Colorado Alleged Oregon Accessed Its Private Football Data Last Season

Deion Sanders proclaimed there were “no excuses” after the University of Colorado football team’s 42–6 loss to Oregon last September. 

But in the aftermath of the Buffaloes’ first defeat following a 3–0 start in head coach Sanders’s first season, Colorado football staffers identified multiple potential incursions into the team’s online service that stores practice video and other data, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Front Office Sports. 

Sanders was involved in the initial outreach to the Pac-12, in which Colorado alleged Oregon played a role in the unauthorized access, said the same source as well as a second source with firsthand knowledge. 

The Pac-12—which was in its final school year as a 12-team conference before all but Oregon State and Washington State defected to other leagues—took the allegation seriously, the sources said. Conference officials reached out to Colorado’s athletic department and administration to seek more information and to determine whether the school wanted to pursue an investigation—one that potentially could have led to an FBI probe if any illegal incursions occurred.

Catapult, an industry-leading video replay system used by Colorado, conducted its own review of allegations of improper access last fall, and its investigation found “the security of [Catapult’s] systems was not compromised,” the company told FOS. 

Ultimately Colorado backed off and didn’t provide the Pac-12 with evidence that Oregon or any other entity or person was involved in the alleged incursion, the two sources said. 

“They chose not to move forward,” the first source said. 

Colorado has not returned an open-records request filed by FOS for emails exchanged between the school and Pac-12 officials last fall. FOS sent a request to the Colorado athletic department. The school did not respond by the time of publication.

“We are unaware of any information that provides any credibility to this claim and see no reason to comment further,” an Oregon athletics department spokesperson said in a statement to FOS.

Colorado’s Video Provider Found No Unauthorized Access

A Catapult spokesperson declined to state what initiated its review, although it provided the following statement: 

“We conducted a thorough investigation into reports of unauthorized access to Colorado’s football video footage last season,” a Catapult spokesperson said in a statement to FOS. “We can confirm that the security of our systems was not compromised during the investigation.”

The statement continued: “Our systems are secured with robust encryption along with multiple layers of protection. We encourage all customers to adhere to strong security protocols including maintaining unique logins and passwords for each authorized user, enabling two-step authentication, and restricting access to designated devices to prevent unauthorized access. Catapult is the technology leader in football, and we work tirelessly to maintain that position by offering high quality secure products and best in class customer service.”

Buffs, Ducks Both in New Conferences

Before the Sept. 23, 2023, game against Colorado, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said, “They’re playing for clicks, we’re playing for wins.” The lopsided loss sparked theories about why Sanders’s squad struggled so mightily against Oregon. 

“I spoke to somebody in the coaching fraternity right after the game,” former NFL receiver Keyshawn Johnson said on Undisputed days after the game. “They know some people who coach at Oregon. They [were] telling me, ‘Man, I’ve never heard from another assistant coach of how much information was being given to that [Oregon] staff about … game-planning against Colorado so they can beat them.’ That’s the reality of it. I am not making this up.”

Sanders was asked about Johnson’s comments at a Sept. 26 news conference. 

“That happens every week, not just [the] Oregon game,” Sanders said. “That’s just life and I want our coaches to understand that we’re not just playing against a team. We’re playing against all of college football. [There] ain’t too many people lined up [wanting] to see us dominating, to see us win.”

Oregon went on to fall in the final Pac-12 championship game to Washington—the Ducks’ second loss to Washington last season—before a Fiesta Bowl victory over Liberty. The Buffaloes would win only once more in the 2023 season and finished 4–8. 

Colorado, now in the Big 12, will kick off its season against North Dakota State on Thursday. Oregon opens up its 2024 campaign, the Ducks’ first season in the Big Ten, against Idaho on Saturday.