No. 9 Oregon Rolls Past Colorado 45-2

The Ducks bulldozed the injury-riddled Buffaloes 45-2 Saturday in their first trip to Folsom Field since 1987 even though they were playing without Darron Thomas and LaMichael James.

The Ducks lost none of their quick-strike scoring ability without their injured quarterback and running back. Thomas was out with a knee injury and James missed his second straight game while recovering from a dislocated elbow.

Behind redshirt freshman QB Bryan Bennett and junior tailback Kenjon Barner, the Ducks (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) jumped out to a 29-0 first-quarter lead.

"We have some depth at certain positions and that was a little bit evident today," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "I think our depth wore them down as the game went on."

Actually, right from the start.

Barner reeled off touchdown runs of 4 and 84 yards and Bennett found running back De'Anthony Thomas for a 14-yard touchdown and tight end David Paulson from 31 yards out. The four TD drives averaged just 1:36 each.

None of this was a surprise to Colorado.

"They're a system team, they're going to do what they do," Buffaloes coach Jon Embree said. "I'm not taking anything away from those guys, I think their backups ... it's like going from Joe Montana to Steve Young. They have great depth."

Colorado's only highlight came on a tackle of Oregon punt returner Cliff Harris in the end zone that allowed the Buffaloes to avoid their first shutout at home since losing 28-0 to Oklahoma in 1986.

After a fiery pregame pep talk from James, the nation's leading rusher, the Ducks wasted no time in turning this one into a laugher no matter who was taking the snaps and hand-offs.

"We might have seemed a little flat in warmups and he just wanted to make sure that wasn't going to be a reflection of our play today," Bennett said. "LaMichael's a key player on this team and whether he plays or not, when he says something, people are going to listen."

Barner gained 115 yards on 10 carries before giving way to a bevy of other backups and Bennett added 69 yards on the ground to go with 156 yards through the air on 11 of 20 passing. He, too, was a sideline spectator before the third quarter was over.

Both Barner and Bennett averaged 11.5 yards a carry, but De'Anthony Thomas did them one better, averaging 12.5 yards on his four rushes.

The Folsom Field crowd figured the Ducks were piling on the Buffaloes (1-6, 0-4) right away when punter Jackson Rice took the direct snap after their first touchdown and plowed into the end zone for a 2-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.

Embree took no offense.

"They've done that a bunch," he said. "It's not an opponent or respect issue, but that's what Chip does. He's aggressive."

The Ducks' defense got into the act when linebacker Michael Clay intercepted Tyler Hansen's pass at the Buffs 32 and raced into the end zone in the second quarter. Alejandro Maldonado's extra point was wide right, leaving the Ducks ahead 35-0 at halftime.

"We wanted to get it over with really early," Clay said. "I think we did that."

Hansen sustained a concussion when he was sandwiched on a slide that didn't draw a flag late in the first half and was replaced by freshman Nick Hirschman.

"I don't really remember a lot from the first half," Hansen said, "but it's got to be tough to play from behind like that. The second half was rough to watch."

The Buffaloes started the game without more than a dozen injured players, most notably running back Rodney Stewart and wide receiver Paul Richardson, who accounted for nearly 60 percent of Colorado's yards from scrimmage before Saturday.

Colorado also lost strong safety Anthony Perkins to an injured ankle just 6½ minutes into the game and kick returner D.D. Goodson to a concussion.

With so many key players sidelined, the Buffs were hoping something else might slow down the Ducks — altitude. Boulder is nearly 5,000 feet higher than Eugene, Ore., making a no-huddle offense a little more lung searing for the speedy Ducks.

"I don't know if anybody else felt it, but I felt it, I hit a brick wall," said Barner, who slowed down at the 5 on his 84-yard TD run.

After halftime, Bennett hit Lavasier Tuinei for 31 yards to the Buffaloes 1, and two snaps later, Tra Carson took it in for a 42-0 lead.

Just as impressive was the Ducks' defense — it allowed just 231 yards and 5 of 19 third-down conversions.

"Our defense played outstanding all day long," Kelly said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get the shutout."

That's because Terrel Smith corralled Harris in the end zone for a safety with 1:32 left in the third quarter. Kelly said Harris broke the cardinal rule of punt returns.

"We don't field punts inside the 10," he huffed.

And after that, Harris didn't field any punts at all, giving way to Chad Delaney.

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Follow AP Sports Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

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N.F.L.: Once Big, Neck Rolls Are Now a Nostalgia Piece

In its glory days — which football historians say ran from the 1970s to the early ’90s — the neck roll (a catchall term for anything that sprouts from between a player’s shoulder pads) was everywhere. Longtime N.F.L. fans need not see pictures to remember Howie Long’s oversize backward clerical collar, the elephant tusks perched on Wilber Marshall’s shoulders or the rubber balloon animal that curled beneath Brian Bosworth’s helmet. Every Sunday, it seemed, was a showcase for the latest in designer neckwear. 

Standing in the Giants’  locker room recently, safety Deon Grant and wide receiver Devin Thomas became nostalgic when neck rolls were brought up. Grant’s eyes widened. 

“Growing up, man, everyone wanted a neck roll,” he said. “I mean everyone. It was the thing. Neck rolls were hot.” 

“I had one,” Thomas said. “Did you?” 

Grant, who went to high school in Augusta, Ga., laughed.

“I was in the ’hood, so I don’t even know what kind I had,” he said. “But I had one. Absolutely. Everyone did.” 

Despite their undeniable popularity, however, neck rolls — much like parachute pants, Members Only jackets and bolo ties — eventually faded away. And now, even with an increased focus on head and neck injuries in the N.F.L., there has been no indication that the La-Z-Boy — Thomas’s term for the headrest-style neck roll Bryan Cox made famous — will return to prominence. 

“You would think you might see them more now,” Giants tight end Jake Ballard said, perhaps a touch wistfully. “Maybe they’ll make a comeback.”  

It seems unlikely. Bare necks abound in the N.F.L. these days, and a scan of the Giants’ locker room shows little in the way of natty napes. Justin Tuck and David Baas, who have been recovering from burners, a common neck injury in football, had smaller neck rolls attached to their shoulder pads recently but conceded they were poor imitations of the old-style models. 

Unlike, say, the pad sported by the always fashionable Eric Dickerson, Tuck’s current version lays flatter. Think more crew neck than turtleneck. 

“This is nothing,” Tuck said with a wave of his hand. “In college, I wore the big kind.” 

Referring to the training staff at his alma mater, Notre Dame, he added with pride,  “They told me I had a long neck, so that’s why I needed one.” 

Now, Tuck and Baas wear a neck roll because it ostensibly helps them avoid a recurrence of their injuries. Baas, the Giants’ center, said he believed the neck roll kept his neck more stable, while Tuck said it was difficult to tell if the neck roll had any preventative value. “It may just be peace of mind,” he said. 

Experts seem to agree. Much like Spandex did not, in fact, make everybody who wore it look thinner, neck rolls became another disappearing fad because they were probably more style than substance, said Stephen J. Straub, a professor of athletic training and sports medicine at Quinnipiac University. 

Straub was involved in a 2003 study that examined three different types of neck rolls and ultimately concluded that “they’ve never been shown to be effective,” he said, adding: “In a lab, they seem to be able to control the head, at least a little bit. But no one has been able to show that on a football field.” 

Joe Horrigan, a vice president and historian at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, listed other equipment fads (the tinted visor, wristbands worn on forearms, etc.) and noted that there were two things that could never be ignored when it came to N.F.L. fashion. “First, there’s the intimidation and drama factor,” he said. “And the fact that this is a copycat league. If one person does something or wears something, others will see it and think it works.” 

The neck roll, it seems, fell into the second category as a desired item that probably had little functional value. Almost every player polled in the Giants’ locker room had a neck roll story from their earlier football days. Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard wore one in high school and college, and loved it. “I had one of the fat ones,” he said. 

Defensive lineman Dave Tollefson asked for one in high school because “I was skinny, and it made me look bigger,” he said. “I just wanted to look mean.”

Ballard got one for much the same reason. “In high school, all you want to do is look tough,” he said. 

Linval Joseph, another defensive tackle, said he loved watching Mike Alstott, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback, because of the bulky battery pack that appeared to jut up from his shoulder blades. Alstott, whose career ended in 2008 because of neck injuries, did not even have one of the throwback neck rolls, but Joseph said he liked it because “he had that bulk; it made him look huge.” 

Joseph said that neck rolls probably disappeared because the game had sped up and equipment had been altered to allow players to keep pace. Linebacker Michael Boley, who said he never dabbled with a neck roll in his younger days, agreed, saying most players today want pads that are light and allow for movement.  

Shouldering an inner tube, then, is not exactly desirable. 

“How am I going to run with guys with all that hanging on my neck?” Grant said. 

Sentiments like Grant’s are why, alas, it seems the neck roll may be destined to meet the same fate as Willie Lanier’s externally padded helmet. Although there is plenty of fond reminiscing for the colorful collars of the old days, most players seem content to leave them there. 

Of course, some never quite understood the attraction in the first place. Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes laughed long and loud when asked if he had ever worn a neck roll. 

“A neck roll?” he said with a shake of his head. “I don’t even wear gloves.”

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