Colorado accused Oregon of accessing private football data during 2023 season

Colorado accused Oregon of accessing private football data in the aftermath of the Ducks' blowout win over the Buffaloes last season, Front Office Sports reported Wednesday .

Head coach Deion Sanders and Colorado started the 2023 season with a perfect 3-0 record, including a marquee win over No. 17 TCU to earn a spot in the top 25 going into a Week 4 matchup with Oregon. The No. 19 Buffaloes took on the No. 10 Ducks in what was expected to be a back-and-forth battle, but Oregon came away with a commanding 42-6 win.

Colorado's season spiraled from there, as Coach Prime's team lost eight of its last nine games to finish 4-8.

One year later, Front Office Sports reported that Colorado issued a complaint to the now-defunct Pac-12 office after the loss stating that Oregon may have tapped into the Buffaloes' "online service that stores practice video and other data."

For more on Colorado's accusation, The Sporting News has you covered below.

BENDER: Coach Prime eager to show his way will work in Year 2 at Colorado

Colorado accuses Oregon of accessing private football data during 2023 season

Colorado reportedly accused Oregon of accessing private football data after suffering a 42-6 loss during Week 4 of the 2023 college football season, according to a report from Front Office Sports' A.J. Perez.

"Colorado football staffers identified multiple potential incursions into the team’s online service that stores practice video and other data," per Front Office Sports.

The Pac-12 officials reportedly reached out to Colorado's athletic department to see if the school wanted to pursue a legal investigation, but Colorado officials "chose not to move forward," a source told Front Office Sports.

Catapult, the video replay system used by Colorado's football team, conducted its own review following the Buffaloes' allegation and found no evidence of tampering with its files.

“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 Front Office Sports. “We can confirm that the security of our systems was not compromised during the investigation.”

After those results, Colorado pulled back its pursuit of the allegations against Oregon.

Colorado reportedly declined to comment on Front Office Sports' story on the matter.

“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.