Hangover blues

Pass the painkillers: Oregon suffers ugly letdown against Wazzu

That was a nice win Oregon had against Michigan last week, don't you think?

A week later, you know what it gets them?

1-1 in the Pac-10.

Heck, based on the 55-16 score of their loss to Washington State on Saturday, you'd never know they weren't the worst team in the conference.

So, how can a team look so drastically different from one week to the next? How can Oregon get drubbed by Washington State just a week after beating Michigan -- which a week earlier walloped Notre Dame, which a week earlier beat ... Washington State?

Better yet, why do we as college football followers keep getting duped?

C'mon, admit it, the editors of Sports Illustrated -- now 2-for-2 this season in successful cover jinxes -- weren't the only ones caught up in Ducks Fever last week, nor Wolverine Wonder the week before. Big wins in big games tend to do that to people.

Problem is, this isn't the NFL, where you can go 9-7 and still get a playoff invite. In college football, you may look like a title contender one week, but you won't get to play for one unless you come out strong again the next -- and the next, and the next and the next,

Apparently, that's not possible at Oregon's Autzen Stadium, where, for the second straight week, a top 10 team fresh off a big win came out sloppy and quickly fell behind. The 24-6 hole Michigan faced against Oregon, however, was nothing compared to the Ducks' 38-2 first-half crater against the Cougars on Saturday.

A week after looking like a picture of efficiency, Oregon was a picture of bumbling ineptitude.

QBs Kellen Clemens and Jason Fife, having thrown no interceptions their first four games, combined for five in the first half. They also had two punts blocked and two lost fumbles.

While the Washington State defense gets the lion's share of credit for those miscues, there's no telling how the game might have changed if not for two self-inflicted gaffes by Oregon receivers who mishandled what would have been wide-open touchdown catches.

The second was particularly glaring in that Samie Parker not only dropped a catch that would have brought the Ducks within a touchdown but took out his frustration by swinging at a WSU defender, netting a 15-yard penalty. The very next play, Fife threw an interception, and five plays later, the Cougars had gone up 24-2, officially shattering a week's worth of enthusiasm in Eugene.

Just a textbook case of post-big win hangover, a malady that seems to be going around in college football.

Another example was spotted Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.

Having stifled Arizona State 21-2 a week earlier, Iowa not only improved to 4-0 but showed the nation a surprisingly dominating defense, one that held star Sun Devils QB Andrew Walter to 160 yards through the air. The win earned the Hawkeyes a spot among the nation's top teams, which, combined with Michigan's loss and Ohio State's struggles, made them the hottest team in the Big Ten.

Iowa now finds itself a week later sitting in the humbling position of 0-1 in its conference following a 20-10 defeat to Michigan State. Most puzzlingly, the same defense that so squelched ASU's Walter got picked apart by Spartans QB Jeff Smoker (28-of-44, 218 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs).

Now it's Michigan State that's the talk of the Big Ten. Improving to 4-1, the Spartans will likely return to the polls this week for the first time since early last season, just like Washington State will surely soar from its current perch of 21st. It's sure to be a happy week on campus for both them.

Next week, the Spartans and Cougars happen to play the cellar-dwellers of their respective conferences, Indiana and Arizona.

Start taking that aspirin now.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.