Good Luck Ducks, Week 10: Buffalo Time

The Ducks look to hold their position as they hit the road for the second week against a struggling Colorado team. 

 

It's Ducks time again, and they're in Boulder this week to take on Colorado. The Buffaloes were once a storied football team and I'm sure it made sense at the time to add them to the conference when the Pac 10 was looking to expand. In the current times where schools are always looking for a better deal for their football cash cows, it starts to feel more like a cautionary tale. While Utah has recently stepped it up to become a conference power, Colorado has only won 43 games (including nonconference!) since joining the conference in 2011. I don't think you need to be a math major to know that isn't good.

Of course, on any given Saturday, a talented football team can meet their untimely demise, and that doesn't exclude these Ducks. Oregon suddenly finds themselves a bit thin at wide receiver, with Seven McGee entering the dreaded transfer portal and other injuries painting a murky picture. (To be fair, I'm mostly disappointed about McGee leaving because I really liked his name.) Fortunately, Bo Nix continued his... dare I say it... Heisman-esque season with another stellar performance last week. Even with some sudden wide receiver shortages, it seems like only the defense can cap this team's potential. Let's hope that they are able to work on some things against the one-win Buffaloes today and turn it into a positive.

Notes and other things: 

• We're in the time of the season where rankings start to feel important. Oregon at #8 seems about right. It seems very unlikely that they would get steamrolled right now if they played Georgia again, although a win over them seems a bit far-fetched. The other undefeated teams, on the other hand... well, I'd love to see them play each other!
• The Ducks will dodge another weather bullet this week it seems. If the game was in Eugene... well, let's just say that it's been stormy in the Willamette Valley. The worst would have probably been over by kickoff time, but it was still something to think about.
• I just acquired a Sega Dreamcast console to replace my original one and tried to play an Oregon vs. Colorado matchup in College Football 2K2 in honor of this game. It went so poorly that I hit the reset button shortly before halftime.
• I'm glad that this game will be over before game 6 of the World Series kicks off. It's been one of the most boring playoffs that I can recall, but the World Series is finally trying to make up for the short series abundance and occasionally lopsided games.

Game time is 12:30 PM PDT on ESPN in Boulder. Go Ducks!