BOULDER, Colo. - Bottled up most of the afternoon by a depleted defensive backfield, Marquess Wilson came up with the big play - and down with the ball - just in time.

Speeding past two defenders, Wilson hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Marshall Lobbestael with 1:10 left to lead Washington State to a stunning 31-27 comeback win over Colorado on Saturday.

The Buffaloes (1-4, 0-1) were primed for a win in their Pac-12 debut before surrendering two touchdowns in the final 2? minutes. Colorado had thwarted Washington State's high-powered aerial attack most of the afternoon with a patchwork secondary that included two converted offensive players.

Coming into the game, Wilson's average of 143.6 yards receiving was tops in the nation among BCS schools, but he'd been held to just 58 yards on five catches up to that point.

One stutter-step and a pump-fake later, Wilson found himself 10 yards past cornerback Greg Henderson and safety Anthony Perkins as he raced toward the end zone. Lobbestael's pass hung in the air as the crowd of 51,928 grew silent.

"I knew Marshall would be able to get it there," Wilson said.

Getting it to him wasn't the issue for Lobbestael, who threw for 376 yards. Overthrowing him was.

"It looked like he put too much on it," Cougars coach Paul Wulff said after just his second road win in four years.

Wilson cradled the pass at the 15, then trotted into the end zone, giving the Cougars (3-1, 1-0) one more win than in any of Wulff's previous three full seasons.

The Buffaloes led 27-17 with 5:11 left after Rodney Stewart's 1-yard TD run.

Lobbestael drove Washington State 77 yards in seven plays, hitting Isiah Barton from 19 yards out with 2:35 left to pull the Cougars within a field goal.

With three timeouts remaining, Wulff elected to forgo a risky onside kick, and the strategy paid off when the Cougars forced a punt and got the ball back with 1:50 left.

This time, they needed just 40 seconds to cover 90 yards.

"They ran a double move and we got beat," Perkins said. "We'll leave it at that."

After Wilson's TD, the Buffs had one more chance, but receiver Paul Richardson was stripped of the ball by cornerback Damante Horton after a 23-yard gain and linebacker C.J. Mizell recovered for Washington State.

Afterward, Buffaloes coach Jon Embree ripped into his team for finding a way to lose yet again.

"I asked them, 'When is it going to be enough? When is enough enough? You put in all this work, you do all this stuff you've done from spring ball to coaches' week to training camp for this. This is what we did the work for. So when is it enough?'" Embree said, his voice rising.

"When are they going to get tired of losing? When are they going to get tired of finding ways of losing? This staff, we've been here for five freaking weeks and I'm tired of it. So, if I've been here for five years, I have to be tired of it myself, too."

Oh, they are, linebacker Doug Rippy said.

"I'd had enough after the Hawaii game. I hope other guys did, too," he said. "We've been losing for the past five years. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of losing, I want to win. You walk around campus, you've constantly got people coming up to you asking, 'What happened in the game?'"

"There's a want-to there, but guys just consistently find a way, in critical situations, to not make that play. And that's me included," said Tyler Hansen, who threw two touchdown passes and one interception.

It looked like the Buffs were going to celebrating despite a rash of injuries that's sidelined six cornerbacks - a seventh missed the game while tending to a family matter - forcing converted wide receiver Jason Espinoza and converted tailback Brian Lockridge to line up as defensive backs.

Espinoza started at left cornerback and had a quarterback hurry that forced a punt. Lockridge, who had never played defense before Monday's practice, had five tackles and a sack.

"For a crash course," Perkins said, "they did a great job."