After fending off the Brigham Young University Cougars in a tight 19-16 win last week, the Virginia Cavaliers will host the Oregon Ducks in their first ever meeting on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. The Ducks are coming off a 66-3 thrashing of Nicholls State in their season opener and look to advance past the Cavaliers to a 2-0 record. Saturday will mark Oregon’s first regular season game against an ACC team. Virginia is unfamiliar with the Pac-12, having played teams from the conference three times in school history. Here’s how the two teams stack up.
Offense
Oregon: The Ducks set a school record in their win against Nicholls State with 772 total yards on offense, helping them breeze by the Colonels 66-3. Quarterback Marcus Mariota totaled 347 yards and found the end zone three times. De’Anthony Thomas and Byron Marshall combined to account for more than half of Oregon’s 500 rushing yards, another gaudy statistic that encompasses Oregon’s historically impressive offense. Offensive weapons Josh Huff, Bralon Addison and Colt Lyerla will also give Virginia fits on Saturday.
Virginia: Sophomore quarterback David Watford won the starting job during training camp and completed 18 of 32 passes for 114 yards in Virginia’s week one win over BYU. The Cavaliers return their leading rusher from a season ago in junior Kevin Parks, who has rushed for more than 700 yards each of the past two seasons. Parks is a power runner with strong legs, checking in at five feet eight inches tall. Virginia also returns last season’s leading receiver, junior Darius Jennings as well as senior offensive tackle Morgan Moses who was named to ESPN’s ACC pre-season all-conference team. Virginia scored 22.8 points per game last season.
Defense
Oregon: Oregon’s defense has a wealth of depth, returning seven starters from last season. Brian Jackson and Avery Patterson anchor a strong secondary, which also includes preseason All-American Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. The Ducks defense forced 25 interceptions and 27 fumbles last season. They play with speed and aggression and constantly rotate players, mixing up blitz packages and keeping fresh legs in the game.
Virginia: The Cavaliers’ specialty is stopping the run — their defense allowed less than four yards per carry last season. They were also stingy through the air, holding opponents to 208 passing yards per game, but forced only four picks all season. Virginia returns nearly its entire starting defensive line, the biggest loss being Chris Brathwaite, who led the team in sacks in 2012. The Cavaliers have adequate size on defense, but lack the speed to keep up with Oregon’s offense.
Special Teams
Oregon: The place kicker position is still up in the air — both Alejandro Maldonado and Matt Wogan saw time against Nicholls State. Maldonado connected on Oregon’s lone field goal attempt and converted six extra points, while Wogan made three. Thomas and Keanon Lowe are both threats to return kickoffs to the house, and Addison is deceptively quick on punt returns. The departure of Jackson Rice leaves the Ducks without a true punter on the roster. Maldonado is listed as the punter and punted three times in 2010 for an average of 36 yards.
Virginia: Freshman Taquan Mizzell was Virginia’s best off-season signing and will return kicks along with Khalek Shepherd, who averages 22.6 yards per kick return for his career. Sophomore Ian Frye is on place kicking duty and connected on a 53-yarder against BYU, crushing his previous career-best of 30 yards. Frye is four for six career in field goal attempts.