Amid WSU defense’s struggles, QB John Mateer and Cougs’ offense have done their part — and more

In a quiet media room under Reser Stadium, where Washington State took its second-straight loss with a narrow setback to Oregon State last weekend, John Mateer took an even quieter tone. The Cougars’ starting quarterback, usually talkative and bubbly, had little to say about his offense’s outing.

“I thought we came to play overall,” said Mateer, whose unit put up 38 points. “But we didn’t score enough points, and that’s just the way it is.”

Maybe WSU didn’t score enough points – but it might stand to reason that 38 should have been enough, especially on the road. For his part, Mateer completed 17 of 23 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, avoiding a turnover for the fifth straight game. He’s been sharper as the season has unfolded, and the Cougs’ offense has been better for it.

Consider this statistic: Across the first six games of this season, Mateer completed 106 of 188 passes, which is just 56%. In that span, he tossed six interceptions, and including a fumble he lost against Fresno State, he totaled seven turnovers. It was clear he was in his first year starting, and his accuracy eluded him at times.

Since then, Mateer has turned that around: He’s connected on 102 of 137 passes, a blazing 74%. He hasn’t thrown an interception in that stretch, either, and he’s totaled 15 passing touchdowns too. Starting with WSU’s win over Hawaii on Oct. 12, coaches have made a conscious effort to put Mateer in spots he’s more comfortable in, and that has meant whittling down his menu of plays.

It has worked like a magic trick. WSU is averaging 39 points per game in its last five games. Mateer has been at the heart of it all.

“Experience, number one. You get experience out there, you get more comfortable,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said of Mateer’s improvement. “Number two, I thought it was big on that first bye week, we really settled into what John’s good at. I think you’re seeing that now. He was really good at the big ball last week, and we haven’t hit on some of those things. And just him feeling more comfortable in our scheme of what we’re asking him to do.”

The effects of Mateer’s development have rippled across the Cougs’ offense in the best ways. They’re scoring more, and they’re scoring more consistently, churning out an average of 41 points in their last three games. Their defense has a lot to figure out – that’s the main culprit behind WSU’s last two games, road losses to New Mexico and Oregon State – but for the most part, Mateer and the Cougars’ offense has done their part.

That raises what might be a fair question: When WSU’s defense is struggling like it has in two straight games now, does it change things for Mateer, give him and the offense more urgency to score when they have the chance?

“In this offense, no,” Mateer said. “In an offense that you’re really heavily dictated on the run, maybe, because then you’d have to throw the ball and have to move the ball quickly. But in this offense, we’re built for shootouts and to score a lot of points.”

Assisting in that effort, too, has been the Cougars’ offense line. Like Mateer, that unit has only gotten better as the season has unfolded, which is saying something considering the lack of continuity it has enjoyed. WSU was without right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe for the first three games of the season. Christian Hilborn and Rod Tialavea have rotated – sometimes every other drive – at left guard. Center Devin Kylany missed the Oregon State game last weekend, which threw an even bigger wrench into the Cougs’ front five.

That moved right guard Brock Dieu to center, which is the position he was recruited to play, but he had not taken game reps at center at the college level. Hilborn moved to right guard, which he had not played since logging six snaps there in the 2021 Sun Bowl, and Tialavea stayed at left guard.

The results have been, for the most part, aces. Against OSU, WSU’s offensive line did not give up a single sack, according to Pro Football Focus, allowing nine pressures, three of which went against left tackle Esa Pole in an uncharacteristically uneven outing for him. In the Cougs’ loss to New Mexico, their offensive line also didn’t give up any sacks, permitting only four pressures.

“Brock was phenomenal. He’s never practiced there,” said Dickert, who hired first-year offensive line coach Jared Kaster during the offseason. “To go out there and do it at the level that he did it was just great. I thought we were in unison. I think there’s a bunch of little things that we could do better, Christian (Hilborn) playing the opposite guard. So I thought we were pretty good. We kept John well upright. Really have been pretty much most of this season. It’s been a big change.”

For the season, Washington State has earned a PFF pass-blocking grade of 86.4, third-best nationally. If that figure holds, it would be the Cougs’ best since 2018, when all-conference picks Abe Lucas, Andre Dillard, Liam Ryan and Frederick Mauigoa protected Gardner Minshew.

Now the man in the pocket is Mateer, who has guided a credible improvement on WSU’s offense in recent weeks. To beat Wyoming this weekend and land in the best possible bowl, Mateer and the Cougs will have to keep that up.