Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly saw his fair share of elite offenses during his time in the SEC at Alabama. Now in his first year in Boulder, Kelly and the unbeaten No. 19-ranked Buffs are preparing to face one of the top-ranked offenses in college football when they visit No. 10 Oregon on Saturday afternoon.

The CU defense, which has made a ton of big plays but has been prone to some rocky moments through three games, will certainly have its hands full with a Ducks offense that has been incredibly balanced thus far. Nearly a month into the season, Oregon ranks fourth in college football in total offense (579.7 yards per game) and second in scoring (58.0 points per game).

The Ducks are led by quarterback Bo Nix, an early Heisman Trophy contender with a wealth of experience under his belt. On Saturday, the former Auburn signal-caller will make his 51st appearance at the college level, and over the past five years he has developed into a seasoned, trustworthy passer while maintaining his creative playmaking ability.

Kelly is no stranger to anything Nix can do on the field, having coached against him before in the SEC when the QB was at Auburn, but the relationship between the two stretches far outside the white lines.

“I’ve known Bo since he was born. I basically watched him grow up. His dad is one of my best friends, we coached at three different schools together, so I watched Bo grow up,” Kelly said Wednesday. “I know what kind of competitor he is. He’s a really good athlete. He’s a good all-around athlete. When we played him at Auburn, he was one of the better athletes on their team. He can continue plays with his feet, he’s very aware of pressure when he gets it, and he can get out on the perimeter. He’s very smart, and it looks to me that Dan [Lanning] and them have done a really good job with him.

"He understands what they want to do offensively, knows where pressures are coming from, knows what coverages are what, sees the safety rotations, so I think they’ve done a good job developing him.”

While Nix and the high-flying Ducks certainly provide a major challenge for Kelly and his defense, the Buffs believe they have the playmaking ability to neutralize the Oregon attack and put their own offense on the field.

It’s been more bend-not-break than they would hope thus far, but the Buffs have buckled down and made huge plays when it has mattered in the early going this season. Their 10 takeaways tie them for the lead in the country, with four of those coming in the red zone.

“Our No. 1 thing is to get the ball,” Kelly said. “It’s all about the ball. There’s nothing more important you can do for your team than get turnovers.”

This weekend, however, the Buffs will likely need to be more stout down-to-down against an Oregon offense that has yet to turn the ball over in 2023. Despite giving up 499 yards of offense to a less talented Colorado State team last weekend, Kelly is optimistic about his defense.

“They play extremely hard, and they never lose their composure,” Kelly said of his unit. “Sometimes it’s like a basketball game when somebody gets hot shooting, you’ve got to survive the run and you’ve gotta make a play to win the game. I’ve not seen our guys lose composure this year.”

As for the players, the Buffs defense respects what Oregon can do while maintaining that, if they play up to par, they are capable of consistently being a lockdown unit, whether that be via limiting the yards or forcing turnovers.

“It’s just another offense,” said junior safety Trevor Woods, who leads the team with two picks in the first three games. “We’re gonna try to get the ball out just like we always do.”

The Buffs know that, despite all the headlines and the hoopla, they’ve only won three games, and are only now entering the gauntlet of what appears to be the deepest conference in college football this fall.

“We still have to earn the respect of the teams in this conference,” Woods said.

In a season full of statements thus far, Kelly, Woods and the Buffs’ defense believe they are ready to make another one on Saturday in Eugene.