Washington State fell right into the trap of New Mexico on its senior night Saturday, falling 38-35 on the road after a second half collapse to give the Lobos their first ranked upset win since 2003.

The Cougars (8-2) started out hot on offense once again, with sophomore quarterback John Mateer completing his first 11 passes of the game, including two scores through the air and one on the ground. But the persistent problem for the Cougars the entire game was the inability to stop the run defensively against Lobos sophomore quarterback Devon Dampier and senior running back Eli Sanders, who ran through the Cougars all game for 360 yards on the ground.

The Cougars offense also couldn’t get anything going in the third quarter, similar to their game against Boise State on the road, where they struggled to move the ball coming out the locker room.

“Defensively, it just wasn’t there,” head coach Jake Dickert said.

The Cougars, who dropped six spots to No. 25 in the AP poll, are ranked outside the top 100 in both rushing and passing defense, while also ranking 96th in points allowed per game (28.9). WSU depends on the turnover margin to go in its favor, and without a defensive turnover, the Cougars had trouble getting third down stops or getting Dampier and the Lobos (5-6) off the field.

“It’s an insanely disappointing result. … Couldn’t get it going on offense, avoided the run, couldn’t contain [Dampier], didn’t really have any answers for him,” Dickert said reflecting on his team’s performance against New Mexico.

WSU has been outscored 41-10 in the third quarter alone in all road games this season, having no offensive rhythm in either road loss and not being able to get the defense off the field on critical downs.

Dickert said it is frustrating not having his offense be as sustainable as the first half, with big explosive runs on the ground, or having the pass game continue.

“We did everything we wanted besides one throw in the first half, and then not be able to come out and re-establish that is disappointing,” Dickert said. “We’re not playing complementary football tonight.”

The Cougars' dreams of a College Football Playoff appearance are now shattered, but there is still a chance of an Alamo Bowl or even a Las Vegas Bowl appearance with a favorable remaining schedule for WSU.

First quarter

9:32, New Mexico – Devon Dampier 7-yard run (Luke Drzewiecki PAT), New Mexico 7-0

7:27, WSU – Carlos Hernandez 28-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT), tied 7-7

1:30, WSU – Mateer 5-yard run (Dean Janikowski PAT), WSU 14-7

Second quarter

10:21, WSU – Kyle Williams 20-yard pass from Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT), WSU 21-7

5:31, New Mexico – Caleb Medford 42-yard pass from Dampier (Luke Drzewiecki PAT), WSU 21-14

1:10, WSU – Kyle Williams 29-yard pass from Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT), WSU 28-14

Third quarter

10:20, New Mexico – Devon Dampier 33-yard run (Luke Drzewiecki PAT), WSU 28-21

0:25, New Mexico – Eli Sanders 26-yard run (Luke Drzewiecki PAT), tied 28-28

Fourth quarter

4:40, New Mexico – Luke Drzewiecki 19-yard field goal, New Mexico 31-28

3:12, WSU – Kyle Williams 37-yard pass from Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 35-31 0:21, New Mexico – Dampier 1-yard run (Luke Drezwiecki PAT), New Mexico 38-35

Quarterback John Mateer

Even in a tough road loss, it’s hard to not look at what Mateer did on the offensive side of the ball for three quarters, lighting up the stat sheet and completing his first 11 passes of the game to his favorite weapons.

Mateer, despite playing a little banged up, threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing one in on the ground, and senior wide receiver Kyle Williams hauled in three of the scores through the air.

Mateer said the stats may say one thing about this game, but the box score reflects some of the situational issues he faced in the third quarter, when the offense stalled.

“I think the stats will be good, but my situational eyes and feet … they weren’t as good as they needed to be,” Mateer said.

No one could stop the run defensively.

The Cougars went into halftime with a 14-point lead, all the momentum and receiving the ball to start the second half of play, just to put up only seven second-half points and the defense create no adjustments to stop the run.

This was another experience where the Cougars looked to be in control the entire game and at the end just let it slip. WSU had a similar experience in Boise earlier this season, with a stalled third quarter offense and the inability to stop the run on the defensive side of the ball.

So this is now a formula to beware of for this team.

The Cougars head down to in Corvallis, Oregon, for the “Pac-2” championship against the Oregon State Beavers in their one and only conference game and final road game on the season.

WSU looks to bounce back after a tough road loss in Alburquerque and attempt to continue the push for 10 wins and see where its bowl fate lies.

Passing

John Mateer – 25 of 36 passes completed, 375 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing

John Mateer – 9 carries for 65 yards, 1 TD

Leo Pulalasi – 10 carries for 58 yards

Wayshawn Parker – 11 carries for 47 yards

Djouvensky Schlenbaker – 1 carry for 2 yards

Receiving

Kyle Williams – 9 receptions for 181 yards, 3 TDs Cooper Mathers – 2 receptions for 71 yards

Carlos Hernandez – 4 receptions for 67 yards, 1 TD

Kris Hutson – 3 receptions for 22 yards

Leo Pulalasi – 3 receptions for 19 yards

Wayshawn Parker – 2 receptions for 9 yards

Josh Meredith – 2 receptions for 6 yards

Defense

Taariq ‘Buddah’ Al-Uqdah – 12 tackles (7 solo)

Adrian Wilson – 4 tackles (1 solo), 1 pass deflection

Ethan O’Connor – 1 tackle, 2 pass deflections

Kapena Gushiken – 5 tackles (1 solo), 2 pass deflections