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The Colorado Buffaloes, who will be playing their first game in three weeks, have opened as 10-point underdogs for their upcoming match-up with Oregon State in Corvallis. Interestingly, the Buffs were listed as 22-point underdogs this summer when early lines first came out, showing that Colorado has earned a bit of confidence from the linemakers and OSU is suffering a bit from some close wins and the week one loss to Eastern Washington.
The Beavers had high expectations coming into the year but they were quickly dashed when the Beavers fell 49-46 to the FCS school. Since then, they have won three straight, including exciting road wins over Utah and San Diego State. Following the home game with Colorado this weekend they have winnable road contests against Washington State and California that could potentially lead to a 4-0 Pac-12 start.
Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion has been lighting up the scoreboard while leading OSU to the third-best passing offense in the NCAA. Mannion has completed 71.5% of his passes for 1,604 yards with 15 touchdowns to only 1 interception. The running game has struggled, much like Colorado's, but expectations are high that leading rusher Storm Woods will return for the game against the Buffaloes.
Coming off of the long layoff for the first road game of the year will put some pressure on Colorado. Will the Buffs benefit from the layoff or come out rusty against a tough opponent?