Shedeur Sanders has some magic about him, and in truth the Buffs might have shown more in coming back from the brink last week in Boulder. True, Eugene is a notorious snake pit, and Bo Nix is licking his chops if CSU frosh Brayden Fowler-Nicolisi can torch CU for 367 YP last week. But the Ducks have had bully tendencies for Dan Lanning, rarely having an easy time vs. capable opposition (such as the Texas Tech game two weeks ago and miracle UO cover). If nothing else, Coach Prime still has his team believing enough that it can at least be expected to chase the Webfoots all afternoon at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon has won and covered its first three games with the third-ranked offense averaging 587 ypg. They won 55-10 at home against Hawaii to cover -38. The week before they were -4.5 at Texas Tech and won 38-30. This will be a major test. Colorado has played three decent teams and they were tight games. The Buffs are somewhat battle-tested already in Week 4, and maybe better prepared for a shootout than Oregon. I like Colorado to win outright a bit, but I had to take all these points with a wager. TCU was -21 at home in the opener. The pressure is on the Ducks. Give me the points.

As long as Shedeur Sanders is under center for Colorado, they will have a chance. Yes, the Oregon Ducks on paper have the better offensive line and defensive line. But, what they don't have is a QB like Sanders and a team who has embraced the role of the villain. This game will be a lot closer than people think.

From the start let me say that any pick on this game has risk due to the volatility of both offenses. That said, most game scripts lead to the same outcome...and under. If Oregon is up big in the 2nd half their opponent shifts to the clock, not Colorado, so the Ducks would bleed the clock with long, sustained drives. Check. If this one is tight late it will be due to Oregon's offense unable to cash in TD's by turnovers and penalties. Check. I just don't see both teams in this position going Super Bowl shootout here. Again, assume the volatility here, but 9 ways out of 10 we're not reaching 72 points.

On our SportsLine College Football Show (Wednesdays at 3 p.m. ET on YouTube), the great Chip Patterson loves to play Deion Sanders' "DO YOU BELIEVE?" clip. Well let me tell you, I believe something strongly regarding Deion's Colorado team this week...that they're going to get crushed! Oregon is 7-1 at home with the Dan Lanning / Bo Nix combo since 2022 and the average margin of victory in seven games is 33 points per game. Without all-everything WR/CB Travis Hunter for the Buffaloes, I have no idea how they keep this game remotely close. Oregon rolls, 45-17.