Colorado QB Steven Montez heaves it to WR Bryce Bobo, who makes the unbelievable, twisting one-handed catch that is originally ruled incomplete but is reviewed and ruled a touchdown. (0:44)

EUGENE, Ore. -- Colorado offensive lineman Tim Lynott walked off the field at Autzen Stadium in a daze. A glove dropped from his helmet and he, without noticing, kept walking alone, following the masses toward the tunnel.

“Holy s---,” he said to himself, “I mean, s---.”

Oregon fans had already had their mass exodus earlier in the evening and the Buffs were now finding their way toward their locker room. Lynott continued walking toward the end zone where the Buffs had scored their go-ahead touchdown over Oregon and on the opposite end from where Ahkello Witherspoon had sealed Colorado’s win with an interception.

“S---,” he repeated.

Lynott walked up through the tunnel and past the smattering of Colorado fans where he delivered a few high-fives. He was walking toward the locker room when Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre moved by at a full sprint. He shouted to fans, slapped players’ backs and hugged everyone within arm’s reach.

“Holy s---,” Lynott said to himself.

On a night on which the Buffs picked up a 41-38 win over Oregon, those were the two overriding emotions -- shock and joy.

For so long Oregon has been the standard in the Pac-12 while the Buffs have been the doormat. But on Saturday, Colorado helped push the needle toward parity from top to bottom in the Pac-12.

And on that night, MacIntyre would not ask his players to act relaxed or composed. He would not tell them to watch their mouths. There would be no keeping it cool, and MacIntyre -- who had started crying with 40 seconds left in the game -- certainly wasn’t going to be the one to try and impose it.

“It’s hard to act like you’ve been there,” MacIntyre said, “when you haven’t been there.”

Head coach Mike MacIntyre didn't hold back in celebrating Colorado's huge win over Oregon on Saturday. AP Photo/Thomas Boyd

And Colorado really hasn’t been there. Coming into Saturday night, they had won just five Pac-12 games since joining the conference in 2011 and were 0-5 in conference play against Oregon (losing each of those games by an average margin of 38 points).

Last season, the Buffs showed strides by coming close a few times -- they were within a touchdown of Arizona, UCLA, USC and Utah -- but ultimately lost all of those games.

And as the Ducks began to put together strong offensive and defensive stretches near the end of the third quarter, it looked as though Oregon’s name might be added to that list of “Colorado’s almost-wins.”

“They’re driving and everybody in the building is probably thinking, ‘Oh no, here it goes,’ ” MacIntyre said.

And, when Prukop launched an end-zone fade to Darren Carrington, a play that ultimately decided the game, both coaches certainly felt confident in the chips falling their way.

The Ducks had Carrington, the rangy receiver with a penchant for big plays.

And Colorado had Witherspoon on the defensive end, a player who MacIntyre had seen defend that exact play countless times in practice. A player who, when he saw that ball go up, thought it “looked like it needed to be caught ... by me.” And, at the end of the play, it was -- Witherspoon’s end-zone interception sealed the win for the Buffs.

“In that situation, obviously, we’re trying to give a playmaker a chance,” Helfrich said after the game.

But what Helfrich didn’t realize was that for the first time since Colorado entered the league, perhaps the better playmaker in that situation was the one in the Buffs’ uniform, not the one in the Ducks’.

And so Witherspoon, who had been a part of just one Pac-12 win as a Buff, gave his team the start to the season they’ve so desperately wanted for so long.

As shock settled into acceptance, MacIntyre spent most of his postgame speech shaking his players’ hands, telling them he was grateful they -- like Witherspoon -- had stuck to his plan even when the results had been so dissimilar.

And in a single win the Buffs proved that they’re no longer satisfied to be the doormat, the team that’s transitioning to the Pac-12 or the team that almost wins half of its conference games.

On Saturday, they were a team that could field a backup quarterback and win. They were a team that could face second-half adversity and win. They were a team that found an answer to everything that Oregon -- yes, Oregon -- had put on the field.

They were, for the first time, a team that belonged.

Welcome to the party, Colorado.