SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 22, 2011
Darron Thomas and LaMichael James didn’t suit up for No. 8 Oregon, but that didn’t slow down the visiting Ducks, who rolled to an easy 45-2 victory over Colorado on Saturday at Folsom Field.
Behind backups Bryan Bennett and Kenjon Barner, Oregon racked up 358 first-half yards — including 239 on the ground — and took a 35-0 lead into halftime. The Ducks scored on all four of their first-quarter possessions.
Bennett finished with 156 passing yards and two touchdowns, and Barner added 115 yards and a pair of scores for the Ducks, who improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12. It was the eighth straight Pac-12 road victory for Oregon, which has won 16 consecutive conference games dating back to Nov. 7, 2009, when it lost to Stanford.
Colorado (1-7, 0-4 Pac-12) meanwhile, lost its fifth straight game and is still searching for its first Pac-12 win. In their last three conference games, the Buffaloes have been outscored by a combined 145-33.
Tyler Hansen threw for 62 yards and an interception for the Buffaloes, who managed just 98 rushing yards on 39 carries and scored their only points of the game on a safety with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
Colorado was without its senior running back, Rodney Stewart, who suffered a knee injury last week against Washington State and is expected to be out two to four weeks.
Oregon outgained the Buffaloes 527-231, with 371 on the ground. It was the fifth straight game the Ducks have racked up at least 300 rushing yards.
Thomas and James were both questionable coming in and were held out by coach Chip Kelly. Thomas left last week’s 41-27 victory against Arizona State in the third quarter with a left knee injury, and James has been out since dislocating his right elbow on Oct. 6.