Oregon's opening drive at Washington State was about as disastrous as you could script. The Ducks jumped a few times, had a few snaps fire wildly past Justin Herbert and the play clock ran out once.

Following the game, coach Mario Crisotbal said the Ducks entered the game with their typical cadence, but were forced to call an audible during the first drive and switch to a second cadence to deal with the crowd noise at Martin Stadium.

“We let the environment get to us that first drive," said center Jake Hanson. "That’s not any excuse. The environment got to us, maybe we weren’t as prepared as we needed to be that first drive."

The struggles didn't just disappear either. While they were able to get the snap off cleanly, and avoid further pre-snap penalties, the Duck offense managed just 39 yards in the first 30 minutes of the game, falling behind 27-0 as the team's split for intermission.

Yet, something seemed to have transpired during the 20 minute break at the half. The Ducks came out recharged and focused. They rattled off 20 unanswered points before WSU scored late to ice the game and pull off a pivotal Pac-12 North victory that led the WSU faithful to storm the field.

“That’s just a culture thing," Hanson said of the second half. "It’s the culture that coach Crisotbal has been instilling and emphasizing all season.

“Everybody was upset and disappointed in themselves. We were definitely disappointed in the offensive unit. We knew that we didn’t come all the way here just to lose and give up. We were going to do everything we could to fight back, and we knew we were a good enough team to do it."

Hanson added that the response on Saturday was one he's not sure previous Oregon teams would've had in them.

"We’ve been saying if that was last year’s team or the one from a few years ago, that we probably would’ve ended up folding and losing 50-0, but this team has too much fight in them even when all hope looks lost," he said. "We’ve got to play perfect in that kind of scenario. We weren’t quite perfect enough."

The Ducks will stay on the road this week, as they head south to Tucson to play Arizona. The Wildcats aren't the Cougars, and Arizona Stadium isn't Martin Stadium. But, that doesn't mean the Ducks are expecting a cake walk against the struggling Wildcats.

“We can play a good game against these guys, but they’re not a team to look over," he said. "They’re a very talented team. They’ve got a lot of good players. They can make a lot of plays all across the board. So, it’s going to be a tough challenge on the road. But we’re excited for the opportunity.

“They just have a lot of playmakers. It’s a very disruptive front, and their linebackers are very active. Schooler’s brother definitely has an impressive state line. We saw that last year."

Saturday's game will provide the second outing for the Ducks new-look offensive line. After left tackle Penei Sewell was ruled out with a high ankle sprain, the Ducks inserted experienced reserve Brady Aiello at right tackle, and slid Calvin Throckmorton over to the left side. That made the starting five quite nearly identical to the one from 2016. Still, this is a group that needs time to get into the necessary rhythm.

“It obviously helps having a few games with guys at different positions under your belt," Hanson said. "Calvin can move around and play wherever he needs to. He does a really good job of that. We knew he was going to be fine. Brady is a guy who’s able to come in with his experience and do a good job."