The words “learning” and “confidence” were used often by Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich while he talked with reporters Tuesday. They are terms that have seemed to define a young group that is still trying to learn and find confidence eight weeks into the season.

The team is coming off a 26-20 win at Washington last Saturday thanks in part to the returns of quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (injury) and wide receiver Darren Carrington (suspension). But midway through the season one thing is clear: The Ducks aren’t what they used to be.

“It’s a different bye week than previous years,” Helfrich said, referring to Oregon’s strategy behind how they practice and teach this week.

But, the statement also can relate to the obvious: Oregon sits at 4-3 and 2-2 in the Pac-12 with five games remaining on its schedule — a far cry from where the team was positioned at this time in both of Helfrich’s previous years as head coach.

The lack of success can be attributed to multiple areas. An injury to Adams’s right index finger has held him out of three games and the quarterback position became a huge weakness in his absence. In addition, the youth in the secondary is a persisting problem. The two-deep depth chart has featured various individuals as starting defensive backs. However, the results haven’t changed.

Opposing quarterbacks are averaging over 300 yards passing and guiding their teams to an average of 36 points per game. The Ducks rank last in the conference in both of those categories.

Because of it, criticism has come from every direction. The latest scrutiny came from College Gameday’s Lee Corso, who said Helfrich needs to think about overhauling his coaching staff.

But Helfrich isn’t altering anything.

“You can’t drastically change at this point,” he said.

And as for Corso’s comments, Helfrich said, “It’s the nature of the business.”

“When you lose, everything is blown out of proportion, and when you win at a program like this, you didn’t do it right. And that’s fine.”

For now, Helfrich and his staff will continue to teach. He hopes that with each passing week, more confidence can be instilled in his players. He’s also trying to help the team overcome all the hyperbole and talk of the world coming to an end.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Oregon either. The Ducks will go to Arizona State next Thursday and then face Cal, Stanford and USC in November.

Here’s how each unit breaks down so far and going forward: 

Offense: 

Adams needs to be healthy if Oregon is going to salvage the rest of the season and turn things around. With Adams in the backfield, Oregon has a consistent threat to throw the ball as well as someone to keep defenses honest. Backups Jeff Lockie and Taylor Alie have proven that, when they’re under center, Oregon’s offense is one-dimensional — it becomes strictly a running offense with no real threat at moving the chains when going through the air.

Royce Freeman is enjoying a breakout season, averaging 142.4 rushing yards per game with 11 total touchdowns, including a career-high 246 yards against Washington State. He leads the nation with the most rushes over 10 yards. Freshman Taj Griffin has been an added bonus to the backfield as he brings speed and elusiveness to complement Freeman’s bruising style of running.

The wide receivers got a huge boost when Carrington returned to the offense with five catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns last week. He adds needed depth with the season-ending injury to Byron Marshall and Charles Nelson’s move to safety. Bralon Addison is Oregon’s leading receiver with 31 catches for 365 yards and three touchdowns.

The offensive line has done a good job when Oregon chooses to run the ball as the Ducks lead the Pac-12 with 297.4 rushing yards per game. Pass protection is where the Ducks have struggled as they’ve surrendered 21 sacks on the year. According to profootballfocus.com, tackle Tyrell Cosby is the best run-blocking tackle in college football.

Defense: 

The Ducks rank last in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, total defense and passing defense.

Youth is one reason why the secondary has struggled. After trying to mix and match, Oregon seems to have found some consistency with Nelson taking over the starting safety spot from Tyree Robinson. Robinson now starts at corner over freshman Ugo Amadi, now the nickel corner, while sophomore Arrion Springs mans the other corner spot. Juwaan Williams is the other starting safety, taking that spot from Reggie Daniels. Robinson and Springs have been the most consistent players for the Ducks while Nelson, at 5-foot-8, brings energy that was missing early in the year.

Starting linebackers Joe Walker, Rodney Hardrick and Tyson Coleman have been consistent on the year. Walker leads the team with 49 tackles and Hardrick ranks second with 42 tackles. Coleman is second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss. Depth at the position comes from Danny Mattingly, Jimmie Swain and Johnny Ragin, all players who have seen consistent action since the beginning of the year.

The defensive line is led by DeForest Buckner, arguably the best defensive lineman in the nation. Buckner leads the Ducks with nine tackles for loss and five sacks while adding 36 total tackles. This unit is the deepest and best on Oregon’s roster as Alex Balducci is the starting nose tackle with Christian French and Henry Mondeaux splitting time at the other defensive end spot. Torrodney Prevot, Tua Talia and Austin Maloata have all seen significant playing time and help make the Ducks a team that’s three-deep at each spot on the line.

Special Teams: 

For many years, Oregon’s kicking unit has been one of the worst in the conference. With Aidan Schneider handling the field goal and placekicking duties and Matt Wogan on kickoff, Oregon has arguably the strongest unit in the Pac-12 now. Schneider is 11-for-12 on the season, including being 3-for-3 from 40 yards and a perfect 32-for-32 on PATs. Wogan has attempted 50 kickoffs on the year and 33 of them haven’t been returned.

If the Ducks struggle anywhere on this unit, it’s with punter Ian Wheeler. Although he has improved in recent weeks, Wheeler doesn’t have the booming leg that allows the team to switch fields when stopped on offense.

Addison is the team’s primary punt returner and is averaging 14.2 yards per return on his 10 attempts. He took a punt back 81 yards against Michigan State earlier in the year and presents a threat to do so again every time he touches it. Nelson and Addison do the kickoff returns and both players average over 21 yards per return. Addison had a season-long 87 yard return last week against Washington.