Analysis: A few defensive issues aside, WSU handled business in season-opening rout of Portland State

PULLMAN – Sometime after Saturday afternoon’s game, a Washington State player might fire up his Xbox to start a game of College Football 25. He might play as the Cougars, opening up the playbook to toy with an overmatched opponent.

Even then, he might have trouble replicating what happened in the real game on Saturday afternoon, the way WSU opened its season with a 70-30 nonconference thrashing of FCS Portland State.

“Game one, we accomplished the mission of what we wanted to do,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said.

“I just told the team that we went 1-0. We didn’t have a score expectation, and we got the job done.”

That’s how easily the Cougars took care of business, which is how they needed to handle this game against the Vikings, projected to be one of the Big Sky’s worst teams this season. They needed to build confidence for quarterback John Mateer in his first start. They needed to establish an effective rushing attack, and they needed their defense to create turnovers.

WSU went 3 for 3 in those departments.

Mateer completed 11 of 17 passes for 352 yards and five touchdowns, plus two carries for 55 yards and a score.

True freshman running back Wayshawn Parker carried eight times for 96 yards and two total touchdowns, and fellow running back Leo Pulalasi added eight carries for 54 yards.

Late in the second quarter, cornerback Steve Hall returned an interception 100 yards for an interception, helping the Cougars cruise into halftime with a 49-17 cushion.

FCS opponent or not, there may be no overstating the importance of the Cougars’ success on the ground, where they totaled 224 yards. Far and away, it was their biggest weakness last season, big enough to lead to six straight losses and a missed bowl game. If they want to capitalize on this unique season, on playing eight Mountain West opponents, they have to be better running the ball.

“When you can run the ball, it’s going to open up lanes for the RPO game,” Dickert said. “We didn’t even get much to the play-action pass game today, but I thought John did a really good job of settling in.”

In the program’s first time scoring 70 since 1997, WSU got touchdowns up and down the roster, from a diving catch by Oregon transfer Kris Hutson to a pair of long receptions from senior wideout Kyle Williams. It all looked easy for the Cougs, which was always to be expected, but the thing about good teams is they take care of business.

It might be too early to get a true read on this Washington State team, not after a beatdown of an FCS foe, but the Cougars don’t have time to ease into this season. Next week, they’ll host the Big 12’s Texas Tech, and a week after that, they’ll take on rival Washington in the first nonconference Apple Cup at Seattle’s Lumen Field. It figures to be the Cougs’ toughest stretch of schedule this fall.

That’s why it was important for WSU to dispatch Portland State quickly and efficiently. The Cougs succeeded on both of those fronts.

“I thought the offensive guys did a tremendous job,” Dickert said. “Everyone ate today. I mean, you saw skill sets across the board that we’ve been talking about. It’s been great to finally see it really applied to the field. I thought our run after the catch today was phenomenal, and we’re gonna need that as we continue to go throughout this season.”

The Cougars should be encouraged by what they saw from Mateer, a two-year backup making his first start in Saturday’s game. His team looked a little shaky to start, going three-and-out on its first series. Mateer completed just one of his first six passes. Wide receiver Josh Meredith dropped one of those first few throws.

From there, all Mateer did was torch the Vikings’ defense, the kind of showing he can draw on for confidence when the games get a lot tougher. Among his top plays: a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hutson; a laser to Tre Shackelford for a score; a deep ball to Williams, who finished off a 58-yard touchdown strike.

That says a lot about how efficient Mateer was. He didn’t just show off his strong arm, a key reason he won the starting role this season. He also did well to trust his playmakers, from Hutson to Shackelford to true freshman running back Wayshawn Parker, another trend that might make or break these next several games.

Mateer did make some sterling individual plays – he shook a couple of tackles en route to a 40-yard touchdown rush, and he couldn’t have placed the touchdown pass to Williams in much of a better spot – but he also let his teammates do their thing. It was clear he wasn’t pressing. He simplified things and let them happen naturally.

Perhaps most telling: After starting just 1 for 6 through the air, he completed 10 of 11 final passes, covering 336 yards.

“I think it’s our style of offense – to get the ball out on time and on rhythm,” Dickert said. “And when you do that, you allow these guys space to go out there and make plays. We did feel coming into the game that we could (run) the football after we caught it. It’s good to see that get applied.”

“Coming up in the week, I was like, ‘Nah, I’m good, I’m good,’ ” Mateer said of his nerves. “I was confident going into the week. These coaches prepare me really well, and the players around me helped me succeed. So no, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be, and I’ve been here for a while, and I think I’m mature enough to understand I’m good enough to play this level.”

For WSU, if there’s any concern about the way the game unfolded, it came on defense. For one, the Vikings racked up 30 points, the most they’ve scored against an FBS opponent since 2021 in a loss to Hawaii. They also burned the Cougs for 235 yards through the air and 215 on the ground, churning out 4.5 yards per rush.

A couple of caveats: WSU’s starting defenders weren’t playing the snap counts they will the rest of the season. That’s the nature of blowouts like these. It was also hot, more than 90 degrees for much of the game, and the Cougs likely won’t play in those kinds of conditions again this season. Maybe they still shouldn’t be allowing an FCS opponent to score that much – Portland State QB Dante Chachere completed touchdown passes of 40 and 11 yards – but in any case, it wasn’t a normal outing from WSU’s defense.

One thing is for sure, though: Washington State will need to be far better on defense in these next two games. Not every game is like a video game.

“We gotta get better from this tape,” Dickert said. “There’s some communication issues, there’s tackling issues.

“Here’s what I know about that squad: They’re gonna come back to practice with their hair on fire and ready to go. We’ll see where we’re at next week.”