The No. 24 Oregon Ducks captured a 53-28 win over the UC Davis Aggies in their first game of the season at Autzen Stadium Saturday afternoon.
After a 25-point effort in the first half, Oregon wasted no time getting on the scoreboard after halftime. Royce Freeman broke off a 49-yard run early in Oregon’s first drive to get Oregon down to the UC Davis one-yard line, and Dakota Prukop followed with a touchdown on a designed run.
Charles Nelson had a kick return of 62 yards and a punt return of 41 yards that each put Oregon in a solid position to start scoring drives. Nelson finished with 288 all-purpose yards on the day, with 153 coming on kick returns and 98 coming on punt returns.
Key plays:
— Freeman’s run on the third play of Oregon’s opening drive put the Ducks in position to score right away. That single run accumulated in more yards than Freeman had rushed for in the entire first half. Prukop picked up his third touchdown of the day on the ensuing play to put Oregon ahead 33-7.
— The Aggies answered back with a score of their own early in the third quarter when quarterback Ben Scott connected with Keelan Doss for a 50-yard reception in double coverage. Two plays later, Manusamoa Luuga punched in a 20-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 33-14.
— Freeman scored another rushing touchdown — this time from five yards out — to extend Oregon’s lead to 39-14. The Ducks attempted to score on a two-point conversion, but Nelson was stuffed at the line.
— The Aggies burnt the clock for much of the third quarter with an 11-play drive that lasted almost six minutes. The drive resulted in a one-yard rushing touchdown by Luuga followed by a successful extra point that cut Oregon’s lead to 39-21.
— UC Davis recovered a Charles Nelson fumble on the Oregon 30 midway through the third quarter and had an opportunity to further shorten the deficit, but Troy Dye blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt to keep the Aggies off the scoreboard.
— Tony Brooks-James came off the bench, rushing for a 33-yard touchdown. The score gave the Ducks a comfortable 53-28 lead with 3:33 remaining.
Key stats: 
Oregon passing
Dakota Prukop — 21-of-30 for 271 yards and three touchdowns
UC Davis passing
Ben Scott — 27-of-47 for 303 yards and one interception
Oregon rushing
Royce Freeman — 11 carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns
Tony Brooks-James — 5 carries for 57 yards and one touchdown
Dakota Prukop — 11 carries for 36 yards and one touchdown
Kani Benoit — four attempts for 34 yards
UC Davis rushing
Manusamoa Luuga — 22 carries for 96 yards and three touchdowns
Oregon receiving
Darren Carrington — seven receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown
Johnny Mundt — three receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown
UC Davis receiving
Keelan Doss  — seven receptions for 116 yards
Oregon total offense
522 yards
UC Davis total offense
392 yards
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney