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Landover, Md.

If this was any kind of audition or showcase for BYU's Big 12 hopes … it was as crazy and undulating and exciting and, at times, troubled as the entire bid process has been, maybe more so. At the end, after the Cougars had whittled down a formerly lopsided game to 35-32, seen it fall away after a West Virginia interception and regained after a Mountaineer fumble, the whole thing at FedEx Field came down to a final possession.

Again.

You saw it. You've seen it in other games.

This time, the Cougars took the ball in the shadow of their own goalposts with little time left, and next thing, after already weathering those other mistakes — their own fumbles, their own pick-6, and that other interception that killed an earlier chance at going ahead — they suffered what has become their calling card — heartbreak — in the last seconds. It was a deep ball receiver Aleva Hifo couldn't haul in and that was tipped and wound up in the arms of Mountaineer defensive back Maurice Fleming.

Game over. Final numbers on the board: West Virginia 35, BYU 32.

"It wasn't the result we were looking for," Kalani Sitake said, afterward. "I saw some positives and some negatives. … We've just got to go to work and find ways to pull out these close games. We've got to find a way to make one more play than they do."

Let's review, then.

The Cougars beat Arizona by two points, on a final drive. They lost to Utah when they couldn't convert on a final two-point conversion. They lost to UCLA by three. And now, there's this narrow defeat.

What kind of conclusions can be drawn?

How about this one: BYU simply is not quite the equal of a lot of P5 teams. They don't have the talent, the depth, the athletes, the speed, the experience, the wherewithal, to beat a regular slate of teams from the big leagues.

Not yet, anyway.

It's close. Oh, so close. But we all know what close is good for.

Does this sound condescending? They play hard and try hard.

They have bits and pieces of the puzzle. They just don't have all of it. They do things like … sub in field goals instead of touchdowns, wasting on one occasion a 56-yard Jamaal Williams run to the Mountaineer 3, and a drive at the end of the first half that hit the skids. The mistakes, the bounces of the ball, they can't overcome.

This game featured all sorts of wackiness. BYU outgained West Virginia, 521 yards to 481. It picked up more first downs. Led by Williams, who gained 169 yards himself, it rushed for 280 yards. Even Taysom Hill, who hadn't done much passing the ball in the three previous outings, threw for 241 yards, completing 23 of 35 passes. It nearly overcame four turnovers. It fell behind, caught up, went ahead, fell behind again, fell behind by more and more, closed the gap, closed the gap more, and then … blew its toes off a couple of times at the end.

Understandably, disappointment clouded the postgame locker room.

"We'll come out of it," said receiver Colby Pearson, who caught four balls for 55 yards. "We know we're better [than this]… but you can't say anything about it when you're 1-3."

The Cougars, then, have become the 1-3 Heartbreak Kids.

Good, but not good enough. They play teams tight and tough, even teams like West Virginia, which looked early in the fourth quarter as though it was ready to step on BYU's throat, leading 35-19. But no, the Cougars kept fighting.

Giving themselves a chance, but, ultimately, a loss.

This is Sitake's challenge, then: Make the most of what he's got for the rest of the season. Hold on for dear life. He knows he needs more players, more depth, more execution, more time. And now, he needs to preserve hope with this team.

"I thought the guys played well, and I wish we just had a couple more minutes on the clock and a couple more plays to make. I'm really proud of the team. Really proud of the way the team battles and sticks together. We're sitting in a bad spot right now and one we don't want to be in, but we can fight back from this."

Question is: Can they win?

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.