An inconsistent offense put the defense in precarious positions in the second half, and the man who scored more than half of the Cougars’ points faltered late.

Redshirt sophomore kicker Erik Powell pulled a last-second, 43-yard field goal attempt wide right as time expired, and No. 8 Stanford (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12) held off Washington State (5-3, 3-2), 30-28, on Halloween night.

After Stanford kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1:54 to play, the Cougars responded with a 12-play, 48-yard drive. They got into field goal range thanks to a 23-yard pass completion from redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk to redshirt senior receiver Dom Williams on a 4th-and-7 from the WSU 41 with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Three plays later, the game ended after Powell’s miss.

“All I thought is we have to make a play and get ourselves into position to win,” Falk said in the postgame press conference. “I wish we could have gotten a little farther in the drive, but I think we did a nice job competing and battling to the end.

“The pass to Dom happened because (Stanford) was in a two-man and Dom just beat his guy down the field, it was a heck of a catch,” Falk continued. “It is unfortunate we did not come out with the win.”

Falk finished 35-61 for 354 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Williams had seven catches for 94 yards. While WSU had 442 total yards of offense, they were just 2-14 on third down conversions.

Offensively, the Cougars struggled to move the ball at key points in the game. WSU finished the first quarter with -4 yards of offense and settled for field goals on five straight possessions from the first to the third quarters, including four drives that stalled inside the 20. Powell’s five field goals tied the school record set in 2003 for most successful kicks in a game.

The Cougars went up 28-27 with 7:46 to play after Falk threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver River Cracraft. The two-point conversion attempted failed, so WSU only had a 1-point lead when Falk was intercepted by Stanford freshman cornerback Quenton Meeks with less than four minutes to go in WSU territory. It was Meeks’ second interception of the half.

Five plays later, the Cardinal went ahead on senior kicker Conrad Ukropina’s 19-yard field goal, which set up the late game drama. Ukropina hit two other field goals for the Cardinal, who could only manage three points in the first half. WSU held the Stanford running game to just 29 yards before halftime, and they held sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey to just 107 yards on 22 attempts on the night.

“Coach (Alex) Grinch had a great game plan going into the game and we executed that well,” senior linebacker Jeremiah Allison said of the defense’s first-half performance. “We did what we were coached to do. We still have a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of room for improvement. Football is a game of inches, so a few big plays can come back to hurt you and tonight did not allow us to get the win.”

Those few big plays that hurt the Cougars came on the ground, but not by McCaffrey.

Stanford turned the game around starting in the third quarter, when they scored 24 points on four straight drives to take a 27-22 lead. Fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan rushed for 39 yards to set up a 2-yard scoring run by fifth-year senior running back Remound Wright. Two drives later, Hogan kept it himself and ran for a 59-yard touchdown on the first play, and he began the fourth quarter with a 6-yard scoring run. Hogan finished with 112 yards on the ground.

“I thought we played tough defensively, but in the second half we turned the quarterback loose,” Head Coach Mike Leach said. “For the most part it was good, except giving up the explosive plays in the second half. Some defensive players missed their keys and their gaps, which led to big plays for (Stanford).”

The Cougars’ special teams controlled the game, for better and for worse. WSU repeatedly kicked off short to avoid letting McCaffrey get the ball as a returner, and while that prevented giving up long special teams plays, it repeatedly set Stanford up with outstanding field position. The Cardinal started at their own 35 or further 10 times out of their 14 drives and their average drive started on their own 42 yard line – the Cougars’ average starting field position was on their own 29. Stanford also never went three-and-out.

The Cougars did force two first quarter turnovers, but were able to convert those into just three points. On the second play of Stanford’s third drive, Hogan was strip-sacked by senior defensive lineman Destiny Vaeao, and junior safety Shalom Luani recovered. After a WSU three-and-out, redshirt junior linebacker Parker Henry intercepted Hogan on a 3rd-and-7 play, which set up Powell’s first field goal after the Cougars could only gain two yards.

“He put us in a situation to win that game with the field goals he made earlier in the game,” Falk said. “He is a great kicker who we have a lot of confidence in. We know he will make the kick when he is in that situation again. I told him after the game he will make the next one.”

WSU will take on Arizona State (4-4, 2-3) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Martin Stadium. The players are already anxious to get back on the field to prove to themselves they can play better.

“We have to get back to work because one game does not define us,” Allison said. “We would have loved to have this win and to win every game. We need to work hard so Stanford cannot beat us twice.”