Oregon travels far for latest easy win
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Oregon's farthest trip east since 1970 was no problem.
Sophomore quarterback Marcus Mariota ran for 122 yards and a touchdown and threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns to lead the second-ranked Ducks past Virginia 59-10 Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. De'Anthony Thomas added 124 yards and three rushing touchdowns for the Ducks.
Oregon (2-0) had not traveled as far east since playing Army in 1970 but showed no signs of jet lag by scoring 21 points in the first 11 minutes.
"Our flight will feel a lot shorter going back," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said.
The Ducks have shown no signs of slowing down since Helfrich replaced Chip Kelly, who left for the Philadelphia Eagles. In two games, Oregon has scored 125 points and totaled 1,329 yards.
Oregon has two of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy. Thomas has run 29 times for 252 yards and five touchdowns, while Mariota has run for 235 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 433 yards and three scores.
"We knew that they are fast and athletic," Virginia coach Mike London said. "We tried to practice that pace, but it is hard to practice for the type of athleticism they have."
Oregon finished with 557 yards of total offense, including 350 on the ground.
Oregon scored first on a 71-yard touchdown run by Mariota on third down. It was the third touchdown run for Mariota on his sixth carry of the season.
"I thought I could get a good gain," Mariota said. "Honestly, I was looking for the first down because it was a third down. The guys up front did an awesome job blocking."
Oregon backup quarterback Dustin Haines ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.
Oregon punted for the first time this year on its next drive, but then blocked a Virginia punt to get the ball at the Cavaliers' 14-yard line. Three plays later, Thomas scored on a one-yard run, but the extra point was blocked as Oregon took a 14-0 lead.
Oregon's Terrance Mitchell, who was ejected from the season-opening win over Nicholls under the NCAA's new targeting rule, intercepted a pass and returned it to the Virginia 40-yard line. On the next play, Thomas ran into the end zone to put Oregon ahead 21-0 with 4:28 left in the first quarter.
"We did a good job feeling them out," Helfrich said. "That is a good football team. We had to be on point for communicating and identifying what they were doing to try and slow us down. Our guys did a good job of that."
Virginia answered with a 45-yard touchdown run by Khalek Shepherd to cut the lead to 21-7 in the final minute of the first quarter.
Oregon drove 80 yards on four plays in less than one minute to push its lead to 28-7 with 10:01 left in the first half. Thomas ran for 22 yards and caught a 28-yard pass from Mariota before Mariota threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bralon Addison.
Virginia's Ian Frye booted a 37-yard field goal just before halftime to get the Cavaliers within 28-10.
Alejandro Maldonado answered with a 29-yard field goal for Oregon early in the third quarter to push the Ducks ahead 31-10.
Thomas sealed the victory with an eight-yard touchdown run with 3:46 left in the third quarter as Oregon took a 38-10 lead. Following a Virginia fumble, Mariota threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Keanon Lowe. Thomas Tyner added touchdown runs of three and 31 yards for the Ducks.
Virginia quarterback David Watford threw for 161 yards as the Cavaliers totaled 298 yards of offense.
"Obviously, very disappointing," London said. "We played an excellent team. They got on us early in every phase. We could not stop them defensively."
NOTES: Oregon has won 16 straight away games not at a neutral site since a loss at Stanford on Nov. 7, 2009. That is the longest such streak in the nation. ... Oregon moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press poll this week, its highest ranking ever after the second week of the season. ... Virginia fell to 2-18-1 all-time against teams ranked in the top five with its last win coming in 2004 over fourth-ranked Florida State, 26-21.
