The No. 24-ranked Oregon Ducks defeated the UC Davis Aggies 53-28 on Saturday at Autzen Stadium in the opening game of the 2016 season.
The Ducks got off to a rocky start. After forcing a defensive stop, Oregon punt returner Charles Nelson muffed the catch, and the Aggies recovered in Oregon territory.
UC Davis was able to enter the redzone and drive the ball inside the Duck 10 yard line. Then, on a play-action pass, Aggie quarterback Ben Scott found an opening in the defense and scrambled into the end zone, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead.
The first two Oregon offensive possessions were marred by penalties and missed assignments. The offense was in a funk as they were breaking in a new quarterback and four offensive linemen.
“From an effort standpoint I thought we were solid,” head coach Mark Helfrich said. “[There are] a thousand other things that we can clean up, but that happens a bunch in the first game whether you’re a veteran or not.”
The offense found its rhythm and got on the board at the end of the first quarter. After big completions to Pharaoh Brown and Darren Carrington, the Ducks were six yards shy of the goal line. They handed the ball to Royce Freeman, who dodged and weaved his way through Aggie defenders on his way to the end zone.
As Oregon often does, the PAT appeared to be a conventional attempt, but after a large shift of the front line to the left hash, Nelson was behind center as he took the snap and ran his way in for the two point conversion. That gave the Ducks an 8-7 lead after the first quarter.
Oregon began to dominate both sides of the ball in the second quarter. Defensively, the Ducks and their new 4-3 scheme shut-out UC Davis. The hosts limited the Aggies to 13 yards on 12 rushing attempts and 108 total yards in the first half.
Freshman linebacker Troy Dye was everywhere defensively throughout the game, and in the first half he recorded eight total tackles with three of them for a loss. He ended the game and lead the team with 11 total tackles, 4.5 for loss, 1 sack and a blocked UC Davis field goal.
“Sometimes I was out there and I knew what was coming because we watched a lot of film,” Dye said after the game. “The way I played, I did not expect it at all. … [My expectation] was to come in and give it all I have.”
While the defense was forcing the Aggie offense off of the field, the Oregon offense began putting points on the board.
After an Aidan Schneider field goal, quarterback Dakota Prukop threw two touchdown passes in the quarter. The first was a 10 yard pass to Johnny Mundt that put the Ducks up 19-7. Jalen Brown caught the second one as Oregon extended its lead to 25-7 entering the half.
Despite scoring 25 points in the half, and ending the game with 53, Prukop never felt that the offense reached its full potential.
“I don’t think we ever got into the true mojo,” Purkop said. “[UC Davis] were bringing some blitzes that limited their tempo. … I wanted to make sure to get things protected so it slowed me down.”
The scoring went back-and-forth in the second half.
Prukop and Royce Freeman both recorded rushing touchdowns in the red zone.
Freeman ended the day as Oregon’s leading rusher with 87 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns.
Tony Brooks-James also ran his way to the end zone on a 33 yard run. He ended the game with 57 yards on 5 carries.
UC Davis matched Oregon’s touchdowns with runs of its own. In the second half, senior running back Manusamoa Luuga had two, one-yard touchdown runs to go with a 20-yard touchdown run. He was the only Aggie to score in the second half as he ended the game with 96 yards on 22 carries.
After all was said and done, new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke was critical of his new defense.
“We didn’t tackle very well,” Hoke said. “We gave up some big balls down the field. [But] we won, and winning is what it is all about.”
Oregon’s only injury during the game was senior offensive lineman Cameron Hunt, but offensive line coach Steve Greatwood and Helfrich said Hunt is OK.
The Ducks ended the day with 522 total yards of offense while the Aggies finished with 392.
Oregon will next prepare to host Virginia on Sept. 10 at 7:30 pm.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917