Of Oregon’s three non-conference matchups to start the season, the all-time series against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors is definitely the most storied. Unlike Portland State and Texas Tech — which are schools that have only been playing the Ducks since the 1990s — Hawaii played its first game against the Ducks for the first time in 1921.
The Ducks won that game (47-0) as they did the next three games. In total, the Ducks and the Rainbow Warriors have faced off 7 times in the last 101 years, and their 8th will be on Saturday.
Even though the Ducks won the first four games of the series against Hawaii, this series has been anything but a David vs. Goliath story. Since 1988 — the fifth time these two teams faced off — the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have won each game, each of which took place within six years.
I’ve looked at that era of Ducks football a lot because it’s right around the same time Oregon played Portland State and Texas Tech last, so we know that during this period, the Ducks were led by the legendary head coach, Rich Brooks. In 1988 the Ducks had two QBs rotating in and out between Pete Nelson and Bill Musgrave. In the early 1990s, the QB was Danny O’Neil — whom the Rainbow Warriors defeated twice.
It’s been almost 30 years since their last matchup, but the upcoming game on Saturday is expected to end up much more like the ones of the early 20th century than the last few matchups between these teams. After the stressful outing that was the Texas Tech game, I could use a Ducks win that is never in doubt.
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