A player for the University of Colorado prepares for the game against UCLA before the start of the first quarter. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
On Saturday, Nov. 5 at Folsom Field, the Oregon Ducks trampled the Buffs by a final score of 49-10, handing the Buffs their eighth loss of the season on a cold and extremely windy afternoon. Despite some promising individual performances on Colorado’s team, overall, Oregon outclassed and outperformed Colorado on nearly all facets of the game.
Similar to previous games this season, the Buffs’ offense struggled to get momentum from the start. Sophomore quarterback JT Shrout, who started the game in place of injured Owen McCown, played decently throughout. He finished the game with an adequate 247 passing yards and two unfortunate interceptions — both to former Buff Christian Gonzalez.
“I thought JT did some good things,” said interim head coach Mike Sanford. “There’s some throws that he made that I thought were really good. He continues to see [the defense] better.”
However, at times, Shrout had trouble handling the ball. He muffed four snaps, two of which occurred on back to back plays. According to Sanford, the massive wind gusts that swept through Folsom all afternoon may have played a role in the fumbled snaps.
“I was watching the snaps come back, and they look right on the money,” Sanford said. “They were getting blown. Literally blown down, to the left and to the right.”
At least, Shrout worked well with freshman wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who had the best game of his college career so far. Tyson carried the Buffs’ passing attack with five receptions for 137 yards. In addition, he caught a perfect pass from Shrout to connect on an 81-yard touchdown in the second quarter. This play, the 14th longest one in Colorado’s history, will likely be the team’s best play of the 2022 season.
However, Tyson’s successful streak soon ended, as he was injured on a play in the fourth quarter. He received a dirty hit that led to a targeting call against the Ducks and had to be evaluated in the locker room. Though he eventually returned to the field, he was injured again only a few plays later. After a low hit, he went down grabbing his left leg and had to be helped off the field.
“We’ll find out more information as we go,” said Sanford in his post game press conference. “But certainly, it was a significant injury. We’ll obviously pray for the best, and we’ll communicate that when we meet again.”
Following Tyson’s injury, the Buffs’ did manage to get two major parts of their rushing attack, thanks to the return of running backs Alex Fontenot and Anthony Hankerson. Fontenot, who hasn’t played since week two against Air Force, rushed for 41 yards on seven attempts and managed to 31 yards through the air on three receptions. Hankerson, who had been playing less while recovering from an injury, rushed for a team high 54 yards on eleven attempts.
“[Hankerson] is going to be a big part of being a big playmaker for us,” Sanford said. “I loved the way he just scraped down the stretch for us in the fourth quarter.”
Meanwhile, Colorado’s defense struggled throughout the game against the Ducks’ fast-paced offense. The unit allowed 49 points to slip by, the highest number of the 2022 season, and had trouble stopping the Ducks, both on the ground and through the air. Oregon finished the game with 195 yards on the ground and 284 yards through the air. The Buffs’ defense found themselves unable to counter the Duck’s strategies, allowing the Ducks to score two touchdowns off of trick plays.
“They kinda played with our keys a little bit,” said Colorado linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo. “You feel like you’re right based on what you saw. But, on that specific play, you’re always going to be wrong.”
Next week, Colorado will travel to Los Angeles to take on the number 9 ranked University of Southern California Trojans. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 at 7:30 p.m. MST on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Ryland Scholes at ryland.scholes@colorado.edu.
