First look: Washington State visits Boise State in teams’ first clash since 2017
PULLMAN – Here is a first look at Washington State’s road matchup against Boise State on Saturday evening.
What is it?
Coming off a 54-52 double-overtime win over San Jose State, a thriller that captured the attention of college football fans across the nation, Washington State heads south to take on a Boise State team also challenging for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
For the Cougars, it’s the first game of a Pac-12/Mountain West scheduling agreement that provided WSU and Oregon State games for this season.
Where is it?
Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho.
When is it?
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. MT.
Where can I watch it?
FS1 will broadcast the game.
Who is favored?
Washington State was around a 7.5-point underdog in most sportsbooks as of Monday morning.
How did the Cougars fare last week?
WSU needed every minute of last weekend’s game to take down San Jose State in a double-overtime affair. The Cougs earned the win when, on a two-point try to send the game to triple overtime, edge rusher Quinn Roff got pressure on SJSU QB Emmett Brown (a WSU transfer) and caused a fumble and ended the game.
That came after WSU got a rushing touchdown by running back Dylan Paine and the necessary two-point conversion by quarterback John Mateer, who totaled 390 passing yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which he threw in the first overtime session. In that situation, the Cougs had already stopped the Spartans, so they just needed a field goal to win – one of the mistakes that led WSU coach Jake Dickert to say he got out-coached after the game.
The Cougs did make plenty of missteps to get to that point. Kicker Dean Janikowski did send the game to overtime with a 52-yard field goal, the second-longest of his career, but he also missed an earlier extra point that would have tied the game. He has now made four of his last 10 field goal tries, dating back to last season.
“Just that 26 seconds to execute it exactly how we’ve worked it many times in fall camp,” Dickert said Monday. “Get to the 35-yard line to give Dean a shot, Dean to go nails there and make it. I just think there’s so many things to clean up. We haven’t played our best football. We were on the short week. We got the win, and we’re moving on to Boise State.”
WSU also came one stop away from ending the game in regulation. On fourth-and-10 in Cougar territory, the Spartans scored a touchdown on a pass from Brown to receiver Treyshun Hurry, whose score gave SJSU a three-point lead with 26 seconds left. That’s what prompted WSU to march down the field and give Janikowski the chance to tie the game.
The Cougs also made a couple other mistakes – they allowed the Spartans to convert on a fake punt, and their fake field goal attempt went nowhere, leading to another SJSU touchdown – but for the first time this season, missed tackles were not among them. WSU whiffed on just five tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, a major step in the right direction for a team that entered with the second-most missed tackles nationwide.
Scouting Boise State…
Boise State’s best player is one of the best in the nation, star running back Ashton Jeanty, the engineer of the Broncos’ offense. His 586 rushing yards rank second nationwide, and his 10.5 yards per carry ranks first. He has totaled nine touchdowns, which is tied for second in the country, and with a Pro Football Focus rushing grade of NFL-caliber 93.8, he is PFF’s top-graded rusher among backs with 50-plus carries.
Jeanty has garnered some serious hype for the Heisman Trophy, too, sitting out the second half of BSU’s romp over FCS Portland State last weekend. He’s seventh nationwide in missed tackles forced with 26, making it important for the Cougars to wrap him up when they get the chance.
“He’s strong. He’s got one of the best stiff arms I’ve seen in a long time,” Dickert said. “So if you think you’re going to tackle him above the waist, it’s not happening. You gotta get through his legs. You gotta kill his motors. You gotta gang tackle with this guy. It’s not gonna be one person. You gotta keep your leverage.”
Boise State’s quarterback is sophomore Maddux Madsen, who won the starting job in fall camp over USC transfer Malachi Nelson, the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2023. This season, Madsen has completed 52 of 89 passes (58.4%) for five touchdowns and one interception. He isn’t quite a game manager, but he isn’t the focal point of the Broncos’ offense, either.
Boise State’s other weapons on offense include backup running back Sire Gaines (questionable for Saturday’s game with an injury) and receivers Cameron Camper and Latrell Caples, the latter of whom have combined for 21 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns, all from Camper.
On defense, Boise State has yielded 46 points to Georgia Southern, 37 to Oregon and 14 to Portland State. The Broncos’ playmakers on that side of the ball include cornerback A’Marion McCoy, who has pocketed two pass breakups, safety Rodney Robinson and linebacker Andrew Simpson, who has made three sacks this season.
What happened last time?
WSU and BSU’s last meeting came in 2017 in Pullman, where the Cougs escaped with a triple-overtime victory, capped by running back Jamal Morrow’s game-winning touchdown. In that one, the late Tyler Hilinski replaced injured QB Luke Falk and led a comeback, which started when Boise State took a 31-10 lead in the fourth frame.