Colorado may sit at 2-6 (1-4 Pac-12) on the year, with its offense having often looked lackluster throughout the 2021 season, but following the Buffs’ road loss at No. 7 Oregon Saturday, the elite playmaking ability of second-year freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice has become irrefutable.

Rice recorded five catches for 102 yards and a fourth quarter score at Oregon, racking up another 162 yards as the Buffaloes’ primary kick returner.

With CU allowing the Ducks to score points on seven straight drives into the fourth quarter, Rice was quite busy returning kicks.

In the second quarter, Rice, who stands at 6-foot-3, went up in the air to bring down a 50-50 contested ball against the Ducks’ D.J. James that went for a gain of 36 yards.

Two plays prior to that, Rice found some room to run over the middle, catching a pass from Brendon Lewis that he advanced upfield for a 26-yard gain.

His receptions eventually set up a two-yard touchdown reception by Alex Fontenot.

Earlier in the first quarter, Rice demonstrated his special teams value, returning a Ducks kick 38 yards to the Oregon 40-yard line.

While Rice went on to fumble on a third quarter kick return (that ultimately was recovered by the Buffs), his 119 yards of total offense and 162 return yards seem sufficient enough to absolve him of a rare lapse of ball security.

Two years and about two weeks ago, on Oct. 15, 2019, Rice, then a four-star receiver out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., committed to CU over Michigan, Arizona State, Oregon, Texas A&M, USC and many others.

Fast forward to now, and in year two with the Buffs, Rice continues to assert his role within Colorado’s offense.

That role with the Buffs has increasingly become one of leadership recently, as well.

Following the Buffaloes’ 26-3 loss at the hands of Pac-12 North cellar dweller Cal, Rice was fired up when talking about a need for CU’s players to come together and rally through adversity.

"If you're not bought in, you might as well just leave,” he said. “There's no room for anybody who's trying to be out or trying to excuse themselves from the team. We need to all be bought in in order for us to take the next step."

Rice also held himself accountable for dropping a ball on the Buffaloes’ first offensive possession against the Bears; not that his small sin was wholly responsible for Colorado’s poor offensive showing (a season-high six sacks allowed to Cal deserves more criticism than Rice’s drop).

But regardless, Rice displayed solid leadership qualities and maturity with what he had to say in Berkeley last weekend. Saturday agains the Ducks, he backed it up and then some with an all-around dominant performance.

Already with a few nice catches and kick returns under his belt on the day, Rice reeled in a zinger of a 16-yard touchdown pass from Lewis that trimmed Oregon's lead to 17.

"I was trying to slip the nickel, just sit down and find a hole on that curl route," Rice said. "Out of nowhere, 'B-Lew' just looks at me and he killed it in there with a bullet — that's what we need from a quarterback."

"That was a confidence-builder right there for me and him. That' a chemistry-builder."

Perhaps nothing illustrated Rice’s growing leadership qualities than how he replied when asked about his impressive day of returning kicks.

"Big shoutout to my kick return team, because they were blocking their asses off for me today,” he said. “I couldn't ask for anything better from them."

With 17 catches (on 27 targets) for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Rice leads the boards for Colorado in all four categories.

Last season, Colorado fans got a taste of what Rice would become when he scored his first career touchdown in week two at Stanford.

That sample was followed up and expanded upon greatly in the 2020 regular season finale, when Rice had a 61-yard touchdown reception and also, while on punt return duty, took one back 82 yards to the house.

As he continues to show growth as a leader in the locker room and impact performer on the gridiron, Karl Dorrell likes the trajectory he’s seeing from Rice.

“He’s showing some big-play potential, he’s getting very confident and he’s practicing that way, too,” Dorrell said. “That’s the other thing that’s encouraging to me, to hav young players understanding how practice should look like...And, when you start making plays, quarterbacks start looking at you.”