Much like the fairytale of the same name, the 'Cinderella' story intersecting with the Oregon football team had begun prior to the big ball. Or, kickoff.
But Oregon's football players had noted every slight in the media that centered on their opponent and made little mention of the Ducks' own inarguable dominance through the first three games of their schedule.
By the time numerous players from Deion Sanders's Colorado team had disrespected Oregon's home field and talked copious amounts of trash throughout pre-game warmups, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning knew he had one primary obligation: ensure and harness his team's motivation to its play on the field.
Mission accomplished in Oregon's 42-6 dismantling of Coach Prime's Buffaloes, who lost for the first time in four games.
Lanning offered more context on his pre-game speech that centered on ending the 'Cinderella' story and also leaned into the substance of the Ducks' program.
"I don't know Skip (Bayless) at all; I've never had a conversation with him," Lanning said during his Monday press conference. "I've watched him enough to know how often he gets it wrong. I mean that sounds about right.
"Ultimately, here's what I say: We're playing to win the game, right? And you saw a 15-second clip from a window view outside the house of what happens in our locker room. I know our locker room, I'm in the house 100% of the time. I know how our players felt going into that game, and I know what it takes to motivate our players."
Yet Oregon's own game retrospective highlight-video also shed additional insight in the Ducks' motivation.
Oregon's video production -- as slick as the team's on-field performance against Colorado -- shows Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders -- Coach Prime's son -- cursing at the Ducks' players and coaches.
It shows Colorado players digging their feet across the Oregon 'O' at midfield inside Autzen Stadium.
"That's my job, to motivate our players, right? (Bayless) has a job, I have a job, too," Lanning said. "To get out there and perform on the field. But inside that house, they felt a certain way. They felt a certain way about a group stomping on the 'O.' They felt a certain way about guys talking to them in the pregame, and I'm proud of those guys because what they decided to do was talk with their pads. Right? They didn't want to do anything extra afterwards; they wanted to talk with their pads. And they did that on Saturday.
"I'm also grateful and can clearly acknowledge that the attention we got on Saturday, in large part, was due to Deion and what he's doing to college football. And if anybody can't see what he's done for college football and how he's bringing excitement to college football, you're crazy. I said that last week as well. He's done a lot for the game, he's building something over there. I think that's really, really clear. There's no secret there."
Lanning then sent his own message in his press conference about how his approach is not going to change, regardless of Oregon's -- or Lanning's own -- opposition.
"It wouldn't matter if I was playing my 10-year-old son on the other sideline, I'm going to do everything I can to win," Lanning said. "If I'm playing Bill Belichick, I'm going to do everything I can to win. Did I go for it on fourth down? Yeah, I have every game this year; I've done it nine times. Did I go for a two-point conversion? Yeah, I've done it three out of the four games this year.
"And if we play again tomorrow, I'm going to do the same thing. I'm going to do everything I can to win the game and everything I can to motivate my team. That, to me, is classless, what (Bayless) is saying there. But I'm not really worried about it."
Ducks vs. Them: Game 4 Cinematic Recap. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/5PgrZNoaNU
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) September 26, 2023
Oregon has its next opportunity to win Saturday night on the road when it visits rebuilding Stanford.