The Ducks are taking on the 1-6 Colorado Buffaloes this Saturday in Autzen Stadium. The DuckTV Sports staff answers the burning questions heading into the game.

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1. In games this season, the Ducks have started slowly. What do they need to do against Colorado to get out to a quick lead?

Preston Hiefield: I’m baffled by the question. Oregon is one of the best first quarter teams in the entire country, outscoring opponents this year 134-26 in the opening 15 minutes of play. If anything, the Ducks should focus more on playing a full four quarters of football instead of starting out fast and piecing together mediocre second halves. Against Colorado, they don’t need to do anything out of the ordinary in order to get out of the gates quickly. Heck, I could start at quarterback for Oregon against the Buffaloes, and the Ducks would still win. Only sort of kidding, which is the scary part.

McLean Cannon: Limit mistakes on both sides of the ball. The Ducks are going to have to play solid defense. They don’t have to be shut down, but they’re going to have to limit the big plays they give up. While the defense is going to have keep huge scoring plays to a minimum, the offense must take care of the ball and capitalize on red zone trips. The Ducks are fast and athletic enough, not to mention a far superior team, to make a few mistakes and get away with it. But if they want to get out to a quick start, they will have to limit them.

Andrew Murray: 29-0, 14-3, 21-7, 7-0, 20-9, 21-0, 22-7. Those are the leads that the Ducks possessed in all seven first quarters that they’ve played this season. How did they accomplish these leads? By getting the deadly combination of Marcus Mariota and Kenjon Barner going. Mariota has thrown seven of his sixteen touchdowns in all combined first quarters while Barner has scored more than half of his TD production in those first quarters. Balance on pass and run is key to initiating a quick start.

Kristin MacDougald: The Ducks need to play as if they are playing USC. They need to be immediately fired up and not let any of the little errors sneak through the cracks. Some early turnovers have allowed for their opponents to see a bit of imperfection in their game, serving as motivation to play spoiler. The Ducks need to get out ahead early and hold that lead throughout all four quarters. This momentum of defeat would serve as a huge leg up carrying over to the game against the Trojans this next coming week.

2. Who on the Colorado offense should the Ducks key in on?

Hiefield: The Ducks definitely need to keep an eye on freshman WR Nelson Spruce. Spruce has been one of the few bright spots for the Buffaloes this year, hauling in 28 receptions for 307 yards and a pair of scores. He’s stepped up in a big way this season in the absence of playmaker Paul Richardson. On a team that lacks dynamic athletes, Spruce provides a nice spark.

Cannon: Nelson Spruce. The Buffaloes don’t have too many playmakers that I could see burning the Ducks on defense, but the freshmen wideout does lead the team in receptions and yards. In the Buffaloes lone win, against Washington State, he went for 8 catches, 103 yards and a touchdown, whereas in the last three games combined (all losses), UCLA, ASU, and USC have shut him down for a combined 7 receptions for well under 100 yards. Spruce shouldn’t be too much of a handful for the Oregon secondary, but if they’re going to key in on someone he’s the guy.

Murray: Colorado’s offense has been woefully inept this season only breaking the 20 point barrier twice. However, the playmaker to watch out for is wide receiver Nick Kasa. Kasa has scored all three of his touchdowns in the past four games; all against conference opponents. He only has 15 receptions this season, but for an average of 18.7 yards per catch. Watch him to go deep on the Ducks defense.

3. Will Oregon starters play the whole game? If no, will there be a backup that stands out for the Ducks?

Hiefield: More like: will the Oregon starters play the entire first half? Look for redshirt freshman linebacker Tyson Coleman to be a standout among the reserves. Coleman is one of the most improved players on the entire roster from last year and had a great spring followed by a great spring game in which he intercepted Bryan Bennett and took it the other way for a touchdown.

Cannon: I’ll put the over under at one full half of football. I see the Ducks leading by a significant enough margin by halftime that coach Kelly pulls the starters and hands it off to the backups. I want to say that Bennett will break out of his funk and pull it together, to lead an offense that has looked very stagnant with him under center, but who knows. Bennett hasn’t looked comfortable and has appeared to be trying to do too much all season. I’ll go with Byron Marshall. Bennett did get his lone start of last season against Colorado, so that should count for something.

Murray: I expect the starters to be out by the half. This has been the case for most of the Ducks games this season. Look out for Bryan Bennett to bounce back this week after a 2-7 effort against Arizona State. Byron Marshall will also look to get some more reps and show case his talents to the coaches.

MacDougald: The Ducks starters should certainly not be playing for the whole game this weekend. It is crucial for the starters to rest as much as possible this week considering their competitive game against USC next weekend. It will be essential that the Ducks backup defensive players step up during the game this weekend. Not because the Buffaloes will be threatening on offense, but more so, so they can gain as much last minute experience in case they were to be needed to take on the Trojans elite offensive players like Marquis Lee and Matt Barkley.

4.What will be the final score?

Hiefield: 50-10. Oregon will likely blow the game open early and then play reserves for at least half of the game. I’ll give the Buffs a second half TD.

Cannon: 63-7. Ducks romped the Buffaloes 45-2 last season on the road and this year’s team looks even better.

Murray: 56-7. Like ASU last week, Oregon will jump to a huge lead at halftime, this time being 42-0. The sheer agility of Oregon’s backfield will shred Colorado’s defense. The backups will account for a couple more scores afterwards as the second half will be a quiet one.

5. Should Ducks fans be worried that the Ducks have dropped in the BCS rankings two weeks in a row?

 Hiefield: No. By now, most Ducks fans are educated enough to know that the only rankings that matter are the ones that come out in early December. The Ducks strength of schedule, which is hurting them in the computers right now, will increase dramatically over the next month when they play at USC, at Cal, Stanford, and at Oregon State, and then potentially the Pac-12 championship game. The only thing in Oregon’s control is what’s in front of them. Just win and everything else will take care of itself.

Cannon: I think it’s too early in the season to worry about rankings, but it is a troubling thought that if Kansas St. runs the table, beating Texas Tech, TCU, and Texas, that they could potentially beat out the Ducks for a spot in the National Title game. However, I do feel that the Ducks strength of schedule (after beating Stanford, Oregon St. and potentially USC twice) would be good enough to top the Wildcats. I also don’t think there’s a writer out there who thinks Kansas St. would beat Oregon, but none of that matters with this wonderful BCS system we have in place.

Murray: The BCS system has only accounted for strength of schedule when it comes to where the Ducks place each week. The Ducks have only received two ranked opponents and multiple below .500 teams as their challengers. The meat of their schedule is coming up in November with top 20 match ups in USC, Stanford and Oregon State. Florida and Kansas State still face rigorous schedules that could drop them if they have one bad week.

MacDougald: Absolutely not. The Ducks have had solid performances each and every game this season. They are currently 7-0, but still have the toughest games of their season ahead of them. They have yet to face the highly anticipated USC, followed by Stanford and OSU later on. The outcome of these games will be the deciding factor as to whether the Ducks belong in that number two-spot again or not. The weight of playing these teams and potentially staying undefeated will surely be later reflected in the BCS standings. The fans should stay calm and confident as the Ducks continues to prove themselves as one of the best two teams in the nation.