UVa QB Watford shoulders blame

CHARLOTTESVILLE - David Watford was one of the last Virginia players to speak to the media Saturday but he certainly wasn't dodging anybody.

Watford's second start as UVa's quarterback was marred by three interceptions and a fumble, all of which second-ranked Oregon turned into touchdowns in a 59-10 rout at Scott Stadium.

"I just have to execute better and that's on me," Watford, a redshirt sophomore, said .

Even some of Watford's good moments were short-lived.

Early in the fourth quarter and with the Ducks leading 45-10, Watford appeared to connect with Dominique Terrell on a 10-yard touchdown pass on first-and-goal.

However, the touchdown pass was nullified when UVa tight end Jake McGee was called for holding.

Two plays later, the Ducks' Dior Mathis stepped in front of a Watford pass in the end zone and took it 97 yards to the Cavaliers 3.

"It was my fault," Watford said. "I saw something different from what Dom saw and we have to be on the same page. I'm not blaming him at all. I threw the pass and it was behind him."

Instead of cutting the deficit to 45-17, a small consolation at that, UVa found itself behind 52-10.

Earlier, there was the play when Watford was hit as he was winding up to throw and the Ducks' Alex Balducci recovered his fumble.

"I was about to let the ball go," Watford said. "I didn't know what they were going to call. I assumed they were going to call it an incompletion and we'd keep the drive alive, but they didn't."

Redshirt freshman Greyson Lambert, making his UVa debut in fourth-quarter relief of Watford, was 2 of 6 for 13 yards. Watford, who was 29 of 41 for 161 yards, said it wouldn't be difficult to rebound.

"Oregon's got a great defense," Watford said. "They're a great team. They're No. 2 in the nation for a reason."

Watford thinks he's ahead of where he was two weeks ago, before the season opener.

"Exactly," he said. "Definitely. These are two of the toughest defenses in the nation. I'm learning every week. That's all I can do, continue to grow and keep pushing."

Connections

Coaching the Oregon Ducks wide receivers was Matt Lubick, receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for the past three years at Duke. Lubick belongs to the same coaching tree as UVa offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild, who coached under Lubick's dad, Sonny, at Colorado State.

By the numbers

Attendance listed at 58,502 was the second-highest of Mike London's four-year tenure, only behind the 61,000- plus who were at the 2010 UVa-Virginia Tech game in Charlottesville. ... Virginia is now 2-18-1 all-time against top-five teams and Oregon has won 16 straight road games, not counting bowl games at neutral sites.

Quote-unquote

"We had too many dropped passes, too many penalties, too many mistakes.'' - Oregon coach Mark Helfrich after the Ducks' 49-point win.

Odds 'n' ends

Josh Huff's block of Alec Vozenilek's first-quarter punt was the first against UVa since 2009. ... Defensive back Tim Harris from Richmond became the third true freshman to play in a game for Virginia, joining running back Taquan Mizzell and fullback Connor Wingo Reeves, both of whom played in UVa's season opener against BYU.

Virginia next week

The Cavaliers have an open date before VMI comes to Scott Stadium on Sept. 21 for Virginia's third straight home game to start the season.

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