Moore: Cougs triumphs buried beneath missed FG, loss to Cal

Connor Halliday's record-setting performance of 734 yards passing was overshadowed by a 60-59 loss to Cal in which the Cougars missed a chip-shot field goal on their last drive. (AP)

Saturday night’s 60-59 defeat to Cal is right up there with the toughest Washington State losses of all time.

And to those who mock us, it was the ultimate in Couging it, reinforcing the definition of a team that routinely finds new ways to lose.

Everyone should have been celebrating after Connor Halliday set an NCAA record by throwing for 734 yards, completing 49 of 70 passes. He wasn’t sacked and didn’t throw an interception.

Halliday put the Cougs in position to win, driving them to the 2-yard line with 19 seconds left. Some would argue – and I’m in that camp, too – that Halliday actually drove the Cougs to what should have been a game-winning touchdown.

It sure appeared that running back Gerard Wicks reached out and broke the plane of the goal line before his knees were down on a second-and-goal play from the 3-yard line.

Why they didn’t review that play, I have no idea. At the time, I figured it didn’t matter, the Cougs would score anyway. And even if they didn’t punch it in, surely they’d hit a chip-shot field goal to win 62-60.

If you want to second-guess, the Cougs should have saved their last timeout and called it after a third-down play, not before. And if you want to third-guess, they should have run a play on third down that would have either moved the ball to the center of the field or maybe even scored a touchdown and eliminated the field-goal try altogether.

As it was, we’re all watching and thinking the Cougs would survive and win after our kicker makes what is essentially an extra point, even if it’s a tough angle.

What followed was a mixture of emotions, and just like the field goal, none of them were good. The snap was low, but the holder still did a nice job of getting the ball in place for Quentin Breshears to kick the game-winner.

Maybe the low snap threw off his timing. Maybe the angle bothered him. Maybe he blocked it right the way that golfers do when they don’t release their hands through the ball. Maybe he choked, and if he did, I feel bad for the kid because as Bud Withers pointed out in The Seattle Times, it was his first pressure kick of the year.

As soon as he missed, Mikey, one of my 10-year-olds, started to bawl. I mean, he was inconsolable. I thought I took Coug losses hard, but it’s not even close to what Mikey was feeling.

I tried to tell him it’s OK, it’s just one of those things, and other than that, I didn’t know what to say, he knew it was all B.S. He knew I was thinking the same thing he was: “How in the world do you miss a 19-yard field goal?”

And if you make it, you’re in the lead in the Pac-12 North and who knows, with that high-powered offense, maybe you beat Stanford Friday night and go on to win the division and face the South Division champ for the Pac-12 title.

Even if that was a pipe dream, you could at least ponder the thought – but not anymore.

My kids’ Five-Star football team from Hazen/Liberty played Woodinville Saturday morning. Woodinville had a kid who made an extra point after two consecutive 5-yard penalties, turning the kick into a 29-yarder. That 10-year-old could’ve made the kick that Breshears missed. That was one of the things we were talking about at our house, but mostly, I feel sorry for Breshears because I’m sure his night was rougher than anyone else’s.

Referring to Mikey’s anguish, a guy on Twitter said: “It’s a life lesson for the poor lad. Life is full of despair and hopelessness when you’re a Coug fan.”

Though there are many Cougar triumphs that the Twitter dude overlooked, right now I can’t argue with him.

Along with being one of the toughest losses to take in Cougar football history, it was one of the strangest. One minute, you look up and we’re recovering an on-side kick. The next, you look up and see Trevor Davis returning back-to-back kickoffs 100 and 98 yards for touchdowns.

Imagine what Ty Montgomery, the best kickoff returner in the country, will do to us when we play Stanford this week.

I was surprised that our defense couldn’t at least slow Cal down enough for us to win. Cal’s defense showed that it was vulnerable in a 59-56 win over Colorado last week, but I thought our defense played well and made strides in a 28-27 win over Utah. I guess I was wrong about that, good Lord we were terrible.

“It was kind of like the football gods were on our side,” said Cal quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 527 yards himself.

If I can ramble aimlessly for a few more paragraphs, here’s something else that bothered me: Halliday Tweeted after the game that he couldn’t believe ESPN didn’t feature one of Washington State’s plays on a night in which he set the single-game NCAA passing record.

Really?! He went home and was upset that ESPN didn’t show one of his highlights in its top 10 plays of the day? Good God, man, say that to your buddies but don’t Tweet it to the world.

I have a feeling Russell Wilson wouldn’t have cared about ESPN not showing one of his highlights; he would have been just as despondent as Mikey that his team lost.

I’ll give him a mulligan though. He’s a kid and we’ve all done and said crazy things when we’re not thinking clearly. In fact, I might be doing the same thing right now so maybe it’s time for me to stop.

Go Cougs.

The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.