What is there to say about Oregon vs Hawaii, realistically?
Oregon ran over Hawaii on Saturday night to the tune of 560 total yards and 55 points. The Ducks only allowed about three yards per play defensively. They played mostly mistake free outside of garbage time, with several of their larger penalties occurring on a late defensive possession resulting in a Hawaii touchdown. Other than that, nothing really notable happened in the game.
But isn’t that the point?
Oregon has spent years allowing obviously inferior opponents to hang around and cause drama late (see: 2018 Stanford, 2019 Auburn and Arizona State and any other game you can remember). But that isn’t the case anymore. Oregon is back to running up the score on bad teams they should be beating up, throwing in backups almost the entire second half, and even getting the third stringers some run.
On Saturday, the Ducks were never anywhere close to danger against Hawaii. They simply walked out onto the field, forced three incompletions, went two plays for a touchdown, and never considered pulling back. It was a performance where they looked like they are supposed to look. Sure, it isn’t good for situational practice when you score easily and your first team defense doesn’t allow anything interesting to happen.
Popo Aumavae celebrates his sack. (Photo by Eric Evans of Oregon Football X Account)
On a weekend where several top teams looked suspect, the Ducks had their opponent put away by halftime. Alabama struggled with USF, FSU had a tough time holding off Boston College, and as I write this article: Kansas and Colorado are both struggling to so much as move the ball against a couple Mountain West teams. But not the Ducks, they came out and took care of business.
Speaking of the Buffaloes, they come to Eugene next week. In what is sure to be an absolute circus, the Ducks secondary will need a repeat performance from this weekend if they are going to hold Colorado in check. After improving their rushing attack against Hawaii, there might be something exploitable there as well.
In the meantime, just enjoy the week. Oregon is undefeated, they look supremely talented, and they just had one of the most boring 45 point wins I have ever seen.
Ryan Robertson
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Top Photo Credit: Eric Evans of Oregon Football X Account
Ryan Robertson is a defense contractor for the United States Marine Corps. A lifelong Duck fan from Grants Pass, he joined the Army out of high school. After four years as an Intelligence Analyst he decided it was time to further his education and pay more attention to his Ducks. One of Ryan’s first memories is of watching the Ducks, led by Joey Harrington, beating up on the Utah Utes in 2001. His grandfather ran track at Oregon in the ‘50s. He loves the Ducks, and has a passionate interest in reading every scrap of analysis centered around the football team.