SEATTLE -- So, anyone else got a sense of déjà vu?

Surely that thought had to run through a few Oregon State fans' minds, and maybe through the mind of coach Mike Riley, shortly after what happened here Saturday night.

Here were the Beavers, ranked and riding a win streak, in a game that came down to the wire, with a shot to win it right at the end, with a conclusion that featured Husky fans storming the field in celebration. Saturday night's 20-17 loss to Washington at CenturyLink Field was eerily similar to the loss two years ago in Husky Stadium, when OSU's two-point conversion failed in double overtime and Washington fans danced on the field when their 35-34 win became official.

That loss became the textbook definition of a snowball effect: The Beavers lost 13 of their next 18 games, spiraling so low that many were calling for Riley's resignation at the end of last year.

But this is where the similarities stop because this is a dramatically different team than the one that lost two years ago in Seattle.

This is a team oozing leadership, a group of guys who have banded together this season to shock the college football world. This is a locker room full of players who are hungry, with athletes who say all the right clichés, and believe in them.

"We win together and we lose together," senior cornerback Jordan Poyer said Saturday night. "We've got to stick together. We're a family, and we have to learn from it. We're more resilient than people think, and we've proven that all year. Obviously this loss hurts, but I think we're mature enough to learn from it."

When quarterback Sean Mannion threw his fourth interception of the game against Washington, the end of a nightmare night for the sophomore, it was Poyer who greeted him first on the sideline. His message was short.

"I told him, 'Sean, it's going to be alright, man. You're going to get the ball back and do what you've got to do,'" Poyer recalled.

Mannion, of course, didn't get the ball back Saturday night. Riley opted to pull Mannion in favor for backup Cody Vaz, igniting a potential quarterback controversy. After the game, players wouldn't have any of it. Whatever the decision is -- and Riley says he'll announce it today -- players say they're behind their quarterback. And no one is turning his back on Mannion.

"You can't play perfect every game," Poyer said. "He's one of our brothers. We pick him up."

There is no doubt the loss to Washington exposed some weaknesses that need fixing in the final five games of the regular season. But instead of pouting or hanging their heads, players walked out of the locker room Saturday night with a glare. They were ticked, and they should have been. And now the question is, will they respond?

There's no doubt they will, because this is a team that's done just that all season.

When weather issues forced the postponement of the Nicholls State game and gave OSU an extra week to prep for Wisconsin, players talked about it being "a blessing in disguise." Then they responded by upsetting the then-No. 13 Badgers, bottling up a team that humiliated them last year on the road.

When Mannion went out for a few weeks with knee surgery and the never-used Vaz was called upon, players rallied around him, assuring the media that Vaz had some serious game, and the Beavers would be just fine. Then they went to Provo, Utah, one of the toughest places to play in the West, and beat up on BYU.

The list goes on and on.

So when Poyer says this team is mature enough to turn this into a positive, believe him. And trust Mike Riley, who says this is a level-headed, stable group.

"I don't think anybody's losing their mind," Riley said Sunday night.

Fans shouldn't either. This team will be just fine.

Notes:

Markus Wheaton (concussion) and Poyer (bruised knee) will sit out Monday and will be limited through the week, but Riley anticipates that both will play Saturday against Arizona State. Storm Woods (lingering knee injury) will practice but could be limited. ... OSU announced late Sunday that freshman defensive back Chris Miller had been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules. Miller had not played this season and was considered a redshirt.

-- Lindsay Schnell (I came, I saw,

)