After a small in-state road trip test last Friday night in Tulsa the Sooners will face the real deal this weekend in Boulder, Colorado. While the Buffaloes aren't at the bottom of the conference anymore, that dubious distinction belongs to Iowa State, they haven't quite reached mid-level status yet either. Colorado's record stands at 2-2 with wins over Colorado State and Miami (Ohio) and losses to Arizona State and Florida State.
Their offense is under the leadership of freshman quarterback Cody Hawkins who is also the son of head coach Dan Hawkins. The Buffaloes rank 11 in the conference in scoring with an average of 23.3 points and 361.8 yards per game.
The team's defensive leader is senior linebacker Jordan Dizon. The Buffs are only allowing 19.3 points and 288.3 yards per game. They are particularly strong against the rush where they give up less than 110 yards per game.
Nationally it's the 3rd ranked offense (Oklahoma) against the 18th ranked defense (Colorado) that's going to be the key match-up. Colorado's offense shouldn't be able to move the ball consistently against OU's defense so points will be a premium Saturday.
Oklahoma may end their streak of 50-plus point games but 24 to 30 points is a realistic number and should be more than enough for the Sooners to move to 5-0.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Colorado has lost 14 consecutive games against ranked opponents.