Thibodeaux played college football for the Oregon Ducks, where he was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019, won the Morris Trophy in 2020, and was voted a unanimous All-American in 2021.

[2] He was named the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year by the USA Today after recording 18 sacks and 54 tackles during his senior season in 2018.

[3] Thibodeaux recorded 152 total tackles, 54 sacks, and eight forced fumbles during his high school career, and was the second-highest rated overall player in the 2019 recruiting class.

He accepted a scholarship to play college football for the Ducks at the University of Oregon over several other offers including USC and Stanford.

[5] As a sophomore, he won the Morris Trophy on defense and was named first-team All-Pac-12 while also winning MVP honors of the 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.

[16] In Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens, Thibodeaux had his first career sack, forcing a game-winning fumble by quarterback Lamar Jackson in the fourth quarter during the 24–20 win.

Despite Foles writhing on the ground with a rib injury, Thibodeaux could be seen celebrating the sack by pretending to make snow angels.

Despite being neither flagged nor fined, fans, analysts and Colts players widely criticized Thibodeaux's celebration as disrespectful and unsportsmanlike.

The ball was recovered by the Giants, allowing them to run down the clock and win the game, while simultaneously eliminating the Colts from the playoffs.