EUGENE, Ore. — Bo Nix tossed three touchdown passes and the 10th-ranked Ducks defense completely smothered the Colorado offense, as Oregon thrashed the 19th-ranked Buffaloes 42-6 on Saturday.
The Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) built up a 35-0 half after coach Dan Lanning sent them into the matchup of unbeatens with a fiery pregame speech that took direct aim at the star-studded, hype machine that has followed Coach Deion Sanders' team for the first three weeks of the 2023 season.
“The Cinderella story’s over, men. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference,” Lanning told his team in the locker room as ESPN's cameras rolled.
Troy Franklin had a huge game, catching eight passes for 126 yards and two scores for Oregon.
Sanders revamped Colorado — who had won just one game last year — ushering in a whole new look bringing aboard 67 new scholarship players and opening the season with wins over TCU, Nebraska and a double-overtime thriller against Colorado State last week.
This one had the all the makings of a big-game atmosphere, but Colorado (3-1, 0-1) was no match for the Ducks.
Nix completed his first 11 passes and 28 of 33 before he was pulled to start the fourth quarter. He also ran for an 11-yard TD. One fan held a sign that said: “This is Nix Country.”
Coach Sanders' son Shedeur Sanders went into Saturday averaging 417.0 passing yards per game, with 10 touchdowns against one interception. He finished the afternoon completing 23 of 33 passes for 159 yards and a late touchdown against the Ducks.
But the Buffalo quarterback was harassed all game by Oregon's defense, resulting in him being sacked seven times. For the season Colorado's offensive line has given up 23 sacks.
Oregon scored touchdowns on its first three possessions to open up a 14-0 lead, two of those scores came on passes from Nix.
The only real blemish in the game for Nix was when he threw his first interception of the season in the second quarter. It was also Oregon's first turnover of the season.
But the Ducks' defense sacked Shedeur Sanders on third down, pushing him back 16 yards, and Colorado again was forced to punt the ball away.
Franklin would get wide open on a 36-yard touchdown strike from Nix, and then Nix ran in for another TD to cap the first half onslaught.
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