Oregon erupted in a flurry of points and a frenzy of pressure, pasting the 1-3 Rainbow Warriors 55-10 in Autzen Stadium Saturday night.
Oregon's defense turned a stellar job of tackling, wrapping up in the open field and limiting Hawaii receivers to almost no yards after the catch.
The win sets up a Top Twenty showdown with 3-0 Colorado, who came back to defeat in-state rival Colorado State 43-35 in double overtime Saturday night.
By halftime the Webfoots led 35-3. Through three quarters, it was 49-3 with the visitors limited to 108 yards of offense and 8 first downs. Oregon played 22 freshmen during the game, and in the last period, the Rainbow Warriors put together a 9-play, 60-yard drive aided by three penalties to score their only touchdown.
Heisman Trophy candidate Bo Nix finished his day after the first drive of the third quarter. He completed 21-27 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 9.1 yards per attempt.
After struggling a bit against a tough Texas Tech defensive front, the UO offensive line dominated in this game. The ground game cranked out 227 yards on 30 carries, including a nifty 34-yard touchdown run by Noah Whittington, who had another breakaway run of 41 yards. Nix wasn't sacked and was rarely pressured. Great blocking from Jackson Powers-Johnson gave Tez Johnson a wall to the end zone when he scored on a 12-yard screen pass on the opening drive of the third quarter.
The defense did a beautiful job of rallying to the ball and shutting down Hawaii's quick-passing game. They held the visitors to 2-14 on third downs and forced 7 Hawaii punts and one turnover on downs, racking up a pair of sacks and 7 tackles for loss.
Ty Thompson looked solid and much improved in relief of Nix, entering the game in the second possession of the second half. He was 4-6 passing for 85 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown on a crisply thrown slant pass to Traeshon Holden.
Safety Tysheem Johnson led all tacklers with 8 stops, Bryce Boettcher had six and redshirt freshman Devon Jackson had five, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Jackson drove a runner out of bounds with a strong tackle along the left sideline, forcing a punt. Popo Aumavae busted through the middle for his second sack of the season, and Jordan Burch recorded his first as a Duck. Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager was pressured and hurried throughout the game, just 27/43 passing on the day for 131 yards, 3.0 yards per attempt.
The Ducks opened the game with a quick three and out by the defense on three errant Brayden Schager passes. Tez Johnson returned the punt 15 yards to the Oregon 41. Bucky Irving banged up the middle for 10 yards, then Bo Nix found brother Tez behind the coverage for a 49-yard touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead.
On the second defensive series a third-down pass bounced off the receiver's hands. Cornerback Khyree Jackson alertly plucked it out the air at the Hawaii 30. That led to a 43-yard field goal by Camden Lewis.
The third Oregon drive started at their own ten. The Ducks dug it out with a couple of first downs, got 12 yards on a tight end reverse, reached the Hawaii 22 with a 40-yard flea flicker from Nix to Troy Franklin, then Jordan James scooted around a block by Ajani Cornelius for a 22-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 5:52 to play in the first quarter.
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