CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State brought a six-game winning streak and a lot of questions into Saturday night’s game against No. 8 Stanford.

Primarily, how would the Beavers fare in the season’s first game against a top 25 opponent?

Oregon State didn’t get the ultimate result, thought it took the Cardinal to the final seconds before falling short in a 20-12 loss.

The Beavers (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12) trailed 20-9 with late, yet nearly forced overtime. After Trevor Romaine kicked a 39-yard field goal with 3:57 left to cut the deficit to eight, Oregon State drove to the Stanford 7 with 30 seconds remaining. However, four consecutive incompletions ended the rally.

“We played a great team, and we lost by eight points. Stanford’s a top 10 team. We’re going to learn from this,” Beavers receiver Brandin Cooks said.

Tyler Gaffney ran for three touchdowns and 145 yards to lead Stanford (7-1, 5-1). Gaffney accounted for all of the Cardinal touchdowns on runs of 4, 9 and 32 yards.

Stanford totaled 276 yards on offense, as quarterback Kevin Hogan completed just 8 of 18 passes for 88 yards.

The Cardinal held Oregon State to 288 yards, well off the Beavers’ season average of 515 yards. Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion, the national leader in yards passing and touchdown passes, was 41 of 57 for 271 yards and one touchdown.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley called the outcome “a really tough loss, and it will be even tougher for our team tomorrow, for our team and coaches watching the film. There were a ton of missed opportunities ... but I’m thankful for our team. I just love how they fought.”

Stanford’s defense came up big in key situations, as it turned back Oregon State on downs four times inside the Cardinal 35. Stanford held Mannion to fewer than 350 yards passing for the first time this season, and sacked him eight times.

GOLDEN BEARS ROUTED BY WASHINGTON 41-17: SEATTLE (AP) — California head coach Sonny Dykes sees improvement from his team in short spurts but his team still isn’t playing with the consistency needed to win in the Pac-12.

The Golden Bears (1-7, 0-5 Pac-12) hung with Washington for most of the first half before the Huskies (5-3, 2-3) pulled away to a 41-17 victory on Saturday night. California lost its sixth straight and hasn’t beaten a FBS opponent since winning at Washington State in October 2012.

Bishop Sankey ran for a career-high 241 and two touchdowns, Keith Price threw a pair of long touchdowns to Jaydon Mickens and Washington snapped a three-game losing streak.

“It’s tough because you play good in spurts but that’s not good enough against the people we’re playing against week in and week out,” Dykes said. “You have to play consistent for every play in the game and that’s what separates the good teams from the bad teams and right now we’re not able to play at that level of consistency.”

to imagine but I think we’re really coming together as a team through all this pain and struggling,” Goff said.

WALLER HELPS NO. 15 FRESNO ST. BEAT SDSU IN OT: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fresno State knows it isn’t easy to go undefeated.

The 15th-ranked Bulldogs won by seven points or fewer for the fourth time this season, outlasting San Diego State 35-28 in overtime on Saturday night.

“If you were to tell me we would come out score and 60 points, then that is easy like a video game,” Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr said. “But nothing is promised on a football field. I guess this makes for good memories and for a good talk 20 years down the road.”

Marteze Waller’s 1-yard touchdown run on Fresno State’s first possession in overtime lifted the Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 Mountain West).

Earlier this year the Bulldogs defeated Rutgers 52-51 in overtime and edged Boise State 41-40.

“You couldn’t write this in a script any better,” said Marcel Jensen, who blocked the potential game-winning field goal as time expired in regulation. “We’ve won three games now down to the wire. That locker room is full of competitors and when it is crunch time, we are going to compete.

SAN JOSE STATE ESCAPES WITH 51-44 WIN OVER WYOMING: SAN JOSE  (AP) — David Fales passed for 482 yards and five touchdowns and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season with eight seconds left to lead San Jose State over Wyoming 51-44 Saturday night.

The Spartans (4-3, 3-1, Mountain West) overcame a 16-point third quarter deficit, using three consecutive touchdowns to take the lead at the end of the frame.

Wyoming (4-4, 2-2) then went 69 yards in 10 plays, culminating with Shaun Wick’s 15-yard TD carry with 11:47 remaining. The teams traded another touchdown apiece before the Spartans showed they had one last trick up their sleeve.

On fourth and inches from the Wyoming 46, the Spartans ran a play-action and Fales found tight end Billy Freeman along the left sideline. Freeman pulled in the pass and rumbled 33 yards to the Cowboys’ 13. Five plays later, Fales pushed his way into the end zone, on a quarterback sneak, for the deciding score.

KIRK RUNS MONTANA STATE PAST UC DAVIS 34-17: BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — DeNarius McGhee completed 10 of 13 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half leading Montana State to a 34-17 win over UC Davis Saturday.

Cody Kirk went over the 3,000 yard mark for career rushing and scored twice for the Bobcats (6-2, 4-0 Big Sky). He finished with 119 yards on 20 carries.

McGhee finished the day 15 of 20 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.