TEMPE, Ariz. -- Mistakes and missed opportunities doomed Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl.

That, and the inability to stop Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington led to a blowout loss.

Enjoying the festivities

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Awash in a sea of green, yellow, black and gold, a sold-out crowd watched No. 2 Oregon beat No. 3 Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl. There were some interesting spectators outside Sun Devil Stadium on Tuesday as well. Standing in the warm Arizona sunshine with a beer in his hand and a Colorado Buffalo banner streaming from the raised trunk of a nearby rented limousine, actor Kevin Kline knew it was a special day. "Watching football on a day like this, I've got goose bumps," said Kline, a resident of Boulder, Colo. "Our friends would be kicking themselves if they could see us in shirt sleeves in January." -- The Associated Press

The No. 3 Buffaloes, who entered Tuesday's game as arguably the hottest team in the country following wins over Nebraska and Texas, turned cold when their running game deserted them.

Harrington proved too much, throwing for four touchdowns in No. 2 Oregon's 38-16 romp, costing the Buffs a shot at a co-national championship.

"I think this one was a bit of a surprise for all of us," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "Oregon did not get our best shot tonight, and that's disappointing.

"In a game like this, you want to look at it as a reward for your players. But the magnitude of it and the opportunity that was here for us and to let it slip by -- not even slip by, just let it run right by us -- that concerns me."

The Buffs allowed three interceptions and four sacks, and had two scoring chances wiped out by penalties.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," defensive tackle Justin Bannan said. "The ball wouldn't bounce our way, and we had some tough penalties."

Colorado, which averaged 275 yards rushing in its last four games, finished with just 49 yards on the ground, a figure that was reduced by several sacks in the second half.

"They never let us get untracked," Barnett said.

The momentum turned when Colorado twice failed on third-and-1 running plays early in the second quarter.

On the second play of the period, Chris Brown was stopped for no gain by linebacker David Moretti and tackle Igor Olshansky at the Oregon 39, and the Buffaloes punted.

On Colorado's next series, Cortlen Johnson was tackled for no gain by Olshansky and linebacker Wesly Mallard at the Buffs 27.

"I think the critical plays for us were the two third-down conversions that we didn't convert," Barnett said. "An offense that has run the ball as effectively as we have through the course of the year, for us to get to those two situations and not convert probably took a little wind out of our sails."

Colorado's defense gave up 500 total yards, including 350 yards passing by Harrington.

`If there was one thing that really hurt us on defense it was tackling," Barnett said. "We missed so many tackles and gave up easy first-down conversions."

Colorado squandered a scoring chance in the waning seconds of the first half. Johnson went 28 yards on a screen pass to the Oregon 28, but a holding penalty put the Buffs back at their own 38.

Their defense appeared to let up for an instant early in the third quarter, allowing Maurice Morris to score on a 49-yard run. Morris was spun down at the 20, but sat on linebacker Joey Johnson and never touched the ground. Morris bounced back up to complete the scoring play for a 28-7 Oregon lead.

"The opening drive of the second half was a critical drive, and we just weren't able to come back," Barnett said. "I don't know if I'd call it a meltdown, but we certainly didn't execute very well after that."

Moments later, Colorado blew another scoring opportunity. Bobby Pesavento appeared to have thrown a 26-yard scoring pass to Derek McCoy, but a late flag on Pesavento for throwing beyond the line of scrimmage wiped it out. Video replay appeared to show Pesavento releasing the ball at the line of scrimmage.

"I knew it was close when he threw it," Barnett said. "I couldn't tell from the replay. That was obviously a big play."

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said the Ducks' speed on defense was a prime factor.

"We knew they were fast, as fast as anybody in our league," he said. "We wanted to be able to control the football. They did a nice job of stopping us from running it, and when we tried to loosen them up with the passing game, we were just a half beat away from making a big play."