There were no moral victories for Washington State after its heartbreaking 24-21 loss to No. 4 Washington on Saturday, in the final meeting between the in-state rivals as Pac-12 opponents.
There were surely plenty of things for the Cougars to be proud of, as the defense stymied the highflying UW offense for much of the game — holding the Huskies to 306 total yards and keeping Heisman Trophy contender Michael Penix Jr. mostly in check, while the offense picked apart the UW defense to the tune of three passing touchdowns and 317 yards from quarterback Cameron Ward.
But in the end, WSU fell short of its goal of downing the hated Huskies on their home turf a second straight time and fell short of qualifying for a bowl game for the first time in eight years, after watching Grady Gross' 42-yard game-winning field goal sail through the uprights.
"There's no solace in losing," WSU coach Jake Dickert said. "Those guys know that, and that's why the locker room is a hard place right now. Because we left it all out there and we had an opportunity, and we don't take losing as a positive thing."
A questionable call on Washington's final scoring drive made the final result an even tougher pill to swallow for Dickert. After a 23-yard run from Rome Odunze on fourth down gave the Huskies a first down at the Cougar 48, redshirt senior Ron Stone Jr. was flagged for a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty.
That whistle gave UW a first down at the 27 and put them in position to eventually make the game-winning kick.
The play left a bad taste in Dickert's mouth, even though he considers referee Matthew Richards as one of the very best "white hats" in college football.
"It didn't look like a personal foul to me," Dickert said. "I've got to see what the tape says, ... I think it's a BS call at the wrong time."
While the end result was another crushing loss that brought their season to a sudden end, there were still lots of reasons for the Cougars to hold their heads high.
They outgained the No. 8 offense in the country, 381 yards to 306. They held the NCAA's top passing quarterback to just 204 yards passing and made the nation's No. 4 ranked team beat them in the final seconds of the game.
"Coach said it best, they made one more play than us at the end of the day," defensive end Brennan Jackson said. "I'm just so proud of my guys, the way we fought today. The energy we brought out there — to hold a high-powered offense like to the last play of the game and leave it all to a field goal, I couldn't be more proud of the guys. It stings. But effort-wise, I can't be upset about that at all."
While Penix has gotten national attention all season as a contender for the highest award in college football, Ward was the one who shined at quarterback Saturday. Ward finished the game with 317 passing yards and three touchdowns, though he was left frustrated after the game by a pair of interceptions, including one in the fourth quarter.
Before Saturday, Ward had thrown just five interceptions on the season. His only other multi-pick game came Oct. 7 against UCLA.
Ward was under pressure all night, with the Huskies sacking him five times. Dickert acknowledge that his team didn't do a good job of keeping their signal caller upright but raved about Ward's intelligence and ability to adjust under pressure.
Whenever the Huskies put points on the board, Ward answered, first with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Josh Kelley in the first quarter, then with a 25-yard toe-tapper to Kyle Williams at the end of the first half, and finally with an eight-yard throw in the fourth quarter to Lincoln Victor that tied the game at 21-21.
"He's an ultimate competitor," Dickert said. "He's not satisfied with the results of what he feels he can do better as we've gone throughout the season, he's always owned that. He's always given us a chance to win, and that's all I can ask for out of that position."
Like Dickert, Victor was proud of the team's effort but ultimately knows that there is nothing positive about falling short. Judging by the emotion in Dickert and his players' voices after the game, this loss is going to sting for a while, even if the Cougars outperformed the expectations of most of the college football-watching world.
"It's bittersweet," Victor said. "It came down to a few plays, and like I said, they were the better team tonight. But there's no ifs, ands or in-betweens between winning and losing, so they were the better team tonight. Obviously we played up to our standard, but we just didn't get the job done."
Some of the Cougars lingered on the field after the game, soaking in the atmosphere of what was the final collegiate game for many of them. Though they had to watch in heartbreak as Husky fans stormed the field to celebrate the home team's pulse-pounding victory and perfect regular season, it was a moment full of gratefulness for these Cougs as they cherished the time they had playing in the crimson and gray.
They might've fallen short, but the Cougars sure put up one heck of a fight in the process.
"It was a tough loss, for sure," Ward said. "Especially for the seniors to, you know, end it the way it ended, on a field goal, that'll forever be with them and forever be with me. But I'm blessed, we were blessed to fight with the No. 4 team in the country, but UW, they're not an easy team to beat. We almost had them, but almost isn't good enough."
