Washington State’s losing skid now sits at three to end the regular season as the Cougars dropped a senior day matchup, 15-14, to Wyoming in one of the more frustrating defeats of the season for Jake Dickert’s squad.

The Cougars (8-4, 0-1 Pac-12) have started to run out of luck in recent weeks with three straight losses to inferior opponents and trouble closing out games, which has been a common thread over the latest defeats.

The Cowboys (3-9, 2-5 MW) never gave up, even after being down 14-3 almost halfway through the second quarter, while the Cougars couldn’t execute on their final eight straight drives after scoring two touchdowns in the early going.

WSU finished the game only converting 1 of its 10 third-down tries and with only 285 yards of total offense, the lowest scoring game and the least amount of yards in any game this year.

“We found ways to lose a game, not win,” Dickert started his postgame press conference. “I’m just really disappointed for our seniors.”

The Pokes didn’t have redshirt freshman quarterback Kaden Anderson, who was in the concussion protocol all week and couldn’t make the trip out to Pullman.

Junior Evan Svoboda got the start in place of Anderson and used both his legs and his arm, when needed, to edge out a win on the road.

The Cougars will now turn their attention to the bowl game, which will be decided this weekend following the conference championship games.

“We haven’t played enough team football,” Dickert said. “… Whatever is needed, whatever it takes, that’s how you win games, and we just haven’t had enough the last three weeks.”

The positive morale seems to be evaporating for the Cougars, and hope for the fanbase is starting to fade as bowl season draws near, but there is one more chance for this team to finish with a nine-win season.

WSU finished the regular season on a troubling note losing its last three games on the last drives from its opponents, including Saturday’s game with the Cowboys taking the go-ahead lead with just 25 seconds to play.

First quarter

6:08, WSU – Kyle Williams 37-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 7-0

0:04, WYO – John Hoyland 40-yard field goal, WSU 7-3

Second quarter

9:42, WSU – Mateer 2-yard run (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 14-3

0:02, WYO – John Hoyland 22-yard field goal, WSU 14-6

Third quarter

2:13, WYO – John Hoyland 42-yard field goal, WSU 14-9

Fourth quarter

0:25, WYO – John Michael Gyllenborg 18-yard pass from Evan Svoboda (2pt NO GOOD) WYO 15-14

The offensive player of the first half had to be sophomore quarterback John Mateer with what he was able to do for a couple drives.

This is specific to the first half because the offense was nonexistent in the second half.

Mateer used his body to fight for extra yards and found senior wide receiver Kyle Williams for a touchdown with 6:08 to play in the first quarter to put WSU up 7-0.

But with the offense not being able to score or move the ball efficiently for eight straight drives, the player of the game is solely for the first-half performance.

WSU was consistently unable to get ahead of the chain, and that really impacted its ability to convert on third down. The Cougars only converted once on the crucial down in Saturday’s loss.

“We’re putting ourselves in bad positions, behind the chains,” Mateer said. “We didn’t get one first down in the third quarter.”

Redshirt sophomore linebacker Taariq ‘Buddah’ Al-Uqdah was all over the football field Saturday and collected a couple of fumble recoveries, in addition to totaling eight tackles on the day, by being in the right place at the right time.

The Cougars won the turnover battle 3-1, thanks in part to a couple of opportunistic fumble recoveries from Al-Uqdah. One came when senior edge rusher Quinn Roff got to Svoboda and forced the fumble that bounced right into Al-Uqdah’s hands.

Al-Uqdah also happened to be in the right place again, when senior edge rusher Nusi Malani punched the ball out of Svoboda’s hands on a third-and-1 opportunity for the Pokes that resulted in their third turnover of the day with 6:33 to play.

The Cougars played a full defensive game limiting the Pokes through the air with an interception as well, and multiple chances for more, but a disappointing offensive showing overshadowed a good performance on defense.

“Defensively, for the most part, we did a really good job of responding,” senior linebacker Kyle Thornton said.

The Cougars had plenty of chances to extend this lead, build on the lead, and even potentially put the game out of reach throughout both the third and fourth quarters.

Whether or not the luck has run out, Saturday’s game is still one of the most embarrassing losses in recent history on the Palouse.

The Cougars have lost the last three games by a combined margin of 7 points with each team having momentum on their final drives to find either the end zone or kick the game-winning field goal.

There are now more questions than answers about the direction of this team as frustration continues to mount amid the three-game losing skid.

WSU finishes the regular season 8-4 and will wait to find out its bowl status following the upcoming weekend slate of conference championship games.

The Cougars were projected to be in the Alamo Bowl heading into the week, but a loss against Wyoming might change their bowl season plans.

Passing

John Mateer – 16 of 22 completed passes, 182 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Rushing

John Mateer – 18 rushes for 56 yards, 1 TD

Wayshawn Parker – 14 rushes for 45 yards

Leo Pulalasi – 1 carry for 2 yards

Receiving

Kyle Williams – 4 receptions for 59 yards, 1 TD

Kris Hutson – 5 receptions for 62 yards

Carlos Hernandez – 4 receptions for 47 yards

Djouvensky Schlenbaker – 1 reception for -1 yards

Defense

Taariq ‘Buddah’ Al-Uqdah – 8 tackles (6 solo), 1.5 TFL, 2 fumble recoveries

Khalil Laufau – 5 tackles (3 solo), 3 TFLs, 2 sacks

Jamorri Colson – 1 solo tackle, 1 INT

Ansel Din-Mbuh – 2 tackles (1 solo) 1.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks

Kyle Thornton – 6 tackles (4 solo), 2 TFLs, 1 sack

Adrian ‘Boogie’ Wilson – 6 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass deflection

Nusi Malani – 2 tackles (1 solo), 1 forced fumble

Quinn Roff – 4 tackles (2 solo), 1.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble

Jackson Lataimua – 5 tackles (4 solo), 0.5 TFLs

Tyson Durant – 3 solo tackles, 1 pass deflection

Ethan O’Connor – 3 tackles (2 solo), 1 pass deflection