Autzen Stadium – Eugene, OR
Kickoff: Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Oregon -24, Total: 70.5

Virginia will be hoping to rebound from an embarrassing opening week loss when it faces #24 Oregon on Saturday.

Virginia opened up the season as a 12-point favorite against FCS opponent, Richmond. The Cavaliers were expected to have no trouble winning that one, but they ended up losing 37-20. It was a brutal way to open the year, as Virginia allowed Richmond to go for 524 yards of total offense. That’s not necessarily a good sign heading into its meeting with Oregon. The Ducks opened their season with a 53-28 victory as 48.5-point favorites against UC Davis. Oregon rushed for 251 yards in that game and added 271 yards through the air. Despite those being good numbers, the Ducks were definitely expecting even more against a weak opponent like that one. They’ll now hope to turn things around and beat up on Virginia on Saturday. These two teams last faced one another in 2013 and Oregon won that game 59-10 as 26-point road favorites. One thing that sticks out when looking at this game is the fact that Virginia is 8-1 ATS as an underdog over the past two seasons. The Ducks, however, are 72-46 ATS after a win by 17 or more points since 1992.

If the opener against Richmond is an indication of things to come then the Cavaliers are in for a rough season. The team really struggled on defense and that is just not going to fly on Saturday. Virginia is playing against an explosive Oregon offense and if it cannot get stops then the Ducks just might put up 60 or more points in this one. Offensively, one positive sign is that QB Kurt Benkert played well for Virginia. Benkert was 26-for-34 with three touchdowns and one interception last weekend, but he’s in for a completely different game on Saturday. Benkert is going to need to throw the ball a ton in this one, as the Cavaliers will likely be playing from behind for a majority of this game. If he is not making wise decisions then this Oregon defense will make him pay as well. While the Ducks don’t pride themselves on holding their opponents to low-scoring games, they do have athletes all over the field and will find a way to cause turnovers.

There’s a new quarterback in Eugene and his name is Dakota Prukop. This is a position that has not been a problem for Oregon recently and it seems as though the Ducks are okay under center once again. In his debut, Prukop was 21-for-30 with 271 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. He also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. While Virginia was expected to have a better defense than UC Davis before the year, the Cavaliers looked awful on that side of the ball in their opener. Prukop should be able to put up some impressive numbers in this game as well. Helping Prukop ease into things will be the explosive running of RB Royce Freeman. The junior is one of the best backs in the nation and rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries last week. He should see an even bigger workload on Saturday and will likely run wild against Virginia in that one. Defensively, this Oregon secondary will need to make some plays. The Ducks will surely score a ton of points in this game, but it’s up to the defense to keep Virginia’s offense off the field.