Colorado, Deion Sanders Reportedly Reached Out To Pac-12 About Oregon Potentially Accessing Practice Video

Did the Oregon Ducks access Colorado practice footage before their matchup in Eugene during the 2023 college football season? 

According to a report from Front Office Sports, Colorado staffers, along with Deion Sanders, reached out to the Pac-12 conference about potential ‘unauthorized access’ to the teams practice video. 

Following the 42-6 loss to Oregon, which was 35-0 at halftime, FOS is reporting that football staffers at Colorado grew suspicious that the Ducks had been a little bit too prepared for the conference matchup. A number of college athletic teams use the ‘Catapult’ system, which is software that stores practice video, film breakdowns and other electronic sources of footage. 

Schools pay to use the Catapult software on a yearly basis, and is well-known within the industry. According to the report, Pac-12 officials then reached out to the Colorado athletic department to gather more information regarding the claim that Oregon had somehow accessed their system. The Pac-12 also wanted to know if the school wanted to proceed with an investigation into the matter. 

FOS reported that Catapult officials conducted an investigation into the claim by Colorado coaches, and found that the security of their online database had not been compromised. The report also states that FOS submitted a FOIA act, looking for email correspondence between Colorado and the Pac-12, which the school had not replied to as of their story. 

Oregon did release a statement to FOS regarding the claim. 

"We are unaware of any information that provides any credibility to this claim and see no reason to comment further,"

Catapult Released Statement About Investigation Into Colorado Claims

After conducting their own investigation of the matter, Catapult officials released a statement to FOS, which detailed their systems, and that no breach occurred in this matter between Colorado and Oregon. 

"We conducted a thorough investigation into reports of unauthorized access to Colorado’s football video footage last season," a Catapult spokesperson told Front Office Sports. "We can confirm that the security of our systems was not compromised during the investigation."

EUGENE, OREGON - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks walks on the field against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half at Autzen Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

The company went on to tell FOS that ‘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’. 

As for Colorado, they decided not to pursue the matter any further according to the report. 

If you remember before that game, and how could you not, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said pregame that ‘They’re (Colorado) playing for clicks, we’re playing for wins’. 

We will see if Colorado decides to comment on the matter, specifically if there was any type of intrusion on their Catapult network database before the matchup against Oregon. 

As for the 2024 season, Colorado will play North Dakota State on Thursday night in the Buffaloes opener, which should be highly entertaining and have the eyes of college football fans.