Oregon racked up more than 600 yards of total offense, led 30-6 at halftime, but never really put UVA away.
The 24th-ranked Ducks defeated the Cavs, 44-26, but as much as folks hate it when their teams have to settle for moral victories, this one was a moral victory for Virginia.
UVA (0-2) was coming off a demoralizing 37-20 loss in its opener to FCS Richmond a week ago. The defense was as porous this week as it was in the loss to the Spiders, but the offense discovered a running game against Oregon, with Albert Reid gaining 126 yards on 15 carries to key a rushing attack that gained 193 yards on 40 attempts, and surpassed the 200-yard mark when accounting for yards lost on the six sacks of quarterback Kurt Benkert.
Benkert took a bit of a step back this week, throwing two interceptions, and completing just 20 of his 39 pass attempts for 193 yards, with two touchdown passes on the night.
Oregon quarterback Dakota Prukop had a nice night in his second FBS start, going 21-for-31 passing for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
Tailback Royce Freeman had 207 yards on the ground on 21 carries, including an 85-yarder in the third quarter.
Oregon (2-0) was a 24-point favorite going in, and the long Freeman TD run made it 44-13 Oregon with 5:25 to go in the third.
But Virginia didn’t throw in the towel, with Benkert’s two TD passes to Keeon Johnson (six catches, 40 yards) and Warren Craft (two catches, 23 yards) making it respectable.
UVA put up 388 yards of total offense on the night.
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