EUGENE, Ore. -- Dakota Prukop said he's lucky to be surrounded by so many playmakers at Oregon.
From prolific running back Royce Freeman to Olympic hurdler Devon Allen, the Ducks' new quarterback has lots of options. And that makes his job easy, he said Saturday night after No. 24 Oregon defeated Virginia 44-26.
"It's a really unique group," Prukop said. "It's cool."
Prukop threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns -- all to different receivers. Freeman ran for 207 yards and 2 scores, while Allen caught 4 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, which he celebrated by pretending to clear hurdles in the end zone.
While it wasn't perfect, and questions about the defense remain, the Ducks got their second victory to start the season before Saturday's game against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium.
Freeman said the Ducks' famous speed emerged.
"Definitely found a little rhythm. There were times out there that Virginia wasn't even set and we were snapping the ball," Freeman said.
Oregon (2-0) was coming off a 53-28 victory over UC Davis in its opener, Prukop's debut. The graduate transfer showed creativity in the first half against Virginia (0-2), escaping from the Ducks' own 1-yard line with a 9-yard run and a pitch to Dwayne Stanford, who scampered 14 yards to get the ball out to the 24.
On the same drive, Prukop hit Allen with a 55-yard pass and the Ducks went on to score on a 2-yard pass to Stanford for a 20-6 lead. Prukop found Allen with a 77-yard pass for a touchdown in the third quarter that put the Ducks up 37-13.
Allen finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles last month in the Rio Games, becoming just the fourth active college player in the modern era to compete in the Olympics.
"It's really easy when you have the skill players like that around you," Prukop said. "It's really just hats off to those guys, to do what they do."
Albert Reid rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown, while Kurt Benkert threw for 193 yards and 2 scores for Virginia. The Cavaliers fell 37-20 to Richmond in the team's opener last weekend, spoiling Bronco Mendenhall's debut as coach.
"I can live with the things that have to be improved when kids try that hard and are having that much fun and they're supporting each other the way they were," Mendenhall said. "That was the makings of a football team today and that was a completely different feeling than what I had a week ago."
Sports on 09/12/2016