– Criticism about Oregon’s football team has come from every corner of the nation this season. College Gameday’s Lee Corso even went as far as saying that Mark Helfrich should think about overhauling his staff on last Saturday’s show. Helfrich responded to those comments Tuesday. 

– Oregon men’s basketball’s season opener is inching closer and closer. And the number one storyline going into this season, is how will the Ducks replace last year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year Joe Young. 

– Oregon men’s basketball received a verbal commitment from Eddy Ionesco, who will join the team as a walk-on in 2016.

– The combination of Senior Martenne Bettendorf and freshman Lindsey Vander Weide is now leading Oregon volleyball’s offense. Each put up double digit kills in Oregon’s match against Cal on Oct. 9, leading the Ducks to the sweep. Bettendorf added 12 digs for the Ducks while Vander Weide supplied eight to Oregon’s 44 dig total.

“Those are our two best offensive weapons right now,” head coach Jim Moore said of the hitters.

– Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has a sprained MCL, according to ESPN. Mariota was injured during the Tennessee Titans’ contest with Miami Dolphins Sunday after receiving a low hit from defensive lineman Oliver Vernon.

– Oregon women’s golf finished 10th at the Stanford Intercollegiate Tuesday. Freshman Petra Salko led shot a one-under 70, a new career low, to lead the Ducks to a score of 289 on the final day.

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Washington may have lost four defensive players to the 2015 NFL draft last season, but the stat sheet doesn’t indicate any drop-off in performance. The Huskies, who allowed just 12 points to USC last week in their 17-12 win, rank first in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 15 points per game.

It is a noticeable contrast to where Oregon sits six games into the season. The Ducks are 3-3 for the first time since 2004, and their defense ranks last in the conference in scoring defense, total defense and passing offense.

Adding to its issues, Oregon has yet to experience a consistent option at quarterback since the second week of the season. All the more reason why Washington is favored by -1.5 points, according to Odds Shark, and has a legitimate shot at ending its 11-game losing streak to Oregon.

Here’s how Oregon and Washington stack up:

Oregon offense vs. Washington defense

Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost said Monday that the quarterback carousel needs to end. But, without Vernon Adams Jr. healthy, either option at quarterback appears to be incapable of guiding the Ducks offense with the efficiency they have been used to over the years.

Because of it, Oregon has become one-dimensional and has ran the ball over 70 percent of its plays its last two games. The Ducks have been dominant in that phase of the game though, and are averaging 318.7 rushing yards per game. But, without a passing attack, the offense has become extremely predictable, and one that certainly won’t intimidate Washington.

The Huskies have recorded seven interceptions in five games, and sophomore Budda Baker is regarded as one of the top defensive backs in the nation. Elsewhere on defense, Azeem Victor has a team-high 48 tackles on the year.

Washington offense vs. Oregon defense 

While Washington’s defense may be in the top tier of the conference, its offense is certainly not. The unit is averaging 26 points per game this season and has been limited to under 20 twice already.

Freshman quarterback Jake Browning is still trying to find his footing. He’s averaging 159.5 passing yards per game and has conceded five interceptions on the year. Still, second-year head coach Chris Peterson will almost certainly have him test the Oregon secondary often.

The Ducks are allowing 323.5 passing yards per game and have yet to contain a passing attack this year.

Dwayne Washington and Joshua Perkins are two names to watch out for at wideout. Washington has 19 receptions for 240 yards and Perkins has 17 catches for 224 yards.

In addition, freshman running back Myles Gaskin ran for 134 yards on 22 carries in last week’s win and appears to be the Huskies’ feature option on the ground.

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Oregon’s situation at quarterback has been well-documented for the past several months, but the issues have certainly magnified the last three weeks. Using a quarterback rotation with Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie in back-to-back games, the Ducks passing attack has generated just 25 completions and 260 yards.

It is a reason why playmakers such as Devon Allen and Dwayne Stanford have seen such a fierce drop-off in their production this season. Simply put, their aren’t as many passes to come by, and Oregon has become increasingly predictable and less flashy because of it.

“We’ve been heavily dependent on the run the last two weeks and that gets people tight into the box,” offensive coordinator Scott Frost said after practice Monday. “We just haven’t been able to make any of those throws for two weeks. It’s definitely a part of our offensive game that needs to improve.”

That much is clear. On Saturday, the Ducks gave up a 10-point advantage in the fourth quarter and lost in double overtime to Washington State, 45-38. Once again, the lack of an efficient and consistent offense became a key decider in an Oregon loss.

“Usually in games like that, we find ways win to them,” Frost said. “We found ways to lose on Saturday.

“We got to have a little more consistent play at quarterback. We need consistency at that position, we’ve played three people at that position over the course of the year and it’s hard to have people in and out of the games like that. ”

Frost didn’t say whether a quarterback rotation would continue in the Ducks’ next matchup at Washington this Saturday, but did say that the Ducks were hoping to find a more standard option at the position.

On the other side of the ball, the secondary’s struggles mirrored the quarterbacks’ problems on Saturday. Washington State’s offense accounted for 505 yards through the air and scored on drives at the end of each half.

“We had a dozen chances to win the game and you walk off knowing the mistakes you made,” defensive backs coach John Neal said. “It’s beyond discouraging. It’s gut-wrenching, it’s never fun to lose and lose when you feel like you gave it away.”

The Ducks played without experienced defensive backs Reggie Danels and Chris Seisay Saturday, but Neal said that was no excuse.

“We made the mistakes we made with players that should’ve made those plays,” Neal said. “The next man up system is right and we could have made those plays without those guys.”

Looking ahead, Oregon will face Washington this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Huskies are coming off an upset win over USC last week and are currently allowing opposing offenses just 15 points per game.

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Oregon’s problems continued persist Saturday and the damage seems to be getting increasingly worse. This time, the painful result was a 45-38, double overtime loss to Washington State – a game in which the Ducks led by 10 in the fourth quarter.

The loss puts the Ducks at 3-3 this season and leaves a number of questions unsolved with the bulk of their Pac-12 schedule still on tap. It’s an unfamiliar position for Mark Helfrich, who has lost as many regular season games in the first six games of 2015 as he did in his first two years as a head coach. His philosophy to manage this turning tide is straightforward.

“Work,” Helfrich said at his Sunday press conference.

Helfrich also discussed questions pertaining to Washington State’s touchdowns at the end of each half, the expectations coming into the season and what the transition is like after losing a Heisman trophy winner.

When you look at the film, what were you pleased with, what were you disappointed with from last night’s game?

Pleased with how hard we played. We played hard in every phase. We’re doing a lot of good things in that way, and that’s a huge deal. First and foremost we want to be a team that plays hard, plays physically and finishes. And after that, there’s a million little details – awareness of the situation, red zone, down and distance – all those things pop up in a game like this. It’s those one or two plays in this game that if you finish the game is over.

The expectations coming into the season were pretty high, how do you manage psyche after a disappointing result?

We talk about it. If everybody is on board to continue to do the things that we’ve done well and improve the things we haven’t done well, that’s the goal. There’s some tweaks here and there from a schematic standpoint a personnel standpoint a philosophy standpoint, but you continue to work, continue to count on the character of our team.

Reggie Daniels was a key part of the defense last season, but has missed a couple games this year. Is it performance-based or is there a health issue as to why he hasn’t been playing?

He wasn’t available this week.

The last four or five teams that lost a Heisman trophy winner went 8-5, did you expect this to be a bit of a transition year, or did you think with a healthy Vernon Adams you could pick off where you left off last year?

I’m never going to think of anything other than what we control, what we can control and what’s next. At no point do we ever go, “we don’t have a, b or c, so we it’s OK.”

How do you improve the passing game? 

In some cases, and this is all coaching based, some plays there was something there to be had. A couple times we had some route depth issues that are easily correctable. We made a couple plays, had a turnover. All those little details that are highlighted and talked about all the time, they come ablaze in a game like this to an inexperienced guy. Whether it’s footwork, eye progression, all those things you have to trust and make happen in a game just like you have in training.

The defense played well, but gave up touchdowns on Washington State’s final drives of each half. What was different at the end of each half? 

Couple times, execution, a couple times that we could have put them in better situations.Couple times where could have had better communication. Couple times they made a great play and catch. I called timeout to get the ball back. You bunch all that together and you work on each facet of those things individually.

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It didn’t have the familiar and traditional ring to it, but Cal and Utah’s contest Saturday became a battle featuring the final two undefeated teams left in the Pac-12. And the Utes escaped with a 30-24 win, thanks to a defense that intercepted Cal quarterback Jared Goff five times.

Elsewhere, USC and Oregon both lost at home, with the Ducks’ collapse coming in double-overtime. In addition, Arizona State and Arizona cruised to wins in their match-ups.

Here’s a roundup of all the Pac-12 games, aside from Oregon’s:

Utah 30, Cal 24:

Jared Goff is going to want to eliminate this game from his memory. Goff, who is one of the top quarterback prospects for the 2016 NFL Draft, threw a career-high five interceptions and completed just 53 percent of his passes. Utah capitalized on those mistakes, and scored 17 of its 30 points off turnovers.

Utes running back Devontae Booker led the way on offense, accounting for 222 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Despite all of the Bears’ turnovers though, Goff had Cal in scoring position on its final drive of the game and down by six. But Goff’s pass at the Utah 21-yard line fell incomplete and assured a win for Utah.

Washington 17, USC 12

USC finished with just 346 yards of total offense and couldn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter as a stingy Huskies team came into Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and stole a win Thursday night.

Washington running back Miles Gaskin rushed for 134 yards and a pivotal fourth quarter touchdown. In addition, receiver Marvin Hall threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Perkins in the second half.

Arizona 44, Oregon State 7

Anu Solomon returned from injury to ignite an Arizona offense that had been reeling in his absence. Arizona accumulated 644 yards of offense on its way to a 44-7 win over Oregon State. Solomon passed for 276 yards, but it was the running backs who capped off every drive that ended with a touchdown.

Jared Baker, Orlando Bradford and Nick Wilson combined for 284 yards rushing and five touchdowns. In addition, Arizona’s defense returned to form, allowing just 249 yards of offense from Oregon State.

Arizona State 48, Colorado 23

Arizona State appears to be playing its best football of the season. The Sun Devils won their second straight Pac-12 game, this time in dominant fashion. Mike Bercovici passed for 260 yards and five touchdowns, a career-high, and Tim White finished his night with 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Colorado gave Oregon a scare in the first half of last week’s contest. But, Saturday was a completely different story, and the Buffaloes lost their 13th consecutive conference game. Colorado is 0-7 all-time against Arizona State, according to ESPN.

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** Editor’s note: It could be an interesting Saturday for the Pac-12 this week. USC, who was picked by all of our football writers to beat Washington, was upset by the Huskies Thursday. In addition, College Gameday is in Utah this week, for the Utes’ matchup with undefeated Cal, and Oregon is hoping to win back-to-back games for the first time this year when it faces Washington State.

Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter at Colorado last Saturday, Bralon Addison took a reverse pitch from Royce Freeman and darted towards the opposite side of the field. But, rather than continuing his stride, the former high school quarterback settled in the pocket and launched a 39-yard strike to a streaking Charles Nelson for the score.

It was the type of razzle-dazzle play often associated with the Ducks. However, this one had a distinctly different taste to it, and with one quick glance at Twitter, you would understand why.

Bralon Addison for full-time QB?

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 4, 2015

Does it still count as a trick play if Bralon Addison (our best receiver) is *legitimately* our best option to play QB? He was a H.S. star. — Bryan Kalbrosky (@BryanKalbrosky) October 4, 2015

Calls for Addison to become the starting quarterback came from every direction on the social media site. Even a @BAforQB2 account was created during the game, including the hashtag #BAforQB.

Despite the Ducks regaining some rhythm offensively and beating Colorado 41-24 that night, one truth was too hard to dismiss: Addison may have thrown the best pass of the game.

That is the state of the quarterback position at this point in the season.

While head coach Mark Helfrich said things like, “I should have to pay to watch that guy play,” in post-game press conferences last year when talking about Marcus Mariota, this year it seems he should be rewarded complimentary Advil when reaching the podium.

Jeff Lockie, a two-star recruit coming out of high school, according to ESPN, and Taylor Alie, a walk-on from Sheldon high in Eugene, split reps throughout the game Saturday. The two combined to complete just 12 passes and by the second half, were really just there to hand the ball off to the Ducks’ running backs.

And with Vernon Adams Jr.’s status still uncertain, the issues at quarterback could persist for much longer than the team, coaches or fans could have ever expected coming into the year. After all, the Ducks were ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP poll.

With the Adams’ injury, the Ducks have now displayed just how extreme the gap in talent was between Mariota and his backups the last few years. It also seems to further indicate that a program with a three-year starter, especially nowadays, can lead to a tougher sell for incoming quarterback recruits.

“We’d love to recruit guys and have them be great players and stay five years and redshirt, but it’s just not realistic,” Helfrich said on Sunday. “I think from whatever inputs these guys get today, that as soon as someone else is on campus, the other guy has to transfer. We have guys who are committed, so guys on our team should transfer.

“Across the country right now, there’s transfers playing everywhere, there’s graduate transfers playing everywhere.”

According to the way Oregon acted this offseason, it was supposed to be starting a graduate transfer too.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. And now Helfrich may be planning on a quarterback rotation for the second consecutive week.

If Twitter had anything to say about it, he’d be including Addison in that rotation as well. And while it can be clever to think that way, it illustrates the headache that the quarterbacks’ performance the last two weeks has provoked.

From a sheer talent standpoint though, the individuals behind center have never shown the potential – at least in a college game – to lead Oregon to what its fans were expecting at the beginning of this season.

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After a 41-24 win at Colorado last Saturday, Oregon comes into this week a 20-point favorite against a 2-2 Washington State team, according to OddsShark. But when considering the threats the Cougars pose on offense, this game has all the ingredients to be a matchup nightmare for the Ducks.

Washington State quarterback Luke Falk is averaging over 50 pass attempts per game this season, and his 72.6 completion percentage indicates that he’s not just heaving the ball at will. He’s also averaging 364.8 passing yards per game.

For an Oregon secondary still trying to find its footing, this presents a legitimate concern.

On the other side of the ball, Oregon’s situation at quarterback only seems to be getting more unstable. The Ducks featured virtually no threat throwing the ball downfield on Saturday, and by night’s end, the team had rushed the ball on 60 of their 81 plays.

While the oddsmakers may have written off this game as a convincing win for Oregon, there still exists too many question marks on both sides of the ball to agree with them.

Here’s how Oregon and Washington State stack up:

Oregon offense vs. Washington State defense:

Head coach Mark Helfrich said he’d be comfortable using a two-quarterback rotation again, and offensive coordinator Scott Frost said Monday that a quarterback depth chart doesn’t quite exist at the moment. The lack of a depth chart shows where the state of the position is right now, as Vernon Adams Jr. recovers from his broken index finger, and Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie try to find a rhythm guiding the offense.

Washington State’s defense isn’t exactly stout, though. The team is allowing 26.5 points per game on defense and ranks 112th in passing efficiency. But, it likely won’t be the passing attack that the Cougars will have to contain. With quarterback play the issue that it is now, the Ducks turned to the ground game against Colorado. Royce Freeman carried the ball 27 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, true freshman Taj Griffin showed off his speed, rushing for 110 yards on 11 carries.

Washington State offense vs. Oregon defense: 

Oregon allowed just seven points in the second half and forced three turnovers in its contest last weekend. It may have been the best performance by the defense this season. But Washington State’s offense will be an entirely different beast for this inexperienced secondary. Defensive backs coach John Neal told reporters Monday that Cougars head coach Mike Leach invented the type of air-raid offense they run “to create nightmares for people like me.” Despite the fact that Washington State lost to FCS Portland State in its opener, the Cougars have the strengths to match the Ducks’ weaknesses.

Falk passed for 389 yards last week in the team’s 34-28 loss to No. 23 Cal – a game that was tightly contested until the end of regulation. Oregon’s cornerbacks should also pay close attention to wide receiver Gabe Marks this week. The junior has 35 receptions for 414 yards and three touchdowns so far this season.

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Just by the nature of a win, the mood surrounding the Hatfield Dowlin-Complex was at a much more confident level Sunday, according to Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich. The Sunday previous, the Ducks were trying to regroup from one of their worst losses at Autzen Stadium ever. This one however, came the day after Oregon outscored Colorado 24-7 in the second half to win 41-24.

The performance did not indicate that Oregon’s 62-20 loss to Utah was an anomaly, though. Questions at the quarterback position persisted all night, as Oregon’s signal-callers completed just 12 passes. On the contrary, the Ducks’ running backs carried the ball 46 times, with Royce Freeman leading the way with 163 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

Oregon now looks ahead to a date with Washington State next Saturday, and Helfrich addressed questions pertaining to the quarterback rotation the Ducks used, their run-heavy game plan and the progression of their defense at his weekly Sunday press conference.

How heavily will you rely on the run game until you can figure out the quarterback carousel?

It certainly helps. Going into that game and every game, you want to establish the run. You know how great Royce is, he was getting stronger and stronger as the night went on. Whenever you can run the ball, you can kind of do anything, so it’s something you kind of want to get going.

Is the vibe here much different than it was Sunday of last week, what did a win mean to you guys?

It’s confidence in some areas. It’s also, we need to get a lot better in some areas. The nature and the conversations and the corrections are a little bit different after a win than a loss. You have a very captive audience with our guys. So many things in the game, we tackled better but we still missed tackles, we aligned better but we still had missed alignment things. Again, a thousand things after a win or loss. As long as were in this together and we’re in fix it mode, we got a chance.

In general, do you see progress on the defense?

Definitely. We improved in every phase, which is encouraging. There’s still a lot of meat on the bone in every phase. We did a nice job in four man pressure, making them as one dimensional as possible was big. We made a few plays in the secondary, we missed a few plays in the secondary. But, I think coming out of that, we’ll improve.

How do you balance utilizing the strength of your rushing attack while also not becoming predictable? 

That’s the million dollar question. If you can run the ball, you have the ability to do anything. You can dial people into certain looks, but that’s all predicated on being able to run the ball.

You mentioned Saturday that you thought you saw enough from Taylor Alie and Jeff Lockie for them to both have play time. Could you talk specifically about what you saw from Taylor, because I think most people would have just assumed it would have just been Jeff last night?

Taylor had a fantastic (fall) camp. He had a lot of people in his camp as far as supporters of where he fell in the depth chart. Those guys have both done a great job of staying competitive through this. Taylor is a playmaking guy, and I know I have a couple plays in there that he’ll just shake his head and slap himself aside the face – he had our primary read wide open for a touchdown missed it, a couple of obvious overthrows, but that’s stuff he’ll learn from.

Would you be comfortable with playing two quarterbacks again?

I would be comfortable doing it if it made sense. The game dictated that, and there were some things that I thought both guys would do better than the other. They played well enough and executed to their deal at a high enough level to warrant that. We’re not done game planning for Washington State, but we’ll see.

** Editor’s note: Oregon will be in an unfamiliar position on Saturday when it faces Colorado. The Ducks are 2-2 and unranked for the first time since 2009. Questions about the quarterback and secondary continued to mount during their 62-20 loss to Utah last week, making this game all the more interesting. Staff reporters Christopher Keizur and Andrew Bantly discuss these questions in this week’s roundtable.**

Heading into its game versus Colorado, what’s Oregon bigger concern: Who is playing quarterback or how can the secondary improve? Why?

Keizur: The biggest issue with the 2015 Oregon Ducks is the secondary. This is a group that has looked lost and confused out on the field — especially against Utah. The Utes were able to put up 257 passing yards and five touchdowns, and things were even worse than those numbers show. The most glaring error came in the third quarter when running back Devontae Booker was able to toss the ball to an unmarked Britain Covey for a 25-yard score. This could be ignored if it was one bad game, but all season Oregon has failed to stop the opposing teams from throwing the ball.

Bantly: No question: quarterback. There has been no consistency at the position. Jeff Lockie entered the game against Utah with a promising opening drive — 4-for-5 passing, a touchdown and a 20 yard run. Then he proceeded to throw two interceptions as Utah continued to increase its lead. Vernon Adams Jr., who’s been dealing with a lingering injury on his throwing hand  looked awful against Utah. He also couldn’t get out of the pocket and use his speed, an aspect thought to be a significant advantage over Lockie. If Oregon’s quarterback can’t utilize one of its best wide receiving corps in recent memory, and over rely on running back Royce Freeman, then you’ll see more of punter Ian Wheeler.

How can Oregon play like Oregon again, and do you expect it will?

Keizur: Watching Oregon the past few years, two things have really stood out. The first was a focus on the run game. The Ducks looked to really attack the corners and try to churn out yards on the ground. The second was the speed and tempo of the offense, how quickly they could fluster a defense by keeping the ball moving. If the Ducks can return to these two things, then I think fans will begin to recognize their team once again. The running backs will shoulder the load, but I think the speed with which a team can snap the ball correlates to how comfortable the quarterback feels under center, which is a real problem right now. So expect to see a partial return to form for Oregon.

Bantly: It starts with coaching. Don Pellum’s defense got beat up. Scott Frost’s offense was stagnant and uncreative. And Mark Helfrich didn’t make a significant enough halftime adjustment. Utah scored 28 unanswered points in the third quarter. For the Ducks, they’ll have three very beatable opponents before their road matchup against Arizona State. By that time, Oregon will hope to be playing like Oregon again. Do I think the team will improve? Yes, but I’ll need to see much more production if I’d give them the nod on October 29 against the Sun Devils.

Prediction. Why?

Keizur: I think Oregon will win, though that speaks more to how bad Colorado is than anything else. The Ducks will force the issue on the ground, extending the time they have to evaluate who they want to go with at quarterback in the future. You couldn’t ask for a better bounce back game for Oregon, as it gets to flex its muscles against a program that has been struggling for several years. This will be a one-game respite from the issues plaguing this season. Final score: Oregon 42, Colorado 27.

Bantly: I got Oregon in this one. Royce Freeman will be a dominant offensively. Don’t dismiss the Colorado offense though. Quarterback Sefo Liufau is playing with confidence — he hasn’t thrown an interception in his last three games. And its rushing attack is one of the best in the Pac-12. Still, I see Oregon playing flashy football and many Ducks fans asking “why couldn’t you do this against Utah” when it’s all said and done. Final score: Oregon 45, Colorado 17.

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