Virginia quarterback Kurt Benkert, left, drops back to pass against OR during the first quarter … He played against the Ducks in Oregon while at Oregon State. On Nov. 21, 1987, the 2-8 Beavers came to Eugene to face the 5-5 Ducks.
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“It was a mutual decision between the coaches and I”, he said at the time. “I remember thinking that when I was walking out for the coin toss”.
Mendenhall’s second outing as Virginia head coach offers no reprieve.
Story provided by UO Athletics.
“I think he was hard on himself”, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said. So numerous problems last week for Virginia stemmed from the fact that they couldn’t keep their defense off of the field, and expelled too much energy in the first quarter.
DUCK DOMINANCE: Oregon visited Virginia and Scott Stadium back in 2013.
Olympic hurdler Devon Allen caught four passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, which he celebrated by pretending to clear hurdles in the endzone, and the Ducks got their second win to start the season before next Saturday’s game against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. The record is 18, set in 1958-62.
Virginia: On the road again next week, this time to face UConn.
Enter Mendenhall in place of the departed Mike London and UVa has a coach who won 55 percent of his away contests while in charge of BYU. “We played a really good opponent tonight, hats off to them, and we’re really looking forward to next week already”.
Victory anywhere has mostly eluded the Cavs recently. The Cavaliers fell 37-20 to Richmond in the team’s opener last weekend, spoiling Bronco Mendenhall’s debut as coach.
The result has only raised expectations for this week two matchup. After punting on the first drive, OR scored on four consecutive drives to build a 30-6 lead going into half. “If we do what we do, we should hang 50 on ’em”. Virginia’s not a team well-equipped to keep up with the Ducks in a track meet, however. This year’s version lacks the Marcus Mariota-like star power of that squad, but it still has explosive potential.
OR gained 301 of those yards on the ground, including a 207-yard performance by running back Royce Freeman. “No matter if it’s an incomplete pass or not, we’re running to the ball, everyone on the defense”. “I didn’t do much at all in the spring because I was doing track so it was pretty much just the last week of fall camp and the last two weeks to connect”.
“They hit us with a couple big plays on third down”, linebacker Micah Kiser said. “We just kept fighting”.
His 153 total yards on kickoff returns pushed him past Kenjon Barner into fifth on Oregon’s career list with 1,447.
“When you consider fast, they’re probably the one that has branded that”, Mendenhall said. Plays later, Pharaoh Brown rumbled 21 yards to the Cavaliers 2-yard line, setting up Freeman’s touchdown score, at the time, his third score of the young season and first of the game. Saturday, its approach will involve a silence snap count.
“Absolutely”, quarterback Kurt Benkert said. “We are more than consumed by what we have in our corner”.
“For the most part, not satisfied, but pleased”.
And one more way to prevent another road loss.
“It’s an out-of-conference game, so I feel like what we did last season going over to California and playing UCLA, I feel like we went into that game with a lot of momentum and just thinking that “We can do this” Even though we. didn’t win that game, but I feel like this year it’s going to be the same way with a different outcome”, Virginia running back Albert Reid said.
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“We’re 100 percent focused on ourselves and we have a lot of growing up to do in a lot of ways”, OR coach Mark Helfrich said.
