UPDATE, Monday 1:22 p.m. PT: Bralon Addison has announced he will forgo his senior season at UO to enter the NFL draft.

Oregon literally began turning the page on its 2015 football season Monday morning when the Ducks returned to classes and textbooks, and one of those players was quarterback Dakota Prukop.

Prukop, whose degree from Montana State is in economics, wrote in a text message that he begins classes Monday evening in a masters program studying nonprofit management.

Prukop isn't technically registered yet, according to the university's registrar's office, but an official said it is common for students to take classes while finalizing paperwork. The deadline for students to register for UO's winter quarter is not until Jan. 13.

Once enrolled, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Prukop can begin winter conditioning training with his new UO teammates and prepare for spring practices. NCAA rules allows players who have graduated with remaining eligibility to transfer and play immediately, and Prukop has one year left.

Prukop graduated from Montana State in December and became one of college football's most sought-after recruits, eventually turning down Nick Saban and Alabama for the Ducks, who had contacted the Football Championship Subdivision All-American a week ahead of other suitors.

But Prukop's decision wasn't the end of his work. He took the GRE, was admitted to Oregon and spent the weekend -- as the Ducks lost, 47-41, in the Alamo Bowl to TCU -- moving from his hometown of Austin, Texas, to Eugene, with a stop in between in Bozeman, Montana.

It's a stark difference from the path quarterback and fellow graduate transfer Vernon Adams Jr. took to become the Ducks' season-opening starter. Adams' admission to UO hinged on a math test taken during the first week of fall camp in mid-August and there were concerns that his seven months off from structured training with a team -- he announced his transfer from Eastern Washington the previous February -- would slow his transition to Power Five football.

Such worries turned out to be unfounded, of course, as Adams led the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing efficiency. The Ducks looked like a wholly different team when he played, and the microcosm of that difference was Saturday's Alamo Bowl.

The Ducks led TCU 28-0 when Adams left the game and didn't return after a hard hit to the helmet. UO added three more points, but then proceeded to allow a 31-point comeback in a 47-41 loss in three overtimes to the Horned Frogs, which matched Texas Tech's rally in the 2006 Insight Bowl over Minnesota as the largest deficit overcome in bowl history.

The game also laid bare, again, the need for depth at quarterback for the Ducks. UO gained 43 yards on 31 plays after halftime with Jeff Lockie replacing Adams, though Lockie also dealt with persistent low shotgun snaps that threw off UO's offensive timing. Amid TCU's rally, an apparent touchdown pass to Darren Carrington was negated when Lockie put his knee on the ground to field a low snap.

Having Lockie take snaps from under center was not an option, new offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said, because Oregon practices only in the shotgun formation. And making switches at quarterback or center, where backup Doug Brenner replaced the injured Matt Hegarty, was not considered.

"How a couple of other guys were banged up, there wasn't a ton of options there available," UO coach Mark Helfrich said. "It was one of those things where we were really close. On the play where he puts his knee on the ground, it's a touchdown, the game is over."

Instead, the Ducks would go on to lose and put a sour coda on a 9-4 season whose six-game winning streak to close the regular season included victories against Stanford and USC, the Pac-12's North and South division champions. Though bowl practices are a way for coaches to evaluate up-and-comers, preparations for the 2016 season opener Sept. 3 against UC Davis now begin in earnest, a process that begins with a partial roster makeover.

One position remains open on Oregon's offensive staff after the promotion of Lubick from receivers coach to play caller, though Helfrich did not say whether it would be to coach receivers or quarterbacks. Current graduate assistant and former UO quarterback Nate Costa is highly regarded inside and outside the program for his potential as a QB coach.

Questions have swirled about the future of Oregon's defensive staff after one of the worst defensive seasons in UO history finished by allowing 47 points to TCU after halftime. Coordinator Don Pellum has a guaranteed contract through 2018 but was not given a public vote of confidence by Helfrich the day before the Alamo Bowl.

Adding to the uncertainty is whether former offensive coordinator Scott Frost will poach any UO coaches to join his staff at Central Florida. He is close with Costa, UO outside linebackers coach Erik Chinander and Joe Bernardi, a three-year graduate assistant with the offensive line, in particular.

As for players, the coming weeks will shape the 2016 roster as transfers and retirements begin. The first Nike cleat dropped Monday when receiver Bralon Addison, the team's leading target in 2015, announced he will forgo his senior season and instead enter the NFL draft. Redshirt freshman quarterback Morgan Mahalak has begun following recruiters on social media from several Power Five schools, according to the Daily Emerald, which indicates mutual interest in checking out his options.

Receiver Darren Carrington, a sophomore who is eligible for the NFL draft because he has spent three seasons since graduating from high school, told Fox 5 in his hometown of San Diego that he will return to UO.

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif