse, head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks felt disrespected because all the attention was on the Buffaloes. They felt like no one wanted to talk about the #10 ranked team in the country.

Unsurprisingly, Oregon was prepared and wanted to dominate — no pun intended. That was precisely what Oregon did. The Ducks were dominant on the offensive and defensive line. Bo Nix carved the Colorado secondary like Swiss cheese, and the stable of running backs had holes you could drive a truck through.

Here are offensive and defensive takeaways and what comes next for both teams.