First look: Washington State looks to run win streak to four with home matchup against San Jose State

PULLMAN – Here is a first look at Washington State’s home matchup with San Jose State on Friday evening.

What is it?

Washington State, fresh off its first Apple Cup win over rival Washington in three years, will try to top San Jose State for its fourth straight win to open the season. It’s one of the eight Mountain West Conference teams the Cougars are playing this season, but because it was scheduled years in advance, it’s not one of the games provided by WSU’s scheduling agreement with the MWC.

Where is it?

Gesa Field at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

When is it?

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. local time.

Where can I watch it?

The CW will broadcast the game.

Who is favored?

Washington State was about a 13.5-point favorite in most sportsbooks as of Monday morning.

How did the Cougars fare last week?

To beat rival UW for the first time since 2021, WSU got a game-saving tackle in the fourth quarter from linebacker Kyle Thornton, who brought down Husky running back Jonah Coleman short of the goal line on fourth down. Credit edge Andrew Edson for generating enough pressure to prompt UW QB Will Rogers to pitch it, too.

That came after WSU QB John Mateer completed 17 of 34 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Mateer also rushed for two scores, one a 23-yard scamper in the first quarter and the other a 25-yard rush in the third. Mateer found receiver Josh Meredith for a 16-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

WSU’s defense did well to hold UW to just one touchdown, which came on a touchdown pass from Rogers to receiver Giles Jackson in the first quarter, forcing kicker Grady Gross to convert on four field goals. The Cougs benefited from 16 Husky penalties for 135 yards, third-most in UW history. But their secondary left something to be desired.

WSU finished with a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 50.6, below average, which was reflected in Washington’s passing stats. Rogers racked up 314 passing yards, and Cougar defenders allowed 26 receptions on 34 targets. Perhaps most important, WSU missed 17 tackles, a mark the Cougs have hit in all three games this season so far.

WSU linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah, a redshirt sophomore, has missed nine. He’s third in the country in missed tackles this fall.

“Tackling is tracking, and it’s all angles,” Dickert said. “Against Texas Tech, that was one of the best defensive tackling performances we’ve had in a while. … Give credit to (UW running back) Jonah Coleman. This guy is hard, hard, hard to bring down. There’s two years of evidence that that is very difficult to do. Little bit of that, little bit of confidence, strike zone – sometimes you’re ducking your head, you’re not wrapping and squeezing. There’s a lot of things that go into that piece that we’ll continue to work on.”

WSU also won with kicker Dean Janikowski going 1-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 44 yards early in the game before missing from 26 yards later on. He has now made just 3 of his last 9 field goal attempts dating back to last season. He hasn’t made a field goal from 40-plus yards since WSU’s win over Oregon State last September.

Part of the problem, Dickert said, is that Janikowski has had to pick up punting duties in the absence of punter Nick Haberer, who has missed each of the first three games of the season with a back injury. The team is asking a lot of Janikowski, Dickert admitted.

“I trust in Dean,” Dickert said. “He knows the expectations, and we need to continue to put the ball between the uprights when he’s called upon. So that’s kind of where we’re at, and we’ll continue to go with Dean.”

Scouting San Jose State …

On offense, the engine of the 3-0 San Jose Spartans is a former Cougar. Quarterback Emmett Brown, who started his career with his freshman campaign at WSU last year, has led SJSU to scoring outputs of 42, 17 and 31 in wins over Sacramento State, Air Force and Kennesaw State, respectively. His offensive coordinator is Craig Stutzmann, one of the WSU coaches fired in 2021 for not complying with the state mandate for the COVID-19 vaccine.

So far, Brown has completed 63 of 104 passes (61%) for 915 yards, 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. His favorite target has been 6-foot-3 receiver Nick Nash, a fifth-year senior who has 34 catches for 485 yards and 6 touchdowns. SJSU’s leading rusher is running back Floyd Chalk IV, a transfer from Grambling State.

“I feel proud of Emmett, for him to have success,” Dickert said. “We know him well. He’s got probably the quickest release of all the three guys I just mentioned (Cam Ward and John Mateer). Extremely accurate quarterback. Throws a great deep ball. He threw his touchdown passes for us in cleanup minutes at times. So (it’s cool) for him to get this opportunity, seizing the moment.”

On defense, the Spartans have improved game-to-game, earning a higher PFF defensive grade after each game: 71.3 against Sacramento State, 76.3 against Air Force, 80.1 against Kennesaw State. Last week, three different starters logged sacks: Edge Quincy Likio and linebackers Taniela Latu and Jordan Pollard. Latu and Pollard were the team’s leading tacklers in that game.

“This is the Bay Area’s best team in the last four or five years. There’s no question about it,” Dickert said. “Defensively, they’re willing to attack. They’re gonna get across our line of scrimmage in a hurry. There’s not a lot of read-and-react to it. It is go. They have 10 takeaways in the first three games. I mean, that’s hard to do.”

What happened last time?

Back in 2018, WSU took down San Jose State in a 31-0 blowout. In that one, Gardner Minshew piled up 414 passing yards and three touchdown passes.