STANFORD, Calif. – In a surreal postgame scene, Mike Leach sat in an unlit tent, straining to hear questions over the cacophonous fireworks show raging outside, and the idling equipment trucks percolating nearby.

His Cougars had just suffered the latest in a long line of frustrating defeats, 34-17, to 25th-ranked Stanford. Oh, Washington State made the Cardinal sweat for it, and the Cougars were still within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

But it slipped away, just like it always seems to for Washington State in this maddening season. The Cougars are a team desperate for a breakthrough, but every time they seem on the verge of one, fate intervenes. Or, more accurately, an untimely breakdown or fatal mistake.

“We’re on the brink of doing a lot of good things, no question,’’ Leach said, amidst the fireworks bursting in air. “We just have to mature more quickly, and part of that is a state of mind. We as coaches have to get that out of our players.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys who are going to be good players down the road, but they can also be better players than they are now. Us as coaches have to make that happen.”

The Cougars fell to 2-5, but the frustrating part is they haven’t been blown out by anyone. Their losses can be divided into two categories – the letdowns against teams they should have handled (Rutgers, Nevada) and the near-misses versus teams they appeared on paper to be overmatched against (Oregon and Stanford).

The 60-59 loss to California was another story entirely, a miniseries in four quarters, a bizarre shootout the likes of which won’t be seen for awhile, with Washington State somehow falling short despite driving to the 1, and beyond, at the end of the game.

Stanford is a brute of a team that lives off physical domination, though this year’s version is not as overpowering as recent Cardinal incarnations. And certainly not as deft in the skill positions, which made it vulnerable against Washington State’s dynamic attack.

“Our technique has to be sharper,’’ Leach said. “We have to play harder, and we have to play better. I think their offensive and defensive line exposes any weakness and we have to be better technically in order to offset it, because they’re bigger and stronger than we are.”

Connor Halliday set an NCAA record last week with his 734-yard passing effort against Cal, throwing for six touchdowns. Against a Stanford team that pressured him all night and battered him too often for Washington State’s liking, it was much tougher sledding.

Halliday threw 69 times and completed 42, but netted a season-low 292 yards. He was sacked four times, and threw one interception. Halliday fired two touchdown passes, one a dazzling effort in which, under heavy pursuit, he sprinted to his right and then threw across his body to River Cracraft in the end zone.

The Cardinal kept trying to keep WSU in the game, fumbling once near its own end zone, missing a field goal just prior to halftime, and having a long touchdown pass to Ty Montgomery negated by a penalty.

But after cutting the gap to 24-17 on the aforementioned Cracraft TD early in the fourth, the Cougars elongated the subsequent Stanford possession with a roughing-the-passer penalty. The Cardinal got a field goal out of it, and the Cougars’ comeback bid became even more desperate, and ultimately futile.

Reflecting on the ongoing frustration, Halliday mused, “It’s just tough. We had a rough start to the season. We should have beaten Rutgers, had a bad game against Nevada, should have won last week.

“We’ve just got a lot of guys playing football now that haven’t played in the Pac-12, and don’t know quite what it takes to win. We’re just that far away. We’re not making plays when we need to. And making dumb plays when we need to make a play. The roughing-the-passer killed us, the hands -to-the-face killed us.

“Those are plays we can’t make, absolutely can’t make. But we’re not old enough to understand that yet.”

The season gets ever more daunting for Washington State. After a bye next week, the Cougs have Arizona, USC, Oregon State, Arizona State and Washington facing them. They are precariously close to another dismal season — though they prefer to think they are just as close to that ever-elusive breakthrough.

“The only thing we can do is go back to work, watch film, lift hard, come back practice and work hard,’’ Halliday said. “It’s my job to lead the guys. I can guarantee you I’m going to keep working as hard as I can, and I can guarantee you I’ll never quit. So I’ll give them that.”

As the fireworks din finally faded away, the Cougars silently left Stanford Stadium, still seeking their own grand finale.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com.

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