Many were questioning throughout the week how Washington State, unbeaten with a top-25 win over the Wisconsin Badgers on the road, wasn’t ranked in the AP Top 25. The Cougars were viewed as one of the top teams in the Pac-12 and a potential roadblock for the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday.

For about 55 minutes, the Cougars were exactly that.

Then, the Ducks scored 22 points in the last six minutes and change to stun the Cougars and win 44-41.

After the game, Washington State coach Jake Dickert was almost defiant when asked if Washington State could take a moral victory away from a near-upset.

“I think we proved that we’re a good football team,” he said. “If we won this game, it wasn’t gonna be an upset. We’re a good football team.”

The loss was Washington State’s first of the season, dropping the team to 3-1 on the campaign. Quarterback Cameron Ward completed 37 of his 48 pass attempts for 375 yards and three total touchdowns. He did, though, have a pair of second-half interceptions.

Washington State gave up 624 yards of offense to the Ducks. Dickert said they won’t win many games giving up that kind of yardage. But Dickert absolutely thinks his group can continue its winning ways.

Next chance comes on Oct. 1 against Cal (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) at home.