PULLMAN, Wash. — Junior wide receiver Dillon Mitchell paced along the Oregon sideline as the game clock ran down, taking any and all chance Oregon had. Mitchell sat down at the end of the team bench. He grabbed his chrome Oregon helmet with both hands and slammed it against the bench — twice.
On Oct. 13, Oregon celebrated on the field after upsetting then-ranked No. 7  Washington. They left the field with quite a different feeling after losing to Washington State.
Even with a healthy Justin Herbert, a new coach and momentum from one of the program’s biggest wins, the No. 12 Ducks could not defeat the No. 25 Washington State Cougars in a 34-20 loss Saturday night in Pullman, Washington.
It was a loss attached to a now four-year losing streak against the Cougars.
“It was uncharacteristic of us,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “We really did have some opportunities, but we did not come through on them. Obviously, not the kind of football that we are used to.”
The performance of the Oregon team that started Saturday’s game was something both strange and familiar.
Although it was the same roster that beat Washington last weekend, it was not the same production. Instead, it was a team that more so resembled an Oregon Duck program from the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Washington State receivers ran through Oregon defenders quicker than Oregon could realize. Oregon’s passes were far from the receivers and running backs were never open. First-half stat lines showed a total yardage deficit between the two teams of almost 230. When Oregon stalled, Washing State was there to speed up cadence and dominate.
“We were just so out of whack in the first half,” Cristobal said. “We just didn’t move the sticks. A couple negative plays and a couple incomplete passes, just not exciting and being out of rhythm put us in some tough third-down situations. … We never got it going.”
Just two seasons prior, Oregon’s last visit to Pullman during the Mark Helfrich head coach era, the Cougars outplayed the Ducks just as well.
In the game that ended 51-33 in favor of Washington State, Oregon fell behind in just as many stat lines as it did in Saturday’s game. The Ducks had 416 total yards, whereas the Cougars had 651. Oregon played through 20 first downs, as Washington State played through 36.
“They are a really good team,” quarterback Justin Herbert said. “They got a great defense and a good offense. They are really well coached. And they play passionate football.”
While this season’s Oregon team does have good promise, the loss to the Cougars will only test its validity.
“The most important thing is understanding that you got to be a grown man about this one and understand that in this conference, it’s hard against an opponent like this on the road — to start the way that we did — and expect to have success,” Cristobal said.
Facing his first upset loss as Oregon’s head coach, Cristobal will need to regroup the team in order to keep its ranking as a top-Pac-12 contender. We already know what happened to Helfrich, who was fired after a 4-8 2016 season.
Follow Maggie Vanoni on Twitter @maggie_vanoni