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After embarrassing the Bears in the pouring rain, Oregon looked poised to go up against the Buffaloes in what promised to be another pillow fight in Colorado. While Oregon came out the victor at 57-16 it showed a couple potential lapses on defense as CU jumped out to an early lead with a deep pass to J.J. Goodson to put the Buffs up 10-8. That was when the wheels came off for Colorado.
Oregon unleashed an offensive barrage that put the Buffs to bed and sent the fans home early. Colorado came out fast and loose, playing like they had nothing to lose. They opened the game with an onside kick, trick plays and deep passes showed that the Buffs were throwing everything they had at the Ducks. In Oregon's first conference road game, they started a game with a quick three and out,
The Moment
When it mattered though, Oregon just had too many horses for Colorado. To this point in the game, Marcus Mariota had already tossed 4 touch downs and ran for another two. With the Ducks threatening again, Mariota found Josh Huff just outside the 15 yard line and Josh Huff exploded up field and drug a Colorado defender into the end zone.
Once again, this is one of those plays that if you stopped watching the game early because it was a 40 point blow out, you missed it. Frankly, Huff didn't have to make this play. The easy thing to do would be to go down inside the five and set the offense up for what would likely be a walk in touch down for the offense.
Why It Mattered
Exceptional teams have exceptional players who make exceptional plays. What is so special about this play is...this game was over when this happened. For a player like Huff to show the grit and determination to fight his way to the end zone in a 40 point game showed Oregon's focus and desire to score no matter what the cost.
This play mattered because Oregon had several moments which went by the wayside. It's important to remember that while Oregon scored 57 points in this game, it could have been more. With Jeff Lockie taking a knee inside the two and the aforementioned 3 and out, the Ducks certainly left points on the field. Huff showed that he had no desire to leave any opportunity undone and his desire to put points on the board was unrivaled.