A Grip on Sports: Even though he’s a long way from walking with the seniors, it’s possible this is John Mateer’s final game in Pullman

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The final Saturday of college football’s regular season once was filled with either visions of a bowl game or comeback plans for next year. For fans and coaches alike. Players too. But that has all changed. And no one epitomizes that change more than Washington State sophomore quarterback John Mateer.

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• With the year Mateer has had, the future looks bright. Not just for him, but the Cougars as well. How often has WSU been great without a great quarterback? In this century we mean. After all, the days of Chad Davis or Ricky Turner and a dominating defense are long gone. As are those when there was little worry the underclassman star of the quarterback room would return.

There is doubt in Pullman. As there was last season. And the season before.

John Mateer will make his 12th start for the Cougars today. Sometime in the first quarter he will top 3,000 yards passing and 800 rushing. Three hours or so later, he will walk off Gesa Field, more than likely having led the 8-3 Cougars to their seventh consecutive home win, including all six this season.

It is about then the congregation of Washington State faithful will rise up and, with one voice, implore him to, as the no-once-cool folks say, run it back in 2025.

Will he? And what will be behind his decision?

Neither question is answerable. Not here. Not now. Not by you or me or even coach Jake Dickert. Only Mateer knows.

A similar scenario played out last season. And the season before. In both cases it was Cam Ward in the spotlight. The North Texas transfer decided to stay once. Then bolted the second time, mentioning the NFL draft but actually mining a lucrative NIL vein.

Ward ended up at Miami, reportedly earning $2 million this season. With WSU passing stats comparable to what his replacement has posted. And nowhere near the rushing ones.

It’s not hard to envision Mateer, a far-less-finished product, earning similar offers from a Power 4 school just a dual-threat quarterback away from glory.

How hard would it be for Mateer, who grew up in Texas but came north when the state’s top schools passed him by in the recruiting process, to turn down a lucrative offer from Texas A&M, say? Again, it’s an impossible question for you and I to answer.

Why contemplating it, though, never inject the word “loyalty” into the conversation. Like the days of the Palouse Posse, it is no longer relevant. College athletics is the last unfettered free market in professional sports, even more so than baseball. No one is bound anywhere by anything concrete, unless you feel friendships and familiarity are touchmarks above all others. Neither usually are. Most every player, every coach, every administrator is guided by a single principal. Do what’s best for you and yours. The rest is all sound and fury of no significance. All that matters is how they define “best.”

Mateer’s definition might include such things. They may be rated highly. Money might not be important. Then again, an NFL future may be his main focus. Or the guy in the locker room, the gal down the block, the professor in that one class, heck, the burgers at Cougar Country. The choice is his to make. To control. So are the criteria to base it upon.

Could an outpouring of love from 25,000 or so folks in Martin Stadium today be a factor? Maybe. Maybe not. Sorry, but equivocation is called for here.

There is no way to answer. There is only today’s game. Not even a bowl game is guaranteed, what with the transfer portal and its magic pull opening right after next weekend’s conference championship games.

Enjoy Mateer on this final day of November, 2024. Pull for him. Let him bask in your appreciation. Donate to the Cougars’ NIL collective if that’s what you think will help. Heck, use the Northern Quest WSU loyalty card Mateer advertises one last time.

And then be ready for whatever comes.

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WSU: One thought for this last regular season game. When will Senior Day ceremonies disappear? In the new world of transactional relationships, athletes who spend four or five years at one school will become rarer and rarer. And, if a player transfers in for one season after having attended two or three other schools, is a celebration even warranted? Sure tests that “once a whatever, always a whatever” mantra, doesn’t it? Anyhow, the Cougars will honor 18 seniors, including the likes of linebacker Kyle Thornton and kicker Dean Janikowski. That and more appears in Greg Woods’ preview. … Greg also has the keys to a Cougar victory and his final regular season pick. … The women’s basketball team played on Black Friday in Puerto Rico. They held on to eight of the nine points they led by in the fourth quarter and defeated Virginia 75-74. … Former WSU linebacker Daiyan Henley is becoming a key part of the L.A. Chargers’ defense. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, the other Pac-12 football team played yesterday. In Boise. And how did that turn out? Oregon State wasn’t competitive in the first quarter, never could recover and fell 38-17 to the 11th-ranked Broncos. The Beavers’ season is over. Now it’s on to 2025, with a to-do list a mile long, as John Canzano delineates. … Is there a chance Washington travels to Eugene and upsets Oregon? Knocks the Ducks out of the top spot in the CFP rankings? Sends them reeling into the Big Ten title game? All the Lloyd Christmas-wannabes in purple quarter-zips certainly believe so. … There were a few former Pac-12 schools in action Friday, though the Stanford Cardinal, ACC edition, is just a pale shadow of the Cardinal teams of yesteryear. They handed host San Jose State a 34-31 comeback victory. … Colorado is also not at all like the teams of its (lean) Pac-12 years. The Buffaloes routed visiting Oklahoma State 52-0 and Deion Sanders proclaimed the Heisman race over. Does he know something the rest of us don’t? Possibly. … I’m certain Kyle Whittingham knows a lot the rest of us don’t. Including whether he will be back leading Utah next season. The Utes went to Orlando and, with a fifth-string quarterback playing, topped UCF 28-14 and began a crucial offseason. … Jon Wilner answers questions in his Mercury News mailbag, once again touting the mirage that is strength of schedule as a key element in ranking teams. … Today will be fun. There are great rivalry games. (Did you watch Georgia struggle at home with Tech? Did you wonder why targeting wasn’t even mentioned in the game’s turning-point play?) Great matchups. The best? Texas at Texas A&M. Maybe. But all appetizers for next weekend’s kind of immaterial conference title games. … Back to the West, Notre Dame is in the Coliseum today, 50 years after the greatest game – according to USC fans – in the storied rivalry. The final that day was 55-24, Trojans. Sorry, but Anthony Davis isn’t in cardinal and gold today. … UCLA ends its season in the Rose Bowl against perennial rival Fresno State and, yes, that is sarcasm. … As is any mention of the word rivalry in connection to California’s game today against ninth-ranked SMU. … The Territorial Cup is in Tucson. The Sun Devils need a win to make the Big 12 title game. Arizona is only playing for pride and its seniors. We’re picking the Wildcats in the day’s biggest upset. … In the Mountain West, visiting Utah State was cruising past Colorado State. Then fell apart and lost 42-37 as the Rams kept their MWC title game hopes alive. …For CSU to get there, though, UNLV will have to lose to in-state rival Nevada. … San Diego State hosts Air Force. … New Mexico visits Hawaii as the Warriors send off their seniors. … In basketball news, the Washington men topped Santa Clara to win a November tournament. … Oregon State’s women are looking more and more for one player to be aggressive offensively.

Gonzaga: The Davidson Wildcats gave us flashbacks Friday. Flashbacks to the mid-‘90s GU teams under Dan Fitzgerald. But in 2024, this Gonzaga squad filled the role of, say, Maryland in the 1995 NCAA tourney. Too big, too strong, too talented. The Zags rolled 90-65 yesterday in the Bahamas. Theo Lawson has the game story and worked with the folks in the office to give you a recap with highlights. … Dave Boling has a column on what the Bulldogs learned during the three-game tropical tournament. … Ben Gregg scored a career-high 24 points and earned himself mention in Jim Meehan’s buzzer breakdown as well as a story all about his performance and role. … Tyler Tjomsland has an all-encompassing photo report. … The women are just down the sea in the Virgin Islands but their result Friday was not as positive. Greg Lee has this coverage of their 67-49 loss to Texas Tech. … Elsewhere in the WCC, we now have comparative scores to cite. Saint Mary’s lost to Arizona State last night.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, can Montana turn in a complete effort today? … UC Davis is happy it gets to watch games. … In basketball news, the Montana State women have won two consecutive road games. … Idaho State rallied to win in Cancun. … The Weber State men defeated Bowling Green.

Seahawks: No worries. DK Metcalf will play Sunday against the Jets. … So will Geno Smith, of course. Did you know he is a former Jet? … Mike Macdonald has helped Leonard Williams get going.

Kraken: That was ugly. Seattle lost 8-5 at San Jose yesterday.

Mariners: Will the M’s have to trade one of their starting pitchers to improve the offense? It’s probably the only way. Baseball’s financial formula is so broken, even middling players are out of reach of the less-affluent clubs, of which Seattle is one (along with about 25 others). The Dodgers, for example, signed Tommy Edman to a five-year, $74-million contract extension, something few franchises can actually afford.  

Sounders: Seattle has a date in Los Angeles for the second consecutive week. Could the Sounders send home their dance partner crying once more? They will if coach Brian Schmetzer has anything to say about it. And he does. … It is quite possible Seattle’s injuries will finally catch up with it in tonight’s Western Conference final against the Galaxy.

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• It’s a sad day. Since early September, Saturdays have been packed like a 77-year-old’s carry-on with college football. After today Saturdays won’t be the same until next summer. One thing, though. When college football ends, my job gets easier. No more Mountain West stories (outside of Utah State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Boise State and San Diego State, the future Pac-12 schools). That saves me a lot of time. Until later …