Coming into this season, the Oregon Ducks started off slow, but were still able to pull-off decisive wins against U.C. Davis and Virginia in their first two matchups. However, in their next three games, the Ducks fell by narrow margins to Nebraska (35-32), future Pac-12 South Champion Colorado (41-38), and then slid to a wider margin loss against Washington State (51-33).
But, it really wasn’t until the fourth loss, which ended in a 70-21 score at home against Pac-12 rival, Washington, when topics about Oregon’s Head Coach Mark Helfrich’s job started to surface. Many believe this wasn’t just because Oregon lost their fourth straight game to a very good Husky team, but it was the way that the Ducks were completely dismantled (to the likes of which many of the Oregon faithful had not witnessed in their lifetime).