Having survived an injury to the best running back in college football as well as an injury to the starting quarterback, the Ducks get a reprieve this week when they head to the road to take on a struggling Colorado Buffaloes team in the first Pac-12 meeting between the two schools. Oregon may or may not be without Darren Thomas and almost certainly will not have LaMichael James, but this isn't shaping up to be a game to be concerned about. Oregon's backup tailbacks were far too much to handle for a usually impressive Sun Devils squad, while Colorado is also banged up and searching for answers with only 1 win on the season.Oregon hasn't played Colorado since the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. Oregon failed to reach the national title game that season despite their #2 ranking in the polls. Nebraska, who was completely destroyed by the 2-loss Buffaloes late in the season, ended up as the #2 BCS team while the Ducks were relegated to a lower bowl where they beat Colorado in a cake walk. Some bitter feelings linger in the Ducks fanbase because of previous appearances against a Rick Neuheisel-led team. This is long in the past, however.
It's easy to worry about every game during a football season, and the prospects of having a redshirt freshman in his first start at the helm don't make things any easier. However, this really shouldn't be a close game and should even help to give the young players even more experience. Darron Thomas may play after all depending on who you listen to, but let's hope that there's no urgent need to go with any of the starters for too long.
Above footage from the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. Check out Maurice Morris's rollover play, one of the best I've ever seen in Ducks history!
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