Predicting the Final Score of No. 13 Oregon Ducks vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Dan Lanning and the No. 13 Oregon Ducks (2-0) are back at home in Eugene this week, where they'll face Timmy Chang and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (1-2) in a week 3 non-conference matchup.
The Ducks and Rainbow Warriors haven't played since 1994, a game Hawaii won 36-16.
It's safe to say a lot has changed with both programs in the 29 years since that game, so Saturday's contest should be fun to watch. Last week I predicted Oregon would win 38-27 and they won 38-30.
With that said, let's get into predicting this week's game.
Oregon heads into Saturday's game fresh off a thrilling 38-30 comeback win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road in Lubbock, and the Ducks hope that momentum carries into this week's game.
Veteran quarterback Bo Nix has looked great in the first two games of the season, with the exception of a near interception last week when he tried to sync up with tight end Casey Kelly in the end zone. While the Ducks put up 472 yards of total offense, they weren't able to run the ball as well as I expected, finishing with 113 yards on 31 carries to average 3.6 yards a pop.
I fully expect Will Stein to deploy a heavy dose of run plays early and often to help the Ducks establish themselves as the point of attack and open up the rest of the offense. So far Oregon's studs like Troy Franklin and Bucky Irving have been just that, studs.
What we're still learning is how impactful new weapons like Tez Johnson and Gary Bryant Jr. will be. I'm also expecting to see a cleaner game from Oregon's new-look offensive line this week, after they were out of sorts last week with penalties and even running into each other at times on pulls.
Hawaii's defense will face a tough task in slowing down the Oregon offense, and they'll be without perhaps their best defensive player on Saturday, with head coach Timmy Chang announcing that linebacker Logan Taylor will miss the remainder of the 2023 season after tearing his ACL against Albany.
Looking to the other side of the ball for Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors have a solid quarterback in junior Brayden Shager. Earlier this week Lanning was quick to acknowledge that he has the strongest arm of any team they've faced so far in 2023, and Timmy Chang's air raid offense starts with him.
Shager threw for 266 yards and four touchdowns last week, but he also struggled with turnovers, throwing three interceptions. He has some talented weapons to throw to in Kansas transfer Steven McBride and redshirt freshman Pofele Ashlock, who has more than 300 receiving yards to go with three touchdowns early in the season.
No one expects Hawaii to run the ball much, so this will really be a big test for Oregon's defensive front and their secondary. Players like Jordan Burch, Brandon Dorlus and Matayo Uiagalelei will need to get after the quarterback and finish plays so the Ducks don't get beat deep and over the top.
The secondary is still a bit of a work in progress, but the standout for me in week 2 was Jahlil Florence. Khyree Jackson will hope to have a bounce back game for the Ducks. Sure he had an interception against Texas Tech, but he also had a costly pass interference call that hurt the team and a bad missed tackle in crunch time.
The defense looked very promising in week 2 and should look better this week, but Hawaii is an offense that will hurt you if you don't come prepared and you don't execute.
I see Hawaii ripping off some explosive plays and putting up some points, but this one should be decided at the half, if not before then. Oregon plays their best ball at home, and that trend continues this week.
Prediction: Oregon 59 Hawaii 17
