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Saturday, September 23, 2023

"Youtube videos don't win football games:" Talk is over. Time to tee it up for Colorado at Oregon


Nationally they bill this game as a confrontation between the two quarterbacks. The one that wins gets a huge boost to his Heisman chances while establishing his team as one of the favorites in the conference title chase.

The graphic represents a ridiculously small sample of their experience and value as leaders of their respective offenses. Bo Nix has 50 college starts. Last season he accounted for 43 touchdowns while setting an Oregon record with 71.9% completions. 

He's a confident senior leader who has won games at LSU, won an Iron Bowl over Alabama, beaten and met Cam Rising in conference play, outdueled Drake Maye on one leg. The notion that he'd be rattled or tight in this contest is nonsense.

Colorado gets a boost today with the activation of a previously injured player. Running back Alton McCaskill, a 6-1, 200-pound transfer from the University of Houston is able to go after missing all of 2022 and the first three games this year for the Buffs. 

In 2021 he powered his way to  961 yards, 5.1 a carry with 16 rushing touchdowns. Fully recovered from an ACL injury, he could give a boost to Coach Prime's inside running game, extra punch at the goal line, something that's shown up as a weakness on film.

The Buffaloes rely heavily on Sanders and the short pass. In his pregame film review Hythloday of Addicted to Quack reported that shoddy play by the Buffs' offensive line causes a sack, scramble, or throwaway on over 33% of dropbacks. "Only 12% of pass attempts from the pocket travel 20+ air yards, while over 62% of such attempts go 5 yards or fewer past the line of scrimmage or are screens," he wrote.

It promises to be an electric atmosphere in Autzen Stadium.

In addition, it's a huge weekend for Oregon recruiting. Ohio State commit Jeremiah McClellan is scheduled to visit, a 5-star wide receiver, as well as 2026 defensive end Tony Cumberland and five-star 2026 safety Brandon Lockhart.

Among the outstanding committed prospects expected to attend are linebackers Brayden Platt, Kamar Mothudi, Dylan Williams and Kingston Lopa, cornerback Dakoda Fields, offensive linemen Fox Crader and Devin Brooks, kicker Gage Hurych, quarterback Luke Moga.

Max Torres of Ducks Digest has the complete list. 

Meanwhile, the national media is hyping Colorado pretty hard.

 

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