Two-minute drill: Washington State’s keys to victory against Boise State

PULLMAN — Here is what to watch for when Washington State visits No. 25 Boise State on Saturday evening.

When Boise State has the ball…

The key cog in the Broncos’ offense is star running back Ashton Jeanty, who is squarely in the Heisman Trophy race. The nation’s leader in yards per carry (10.5) and second in total yards (586), Jeanty is a 5-foot-9 bowling ball with electric speed, a lethal combination that has helped the Broncos race to a 2-1 start to the season, with wins over Georgia Southern and Portland State and a narrow road loss to Oregon.

Boise State’s quarterback is sophomore Maddux Madsen, who has completed 52 of 89 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns, and he has weapons on the outside in receivers Cameron Camper and Latrell Caples. But Boise State’s offense revolves around Jeanty, who has racked up 26 missed tackles, seventh most in the nation.

“It’s a combination of speed and power,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “I think anytime you get that compact running back, those have been the hardest guys to handle. He can hit the big one. He’s got a great stiff arm. He spin moves, he’s patient but explosive. I mean, it’s just a combination. We’ve seen a lot of really good backs, but he’s almost at the top of the list right there.”

As a result, Boise State’s rushing offense has received an NFL-caliber grade of 94.6 from Pro Football Focus, good for No. 2 in the country, ahead of the likes of Ohio State, Miami, USC and Ole Miss. The Broncos make no bones about their approach: Run the ball. It’s just up to their opponents to slow them down.

Can the Cougs succeed on that front? They’ll likely have to get solid outings from interior linemen David Gusta and Ansel Din-Mbuh, plus linebackers Kyle Thornton and Buddah Al-Uqdah, the latter of whom has missed 12 tackles this season — tied for the most in the country. He can ill afford that trend to keep up on Saturday.

That’s why WSU has committed an inordinate amount of practice time this week to tackling, according to safeties and nickels coach Jordan Malone. The Cougs’ game plan, he said, will be as important as their tackling plan. They won’t get very far if they let Jeanty run wild on them.

“It’s all about the strike zone,” Malone said. “He’s a little strong back. He already has low pad level due to his height. But it’s being able focus on the strike zone, run through the stiff arm that he has — as good a stiff arm as anybody in the country. You’re just focused on being scrappy and accelerating on contact. You see a lot of people struggle to tackle him, but that’s been our biggest focus: our tackling plan, game plan second.”

When Washington State has the ball…

The Cougars will likely need quarterback John Mateer to be at his best on Saturday. He’s a week removed from completing 26 of 46 passes for 390 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions — one in overtime, which coach Jake Dickert took responsibility for — in a wild, double-overtime win over San Jose State.

But Mateer was also the team’s leading rusher in that game, registering 18 carries for 111 yards and one touchdown. He ranks second nationally in rushing yards by a quarterback, second only to Army signal-caller Bryson Daily, whose team traditionally rarely passes anyway.

To top Boise State, Mateer will need to team up with true freshman running back Wayshawn Parker and carve up the Broncos’ defense, which gave up 45 points to Georgia Southern in a season-opening win. Boise State’s run defense ranks No. 121 of 134 FBS teams, according to Pro Football Focus, perhaps making that unit a prime target for Mateer, Parker and the rest of the Cougs’ rushing attack.

They’ll be facing a 4-4 Boise State defense, which WSU defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding ran when he was the Broncos’ DC from 2019-2020.

“I think they’re a little aggressive in different situations than what they’ve been in the past, but physical up front,” Dickert said. “I mean, these two edges, 91 (Ahmed Hassanein) and 5 (Jayden Virgin-Morgan) are just really impressive players. I think they’re really stout in the interior, and the backers play ultra downhill. So they’ll package you. They’ll do a bunch of different things. I anticipate, just like anyone else, three down, drop eight, pressure, aggressive.”

If the Broncos do try the drop-eight, rush-three defense that has stymied WSU in recent years, look for the Cougs to try and punish it with their rushing attack. If that doesn’t work, though, Mateer will have to activate his team’s passing game.

For the season, Mateer has completed 54% of his passes, indicating what has become clear watching him: Accuracy has sometimes eluded him. That’s been particularly true on deep balls, where he missed what looked like a pair of touchdowns last week against San Jose State, leading to a concerning number on deep balls: 10-for-26 on passes of 20-plus yards, according to PFF, with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Can he turn that around against Boise State’s defense, PFF’s No. 98 team nationally in coverage? He’ll need some time from his offensive line, which will see right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe rotate in two series at a time as he recovers from a knee injury, and he’ll need some help from his receiving corps.