Washington State’s Martin Stadium was a hornet’s nest for Wisconsin on Saturday night.

The Badgers were able to rally from a slow start against the Cougars, but Wazzu answered with a fourth-quarter counterpunch to clinch a 31-22 win on The Palouse.

Wisconsin shaved an 18-point deficit down to 2 by the end of the third quarter, but couldn’t complete the comeback. Washington State finished a 10-play, 57-yard drive on Nakia Watson’s 1-yard touchdown with 5:30 remaining, extending the lead back to 9.

The Cougars, coached by Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate Jake Dickert, beat the Badgers for the second straight year.

Here are 3 takeaways from the Wisconsin defeat.

Wisconsin was set up to fail

A fired-up Washington State crowd and football team was ready to eat Badger for dinner, and they got what they came for.

Washington State is 1 of 2 schools left in the Pac-12 for 2024, seemingly left in the dust of conference realignment — a realignment that was sent into hyperdrive by the Big Ten. Wisconsin had the misfortune of being the first B1G team sent into that environment following this summer of upheaval.

Badger fans should send their thank you notes to Kevin Warren, Tony Petitti and oafish Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff for stirring up Wazzu to full froth with their various actions the past 2 years.

Emotion was the most important factor in Washington State’s win. The Cougs rode the wave of inspiration to victory.

Wisconsin’s running game put in neutral

After running all over Buffalo a week ago, Wisconsin’s running back tandem of Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi was held completely in check by the Cougars.

Mellusi had 12 carries for 49 yards, and Allen was limited to 20 yards on 7 carries. Mellusi also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter that set up Washington State’s final scoring drive, which essentially put the game out of reach.

The Badgers finished with 90 rushing yards — their third time under 100 yards in the past 2 seasons.

A mixed bag for Tanner Mordecai

Wisconsin did more in the passing game than in Week 1, which was dominated by the running backs.

Quarterback Tanner Mordecai was 25 of 40 for 278 yards and a touchdown. However, he also lost a pair of fumbles, which surely served as a Graham Mertz flashback for many Badger fans.

Still, there were enough positives to take from Mordecai’s performance to believe Wisconsin is still the favorite in the Big Ten West. The Badgers are unlikely to visit anyone as unhappy to see them as Washington State the rest of the season.