It’s not been an easy start to the season for the Buffaloes and it’s not going to get any easier as they have to head to Palo Alto, Calif., to take on the undefeated No. 7 Cardinal on Sunday.

Coming off a tough home loss against Washington State last weekend, Colorado will need to figure out something if it even wants to come close to matching Stanford on offense this week.

Buffaloes head coach Jon Embree has been straight with his team about the abilities of Andrew Luck.

“I told our team that if you’re not going to get a chance to play professional football, here is you chance to play against Peyton Manning,” Embree said in a conference call. “He’s everything you look for in a quarterback. You can tell the guys trust everything that he’s saying and calling.”

Utah without starting QB against ASU

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said quarterback Jordan Wynn’s shoulder was popping out of its socket last week during the Utes’ loss to Washington. It’s estimated that he will be out for another two to three weeks.

Backup Jon Hays will take the helm when the Utes take on the No. 22 ASU Sun Devils at home next weekend.

Hays did a respectable job against the Huskies last week, throwing for 156 yards and a touchdown.

“(Wynn) was our guy, but you know, injuries are part of the game, we have to move forward,” Whittingham said in a conference call. “We just have to tweak things a little offensively to take advantage of his skill set.”

Despite the injury to Wynn, ASU head coach Dennis Erickson is still confident in Utah’s ability to compete at a high level.

“Utah’s an outstanding team in our division,” he said in a Tuesday conference call. “As we’ve thought from the beginning of the season, this is one of the big games of the year for us.”

Cal heads to Eugene to take on No. 9 Ducks

Aside from their first game of the season against LSU, the Oregon Ducks have been unstoppable offensively throughout the start of the season. In his last two games, Oregon running back LaMichael James has run for a combined 492 yards and will be gunning as he comes off the bye week against the Golden Bears.

Despite Oregon’s offensive success, the Bears were able to hold the Ducks to only 15 points and 317 yards in their loss at home last year.

Cal head coach Jeff Tedford said the Ducks will remember their sub par performance and will use that as motivation going into Thursday’s nationally televised contest.

“They’re a great football team,” Tedford said in a conference call. “There’s no doubt about it, you can’t stop them. You just hope to control them because they are so athletic and so good at what they do.”

Riley and Oregon State need win against Arizona

The record doesn’t lie, Oregon State head coach Mike Riley and the Beavers haven’t won a game all season. They will have one of their best chances of the season so far against a struggling Arizona team whose only win this season has come against NAU.

OSU’s offense will need more focus coming into this week after freshman quarterback Sean Mannion threw four interceptions against Arizona State.

“I think that there’s a lot of disappointment,” Riley said in a conference call. “But I’m encouraged by the work ethic and as importantly the motivation.

“Even though we haven’t won a ball game yet, I still think that there’s gradual growth in this team each game.”