PULLMAN -- The last time Washington State suffered a loss this lopsided, many of its players were in the third grade.

Outside of getting a touchdown on its first drive of the game, nothing went right for the No. 19 Cougars in a game completely dominated by unranked Arizona on Saturday at Gesa Field.

The 44-6 beatdown was WSU’s worst loss since falling 55-17 to Stanford in 2013.

“Give credit to Arizona. They completely dominated all three phases of the game and, frankly, it wasn’t even close,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said.

From the moment WSU failed a 2-point conversion pass attempt after Nakia Watson scored on a 1-yard rush on the team’s opening drive, nothing went right for the Cougars (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12).

From two interceptions, one into triple coverage by backup quarterback John Mateer, to a fumble by starting QB Cam Ward, to two failed fourth-down conversions in their own territory, to missed coverage and missed tackles on defense, to more penalty yards (42) than rushing yards (35), it was a complete disaster for the players wearing crimson.

Some fans could be heard booing the Cougars as they walked off the field at halftime, down 20-6, and many of the 26,155 in attendance for homecoming were gone well before the final whistle.

Three major snafus in the first quarter

Three self-inflicted bugaboos haunted the Cougars in the first quarter and Arizona (4-3, 2-2) was off to the races.

It started with a defensive lapse that left Arizona running back Jonah Coleman wide open on a crossing route for an easy 69-yard gain that led to the first of his three rushing touchdowns.

Then, WSU went for a puzzling fourth-and-1 at its own 34-yard line only for running back Jaylen Jenkins to get stuffed for no gain. That led to a field goal and a 10-6 Wildcats lead.

But WSU wasn’t done shooting itself in the foot.

On a two-quarterback trick play, Ward passed to Mateer who lofted the ball into triple coverage and was intercepted by Arizona defensive back Ephesians Prysock.

That turnover also led to a Wildcats touchdown — 40-yard rush up the middle by Rayshon Luke.

“The fumble, the interception, the penalties — all stuff we can control — we didn’t control that tonight,” Ward said.

The theme continued in the second half.

WSU went for another puzzling fourth-down attempt from its own 15-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Ward’s pass fell incomplete and Arizona immediately scored on the next play to go up 37-6.

Players of the game

For the second week in a row, WSU was torched by a freshman quarterback.

Arizona’s Noah Fifita went 34-of-43 for 342 yards passing. Four ball-carriers combined to add 174 yards and five touchdowns rushing.

For WSU, Watson had five catches for 88 yards and his team’s lone score, but the running back finished with zero yards rushing on five attempts.

Wide receiver Kyle Williams added a career-high nine catches for 61 yards and edge Brennan Jackson had eight tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry for the Cougs.

Odds and ends

Former WSU quarterback Jayden de Laura did not play for the Wildcats. He was on the sideline with a headset. ... The loss was WSU’s worst since that 2013 Stanford game, played in Seattle, and its worst loss in Pullman since a 69-0 loss to USC in 2008. ... WSU edge Ron Stone Jr. played in his 50th-career game.

Quote of note

“The two critical things are don’t point fingers. We’re a team. It’s all 100 of us out there in that locker room and when you start pointing fingers you create a divide. That can make things snowball in a negative way, so the biggest thing telling these guys is ‘Hey, we lost today and that’s reality. You have to face that head on. But it’s a lot easier to face hard times when you’re with your brother in arms than just trying to walk that path alone. And also just understand that we’re a good football team. One loss doesn’t define who we are.’ ” — WSU senior edge Brennan Jackson.

Up next

WSU returns to the road to face No. 8 Oregon (5-1, 2-1) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. If the Cougars can’t pull a major upset, it’ll be their third straight loss after starting the season 4-0 with two ranked wins.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2277, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.