As if another blowout loss on the home turf wasn’t bad enough, the Colorado Buffaloes had to also watch their brightest young star helped off that turf Saturday afternoon.
CU wasn’t expected to give No. 8 Oregon much of a challenge and didn’t, losing 49-10, but the worst part of the day for the Buffs was a fourth-quarter injury to Jordyn Tyson.
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Football: Colorado Buffs embracing opportunity vs. No. 8 Oregon
A dynamic true freshman receiver, Tyson was injured when he tried to catch a pass with 10 minutes, 7 seconds to play. He was hit low on the play and didn’t put any weight on his left leg as he was helped off the field.
“We’ll find out more information as we get that information,” interim head coach Mike Sanford said when asked if Tyson’s injury would end his season. “I don’t think that we’ve had our imaging yet on it, but certainly it was a significant injury and we’ll obviously hope and pray for the best.”
Up to that point, Tyson had been the only bright spot for the Buffs (1-8, 1-5 Pac-12), who were 31.5-point underdogs coming in. Tyson caught five passes for 137 yards – the most by a Buff in more than three years – and an 81-yard touchdown.
“It’s tough seeing a brother go down and just be able to watch that, that’s kind of crazy,” running back Anthony Hankerson said. “The whole locker room is praying for him.”
Losing Tyson added to what was another dismal day for the Buffs, who were routed for the seventh time this season.
Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterback Bo Nix had a hand in five touchdowns for the Ducks (8-1, 6-0). He completed 20-of-24 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for two scores and caught a touchdown pass.
As expected, Oregon didn’t have much trouble slicing through the Buffs’ defense. What was surprising was how the Ducks scored early in the game.
On Oregon’s first possession, Nix threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. On the next possession, Nix caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from running back Bucky Irving.
To complete their third possession, the Ducks handed the ball to star linebacker Noah Sewell, who dove into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
“Historically, that’s been a tough offense,” CU linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo said. “They hit us with a bunch of stuff we just haven’t seen before. In game, I feel like we adjusted well to the things that were on tape, but they had some new wrinkles for us and they executed them very well.”
Oregon’s fourth score was more traditional, as Nix found tight end Moliki Matavao for a 16-yard score that made it 28-7 with 53 seconds to go in the first half.
CU mixed in the 81-yard touchdown from JT Shrout and then got a 44-yard field goal from Cole Becker early in the third quarter to pull within 28-10.
It was then former Buffs star Christian Gonzalez who put the game away for Oregon. Shrout threw for a career-high 247 yards, but was picked off twice by Gonzalez in the third quarter. Gonzalez, who transferred to Oregon last winter, didn’t have any interceptions in his two years a Buff, but his two Saturday set up Oregon touchdowns that put the game further out of reach.
“I think where the game got away from us was really the two interceptions and that’s on all of us,” Sanford said. “That’s on me. It starts out with the head coach. We’ve got to make sure that we put our guys in the best position.”
Still, Nix, Gonzalez and the rest of the Ducks didn’t have any trouble sending the Buffs to their 17th straight loss against top-10 opponents. The loss was predictable, as the Buffs were heavy underdogs. Ultimately, it was the loss of Tyson that hurt the most.
Tyson became the first Buff in three years to post back-to-back 100-yard receiving games. He has emerged as a dynamic playmaker in recent weeks, catching 13 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games, to go along with last week’s 88-yard punt return for touchdown.
On Monday, Tyson was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week and special teams player of the week.
Tyson, who has the four longest plays of the season for CU, left the game briefly late in the third quarter after he was hit by Ducks’ safety Jamal Hill – who was ejected for targeting on the play. CU went through standard protocol to check him out and Tyson was cleared to return. Sanford said Tyson wanted to get back into the game and there was debate about getting him back on the field.
The hit Tyson took in the fourth quarter, however, puts the remainder of his freshman season in doubt as the Buffs look ahead to the final three games.
“He’s put together as impressive of a true freshman campaign that I’ve personally been a part of at the receiver position,” Sanford said. “I’m proud of his continued growth. So our thoughts are going to continue to be with him.”
Oregon 49, Colorado 10
Play of the game: Jordyn Tyson’s 81-yard touchdown reception from JT Shrout provided one of the few highlights for CU. The talented freshman got free behind the Oregon defense and out-ran the Ducks to the end zone for his third touchdown in the last two games.
Turning point: Oregon was already ahead 28-10, but CU was showing some signs of life in the third quarter before Shrout was picked off by former Buff Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez returned the interception to the 2-yard line to set up an Oregon touchdown. Another Gonzalez pick later in the quarter set up another touchdown.
Top 3 Buffs of the game
1. WR Jordyn Tyson: He was sensational before leaving with an injury, catching five passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.
2. RB Alex Fontenot: Returned from injury to rush for 41 yards and added three catches for 31 yards.
3. S Trevor Woods: Led the Buffs with 10 tackles and also forced a fumble.
No. 8 Oregon 49, Colorado 10
Oregon 14 14 14 7—49Colorado 0 7 3 0—10
First QuarterORE—Conerly 4 pass from Nix (C.Lewis kick), 12:14.ORE—Nix 18 pass from Irving (C.Lewis kick), 2:25.Second QuarterORE—Sewell 1 run (C.Lewis kick), 12:43.COLO—Tyson 81 pass from Shrout (Becker kick), 12:14.ORE—Matavao 16 pass from Nix (C.Lewis kick), :53.Third QuarterCOLO—FG Becker 44, 11:51.ORE—Nix 1 run (C.Lewis kick), 8:17.ORE—Whittington 9 run (C.Lewis kick), 3:25.Fourth QuarterORE—Nix 1 run (C.Lewis kick), 12:53.A—42,089.
ORE COLOFirst downs 21 20Total Net Yards 479 367Rushes-yards 39-195 36-120Passing 284 247Punt Returns 0-0 0-0Kickoff Returns 0-0 2-37Interceptions Ret. 2-77 0-0Comp-Att-Int 22-27-0 17-34-2Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 0-0Punts 2-32.5 1-41.0Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-1Penalties-Yards 4-40 6-47Time of Possession 28:36 31:24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING—Oregon, Irving 11-120, Whittington 8-37, Nix 9-16, Dollars 6-15, Haasenritter 2-9, Sewell 1-1, Thompson 2-(minus 3). Colorado, Hankerson 11-54, Fontenot 7-41, D.Smith 5-27, Stacks 6-15, Shrout 3-3, Carter 1-(minus 4), (Team) 3-(minus 16).PASSING—Oregon, Nix 20-24-0-274, Irving 1-1-0-18, Thompson 1-2-0-(minus 8). Colorado, Shrout 17-34-2-247.RECEIVING—Oregon, Whittington 5-26, Hutson 4-80, Ferguson 3-40, Matavao 2-26, Thornton 2-17, Franklin 1-41, Herbert 1-23, Nix 1-18, Dollars 1-9, Conerly 1-4, Irving 1-0. Colorado, Tyson 5-137, Russell 4-27, Fontenot 3-31, Sneed 2-22, Lemonious-Craig 2-15, Hankerson 1-15.MISSED FIELD GOALS—Colorado, Becker 40.
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