The patience of Oregon Ducks fans is being tested, pushed to the breaking point.

The Ducks are 2-3 coming off of a 51-33 loss at Washington State with No. 5 Washington looking to issue a beat down at Autzen Stadium on Saturday.

No other fan base has suffered through so many horrific, losing seasons without experiencing winning, and the pressure is mounting on UO coach Mark Helfrich, whose 11-35 record won't cut it.

In fact, some "fans" have started a GoFundMe account to raise money to buy out the remaining $11 million on Helfrich's contract.

It's all more than understandable, The Ducks haven't won anything since... hold up.

Just received a memo. Says here that the Ducks haven't had a losing season since...2004.

Hmm. Really?

And it reads that Helfrich is actually 35-11, having gone 11-2, 13-2 and 9-4 over three previous seasons.

Ya don't say?

Huh! I just assumed that with all of the venom being spewed by some UO fans that the Ducks hadn't even sniffed a bowl game in five years, or so.

Interesting.

Well, be that as it may, this season, at least, is off to a rough start. And since clearly the spoiled among Oregon's fan base have no perspective or sense of history, it's probably best to take a little time to point out what all UO fans have to be positive about moving forward.

That might be tough given that Oregon is probably going to see its dominance over UW come to an end on Saturday. But all good things come to an end, even stretches of overall dominance. The question is how you react to it. Right now, many aren't reacting well to the Ducks' falling off this season. But this has all happened before and the Ducks survived. Here's why there should remain hope for a quick turnaround even if this season continues to go south:

1. The offensive line will be great: Any offensive line that starts three, let alone four redshirt freshmen is bound to have issues. Oregon's is no different, but the group of center Jake Hanson, right tackle Calvin Throckmorton, left tackle Brady Aiello and left guard Shane Lemieux has already demonstrated great abilities. Imagine how good the line could be next year when they are redshirt sophomores and rejoined by junior left tackle Tyrell Crosby, out for the season with a foot injury. It could be the greatest offensive line in program history only to be surpassed by the 2018 line when the aforementioned redshirt freshmen will be redshirt juniors.

2. The defense will improve. Next year: 4-3, 3-4, 5-2, 2-9, doesn't matter the scheme or deployment, this defense simply isn't ready to deliver this season, and that shouldn't have been a shock to anyone. The secondary is better after a horrid 2015 season, but the front seven has six new starters and is operating in a new scheme. The good news is that nine, maybe 10 starters will return next season. With experience comes improvement. Plenty of players have star potential, including freshman linebacker Troy Dye, redshirt sophomore defensive end Jalen Jelks, freshman defensive end Bryson Young, freshman safety Brenden Schooler and sophomore cornerback Ugo Amadi. Also, junior cornerback Arrion Springs is finally reaching his potential.

3. A quarterback will emerge: The hype surrounding the potential of freshman quarterback Justin Herbert has been powerful. There is a strong belief within the program that he has star potential. The Ducks also remain high on freshman Terry Wilson Jr. Redshirt freshman Travis Jonsen will likely transfer after this season. If Herbert proves to be a legitimate star, the Ducks offense will be more than just fine with plenty of talented running backs and receivers that will also still be on the roster.

4. The Ducks have recruited strong offensive talent: While recruiting on the defensive side of the ball has been lacking, the Ducks have looked strong on the offensive side of the ball. Even if junior running back Royce Freeman leaves early for the NFL Draft, the Ducks will be stacked at running back with Tony Brooks-James, Taj Griffin and Kani Benoit. At receiver, junior Devon Allen (out for the season with a knee injury), senior Dwayne Stanford and maybe even junior Darren Carrington II will be out. No problem. Junior Charles Nelson should be back, along with promising former four-star recruits, Jalen Brown, Alex Ofodile, Dillon Mitchell and Tristen Wallace.

5. Oregon has survived down seasons in the past: The Ducks are no stranger to having down seasons. What the program is a stranger to is panicking when they occur. No need to start now. Here is a look at some past dips that were overcome with patience and vision:

1991: The Ducks, under coach Rich Brooks, were coming off back-to-back 8-4 seasons and appeared to have turned the corner as a program. Then the bottom fell out with a 3-8 season in 1991. It was the first time Oregon had won fewer than five games in eight seasons. The Ducks followed up with records of 6-6 and 5-6 before going 9-4 (7-1 Pac-10) in 1994 to win the Pac-12 championship and reach the Rose Bowl.

1996: The 2005 Ducks, in their second season under coach Mike Bellotti, went 6-5 and missed a bowl game just two years after the fabled 1994 season. The poor showing in 2005 also came months after Oregon got clobbered 38-6 by Colorado in the Cotton Bowl. Bellotti survived the dip and the Ducks responded by going 7-5 in 1997, then 8-4, 9-3, 10-2 and ultimately 11-1 in 2001 when UO won the Fiesta Bowl.

2004: The Oregon Ducks entered the season with high expectations then lost the home opener to 20-point underdog Indiana and finished the season 5-6, missing a bowl game for the first time since 1996, and having a losing record for the first time since 1993 (5-6). The program didn't freak out about the team trending downward and fire Bellotti a few years after going 11-1 in 2001. Instead, the Ducks took their lumps, refocused, moved to the spread offense and went 10-2 the following season.

2006: The Ducks regressed in 2006 and went 7-6 and got blown out in the Vegas Bowl by BYU thanks to inner dysfunction and an unreliable Dennis Dixon at quarterback. Once again, nobody panicked. Oregon famously looked inward, regained its bearings and have not won fewer than nine games since.

Basketball program: It fits to toss a basketball example in here, too. The Ducks under coach Ernie Kent went to a regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 2002 then followed up by missing the tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006, with that last team being led mostly be sophomores. Kent was on the hot seat, but the university stuck with him and the Ducks returned to a regional final in 2007 and reached the tournament again in 2008. Kent got fired in 2010 after missing the tournament for the second consecutive season. It took the Ducks six years to return to a regional final, doing so last season under Dana Altman.

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The overriding point here is this: Oregon is not above having down seasons. Never will be. They are inevitable. Doesn't matter who the coach is. Had Chip Kelly stayed longer than four years, he also would have had down seasons. How a program reacts to adversity matters. If Oregon pushes the panic button on Helfrich two years after the Ducks reached the national championship game, it would signal that the athletic department has lost perspective and entered an era of gross expectations that will never be met.

There's ample reason to be disappointed in Oregon's 2-3 start. But there's also plenty of historical evidence and tangible reasons to believe that a turnaround is also inevitable without massive changes being made.