In front of the sixth-most attended Oregon football game in program history, the Oregon Duck trotted out to 59,889 screaming fans in his best Deion Sanders outfit. The mascot, clad in a cowboy hat, massive sunglasses, and a necklace that read, “TIME’S UP,” got a bit too excited beating up a prop clock that read “PRIME TIME” and saw his head fly off.

The Duck ran back into the tunnel and couldn’t make his usual motorcycle ride out onto the field.

That was the only hiccup for the No. 10 Oregon Ducks in a 42-6 demolition of the No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium, with the Ducks rolling to a 4-0 record and a win in their conference opener.

Here are five takeaways from the statement performance.

The Ducks are contenders, the Buffaloes are not

All week the talking heads discussed whether the upstart and previously unbeaten Buffaloes could keep up with a top-10 team like the Ducks.

On Saturday, those questions were quickly answered.

“The whole goal was to show the world that we’re still Oregon and that’s still Colorado,” Oregon defensive end Brandon Dorlus said.

The Ducks had more first downs (22) than the Buffs had total yards (21) at the halftime break and led 35-0. By the time the game was over, the numbers didn’t look any more even, with Colorado managing 199 yards to Oregon’s 522.

The bottom line for both squads is Oregon proved they are a conference and College Football Playoff contender and reminded the nation the Buffaloes – though vastly improved – have a long way to go.

“If you’re really about substance, what you’re really hung up on is what’s next,” coach Dan Lanning said. “I’m glad we got to put Oregon in the light that Oregon deserves to be in. It’s really not about anything else but our team and getting our team ready to go play.”

Oregon pass rush arrives

The Ducks got after Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders early and often Saturday afternoon, racking up a season-best seven sacks as a team, coming from six different players.

It’s the most sacks by a Ducks team since 2017 against Cal.

The pressure helped the Ducks shut out the Buffs for most of the game and held one of the nation’s leading passers well below his season average. Averaging 417 passing yards per game, Sanders mustered just 159 yards against the Ducks, with plenty of those coming in garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Against a pass-happy offense that has admitted it can’t run the ball very well, Oregon was happy to pin its ears back and keep Colorado behind the sticks.

“They haven’t been a team that’s ran the ball,” Lanning said. “We knew there would be pass rushing opportunities and it really speaks to the patience of when we do execute a game, let’s go attack and let’s go be on the move … when they don’t have great balance it allows you to be more disruptive in the pass game.”

With pass rushing an emphasis each of the last two weeks against pass-heavy offenses, the Ducks have employed numerous blitzes from all over the field. Jordan Burch had a pair of sacks to lead the way, safety Evan Williams had a sack and a half (shared with Casey Rogers), and Jamal Hill, Dorlus, and Teitum Tuioti also had sacks.

“We were really multiple in our blitzes and in our pressure this week,” Williams said. “Especially when we’re able to get them into second-and-long and third-and-long, it makes it a lot easier for us. We have a tendency to understand what they want to do, so we feel more confident in bringing more exotic blitz packages.”

Dan Lanning remains unafraid to pull out all the stops

In an emotionally charged pregame speech, Lanning made it clear the Ducks wanted to be the team of substance, rather than the team of flash.

Still, the Ducks’ second-year coach made sure to show a bit of flash against the Buffaloes.

Backed up inside the Oregon 20-yard-line and facing fourth-and-4, Lanning opted to run a fake, snapping the ball directly to defensive lineman Rogers, who picked up 18 yards and a first down.

That drive resulted in Oregon’s third touchdown, and a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“We’ve probably ran that thing 47 times in practice,” Lanning said of the play call. “The right time is when they don’t think it’s coming. We had some momentum, I had tremendous belief in our defense, they’ve been operating at a really high level. But I’m not interested fake punts when everybody thinks we’re going to run a fake punt. I want to hit them when they don’t suspect it.”

With a history of pulling out all the stops in big games in the past, it’s safe to assume Lanning will have more in store as the season progresses.

Bo Nix, welcome to the 2023 Heisman race

Though Nix’s billboard campaign began over the offseason in New York and Dallas, other players around the country had more opportunities in the spotlight in big contests leading into Week 4.

Against Colorado, Nix finally got an opportunity in prime time on a national network and delivered a nearly flawless performance.

Though he tossed an interception, the senior quarterback completed 28-of-33 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown in the first half.

More than that, Nix was in complete command of the offense, and outperformed Colorado’s Sanders, who had received Heisman attention after passing for an average of 417 yards through his first three games.

“We’ve got the best quarterback in the nation,” Lanning said. “I know that, I can see that. You see all the plays that he throws and all the plays he makes with his feet, but you guys don’t see all the checks that he makes and all he does for this team … that guy shapes me. He makes me a better person. We’re so blessed to have him.”

If he wasn’t on any Heisman lists before, Nix made a strong impression Saturday on a big stage.

Khyree Jackson steps up after mistakes against Texas Tech

Lanning admitted after a couple of penalties and mistakes against Texas Tech two weeks ago, Khyree Jackson has grown in a short amount of time.

The Alabama transfer has looked incredibly strong over his last two starts, helping the Oregon secondary shut down potent passing attacks and looking steady in one-on-one coverage.

“He has grown,” Lanning said. “Khyree has the ability to be an elite corner, not just here but at the next level. I’m glad I get to coach Khyree, I tell him what he needs to improve on and he owns it and accepts it.”

Jackson finished with three pass breakups against the Buffaloes, and though he didn’t get an interception in his third straight game, he leads the Ducks with two on the year.

His continued development will be big for an Oregon defense that put together its strongest performance of the season Saturday afternoon.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks football dismantles Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes