You can’t knock Mark Helfrich on accountability.
Oregon has lost back-to-back games in a season for the first time in almost a decade, and Helfrich wants the credit.
Sure, if Dakota Prukop’s final pass to Darren Carrington in the corner of the end zone travels three feet further, the Ducks beat Colorado. Sure, if Charles Nelson punches in a couple more two-point conversion attempts, the Ducks beat Nebraska. If those things happen, Oregon is 4-0 instead of 2-2.
But those things didn’t happen — so blame Helfrich.
“Anything that’s bad in this program is my responsibility,” Helfrich said during his post-Nebraska press conference. “Anything you think of that’s bad is my fault.”
The season is a third of the way complete, and the Ducks have not appeared ready to face the challenges that lie ahead. Their past two losses erased their shot at a College Football Playoff berth and made their odds at winning a Pac-12 title seem dubious at best. Even a bowl game berth — which requires a winning record — no longer appears to be a sure thing.
Helfrich was asked what areas Oregon must improve upon in order to turn the season in the right direction. The list is “long,” he said, adding, “we don’t have enough time to make that list right now.” Here’s how he addressed some of the team’s concerns over the past two weeks:
The young defense that has struggled against the run?
“One aspect that we need to improve a ton,” Helfrich said.
The vulnerability of the secondary?
“That is on us coaches to iron that out.”
Penalties?
“That’s on me 100 percent.”
Two-point conversions?
“We need to coach that better.”
Prukop’s pocket presence?
“We’ll coach that up.”
Missed assignments on third and fourth down?
“Just got to coach that up and move on.”

He and the coaching staff have their hands full. Rest assured, Helfrich is confident in his team and still believes the Ducks have something to play for this season.
“I told the team last night, ‘I believe 100 percent that this team can be special — this team, this year,’” Helfrich said Sunday. “As long as we’re accountable and we’re moving forward, we can do anything.”
Not everyone is so sure.
Each week during the college football season, USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken ranks the sport’s “five most miserable” teams based on their fan bases’ knee-jerk reactions to what they witnessed the previous game.
Wolken ranked Oregon No. 3 this week, only behind fallen powerhouse USC (1-3) and most-miserable Notre Dame (1-3), which fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder the day after suffering its biggest upset loss in two decades against Duke.
“This was the clearest piece of evidence yet that Oregon in the post-Chip Kelly era has slipped from national relevance since making the championship game two years ago,” Wolken wrote. “When you look at where the Ducks are trending in recruiting under Helfrich, it won’t be long before they’re operating with a talent deficit to go along with their coaching deficit.”
College Football Talk’s John Taylor wrote that the Ducks’ biggest concern should be its defense, which currently ranks 94th in the FBS against the pass and 95th against the run, while SB Nation’s Alex Kirshner implied Helfrich’s seat is beginning to “heat up.”
Oregon is a young team bound to endure growing pains, but losing to Colorado raises red flags regardless of age. Since the Buffaloes joined the conference in 2011, only one Pac-12 team they’ve beaten went on to play in a bowl game the same season.
It may have been the most troubling loss Oregon has suffered in the Helfrich head coaching era. The fact that it was Colorado’s backup quarterback who stole the win from Oregon brings Duck fans nauseating memories of losing to third-string quarterback Cardale Jones in the 2015 national championship and backup Bram Kohlhausen in the Alamo Bowl earlier in 2016.
Junior defensive back Tyree Robinson said after the loss to Colorado that some younger players took the game for granted because the Ducks hadn’t lost to the Buffaloes since 1998.
“A lot of the younger guys that haven’t been here in the program a long time … they don’t know what the culture is really like,” Robinson said. “You didn’t come to Oregon just to put on a magic jersey and play good.”
Defensive lineman Rex Manu called the loss to Colorado “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“Losing to Nebraska — that was maybe understandable,” Manu said. “But you could tell last week throughout practice that people were kind of slacking and taking Colorado for granted and that came back to bite us in the ass.”
Helfrich reminded reporters that Oregon suffered early losses and was “left for dead” each of the past two seasons, but managed to finish both strong. But those early-season losses came at the hands of eventual Pac-12 South champion Arizona in 2014 and Michigan State, Utah and Washington State last year, each of which finished the regular season with nine wins — not Colorado, who hasn’t had a winning season in 10 years.
Colorado is an improved team. But if Oregon had trouble against the Buffaloes, then match-ups with No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Washington, No. 18 Utah, USC and even Washington State seem daunting.
Many onlookers believe the Ducks have fallen from grace — that the rest of college football has caught up to their innovation, and their time in the national conversation has come to an end.
A 6-6 season or worse would certainly affirm that belief and place Oregon alongside Texas, Tennessee, Miami, USC and Notre Dame in the heap of historically great teams that have fallen from the top.
True freshman linebacker Troy Dye, who leads the Ducks with 27 total tackles, said he isn’t worried about the future of the program after the Colorado loss.
“We have a bunch of freshmen, a bunch of sophomores and a bunch of juniors who are the future of this program, but I’m not just the one player,” Dye said. “It’s a whole collective unit.”
Senior offensive lineman Cameron Hunt echoed Dye’s sentiment.
“I think these young guys will learn the culture and try and fix it,” Hunt said. “Coach Helfrich has done a great job over the past three or four years and all of my trust is in him.”

Helfrich admitted that some players lose their hunger after early-season losses. But he insisted that players should remain motivated by the internal competition, rather than “what’s on the line.”
“These are all human beings. Humans have human faults, and that’s where you have to try to mix and match how you motivate guys and get guys to work every day,” Helfrich said. “But there’s a lot of ball left — a ton to play for.”
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @kennyjacoby