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

2. Defensive takeaways for Colorado football

Everything starts at the line of scrimmage. Teams aren’t going to find success if you can’t win up front. Colorado football found that out the hard way. The Buffaloes could not get any penetration in Oregon’s backfield this afternoon. Oregon consistently stayed in front of the chains, averaging seven yards per play.

The secondary without Travis Hunter struggled against Oregon’s wide receivers. The Ducks averaged 9.4 yards per reception and had plays of 36, 29, and 18 yards. The most telling stat was that Oregon had just nine third downs. The Ducks were rarely in challenging situations offensively. Oregon was routinely in second and five or less.

Defensive takeaways for Oregon

The Ducks dominated Colorado’s offensive line. The Buffaloes averaged 3.2 yards per play. Colorado routinely found themselves behind the chains. Oregon defensive linemen were routinely in the backfield. In addition to having seven sacks, the Ducks were in double-digits in tackles for loss. By the second quarter, Colorado didn’t try to run the football.

The loss of Travis Hunter was felt on offense as well. Without Hunter, Sanders had no safety valve. Oregon defensive backs pressed those short-timing routes and forced Shedeur Sanders to hold the football longer than he wanted.