In loss to New Mexico, No. 19 WSU coach Jake Dickert says he didn’t use timeouts on Lobos’ final drive because of analytics

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the final minute of No. 19 Washington State’s 38-35 loss to New Mexico Saturday night, as the Lobos were driving down the field for the game-winning touchdown, the Cougars had all three timeouts.

After the game, WSU coach Jake Dickert referenced an analytics book the team uses to explain why he didn’t use them to stop the clock and give his team’s offense more time for a potential response.

On that series, New Mexico ran five plays in the red zone, punctuated by quarterback Devon Dampier’s short scoring plunge for the final margin. In between, Dickert and the Cougars let the clock keep running, and after Dampier’s touchdown, WSU’s offense had only 21 seconds to tie or win the game.

All told, the Lobos’ game-winning drive chewed up 2 minutes, 51 seconds, handing WSU its second loss of the season.

“The book says inside of the 10-yard line, you gotta save your time,” Dickert said. “On the third-and-short, if I could I back and do it again, I’d probably rip a timeout right there, because they’re going to get all their plays in, and we need to save time for ourselves on the back end. So that was probably the one thing I’d probably do again.”

WSU uses an analytics book from a company called Championship Analytics, a service utilized by at least 84 FBS programs to assist them in fourth-down and analytical decisions. Dickert has been open that he likes analytics and leans on them for many decisions, which apparently includes timeout usage.

The play before Dampier’s winning touchdown, WSU linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah went down with an injury, prompting a mandatory injury timeout. In that situation, the team with the injury gets a choice of using a timeout or allowing a 10-second runoff. The Lobos didn’t elect to use the runoff, but the clock didn’t restart until the next play. The reasoning behind that is unclear.

All night, WSU had trouble containing Dampier, who totaled 193 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries, showcasing his dual-threat capabilities. He also completed 11 of 25 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown. Running a variation of the same QB keeper for much of the night, Dampier and the Lobos mostly had their way on the ground.

On their game-winning drive, the Lobos ran 11 plays. The Cougs declined to use any of their three timeouts after them. In the end, they paid for it with a loss, which likely knocks them out of contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Headed into Saturday’s game, WSU was No. 18 in the CFP rankings.