No. 3 Oregon 66, Nicholls State 3: Marcus Mariota accounted for three touchdowns and De’Anthony Thomas rushed for two as the Ducks routed the visiting Colonels in Mark Helfrich’s debut as a head coach.

Mariota passed for 234 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 113 yards and two TDs as Oregon rolled up a school-record 772 yards of total offense in Helfrich’s first contest since replacing Chip Kelly. Thomas rushed for 128 yards on 18 carries and Brandon Marshall added 124 on eight rushes as the Ducks finished with an even 500 yards on the ground.

Oregon’s previous high for total offense was 730 yards against Southern California last season. The Ducks possessed the ball for 19 minutes, 46 seconds against Nicholls State but wasted little time getting started by putting 24 points on the board over the first 10 minutes.

Thomas scored on a 4-yard run 91 seconds into the game and Mariota tossed a 27-yard score to Bralon Addison three minutes later. Thomas scurried in from 22 yards out to make it 21-0 with 6:28 left in the first quarter before Alejandro Maldonado culminated the opening flurry with a 29-yard field goal.

Andrew Dolan’s 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter put Nicholls State on the board before Mariota scored on runs of 12 and 46 yards to make it 38-3 with 6:20 left in the half. Byron Marshall added a 49-yard scoring run late in the third quarter and the Ducks tacked on three more touchdowns in the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Oregon CB Terrance Mitchell was ejected for “targeting” when he delivered a head-to-head hit on sliding Nicholls State QB Beaux Hebert late in the first quarter. Tulsa transfer Kalen Henderson took over for Hebert and was 21-of-40 passing for 214 yards. … The Ducks took less than two minutes to score on eight of their nine touchdown drives. The other one lasted 2:11. … Nicholls State RB Marcus Washington totaled 132 yards (40 rushing and 92 receiving on 11 catches).