Critical fourth-down decision looms large in Washington State’s 45-24 loss to No. 25 Boise State

BOISE – In a game largely defined by the 259-yard rushing clinic from Boise State sensation Ashton Jeanty, most of the plays and moments Washington State would prefer to have back from Saturday night’s loss at Albertsons Stadium came on long, hard-fought runs, where it wasn’t uncommon for the junior to break anywhere from three to seven tackles, pinballing between white jerseys on his way to the end zone.

Outside of those, the biggest “what-if” moment for WSU in a 45-24 loss came with approximately two minutes remaining in the third quarter, at a point when just seven points were separating the future Pac-12 foes competing in Saturday’s heavily-anticipated nonconference game.

After WSU running back Wayshawn Parker was stalled for no gain on third-and-1, the Cougars kept their offense on the field for fourth-and-1 from their own 27-yard line.

Courageous call or head-scratcher? WSU fans probably fell on both sides of the ledger, but all parties wished they could’ve had the sequence back after John Mateer’s quarterback sneak was stuffed by Marco Notarainni for no gain.

Officials initially signaled for a first down, but went to the booth for further review and ultimately decided Mateer was inches short of the marker.

“I haven’t watched it, I haven’t seen it,” Mateer said. “It was a good play I think by (Notarainni), he came over the top and hit me. It was a good play by him. But just run my feet. I’ve got to get the yard.”

Unable to steal 12 more inches of blue turf, the Cougars instead handed the ball – and tons of momentum – back over to the Broncos, who found the end zone just three plays later on a 22-yard touchdown connection between Maddux Madsen and Matt Lauter.

The touchdown grew BSU’s lead to 24-10 and it eventually ballooned to 45-17 after more determined running from Jeanty in the fourth quarter.

“It’s always my call,” Dickert said of the consequential fourth-down call in the third quarter. “When it’s inches to go, when it’s fourth-and-1, the last 2½ years we’ve gone for it every time. So that’s what we’re going to do, that’s how we played.”

Pressed about his decision-making process, Dickert reiterated his stance.

“That’s what we’ve done for 2½ years,” he said.

Nonetheless, it proved a huge moment in a game that saw the Broncos score 28 of the game’s next 35 moments, all but extinguishing any hopes of a dramatic Cougar comeback.

Asked if he felt the play signified a big turning point, WSU linebacker Kyle Thornton acknowledged the Cougars would’ve still needed to find a solution for Jeanty in order to prevail. WSU became the latest team to fail in that regard, conceding nearly 260 yards and four touchdowns to the junior, who’s now up to 845 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.

“Maybe, I don’t really think so though because we’ve got to stop them no matter where it was and when he was breaking off 80-yard runs, we could’ve went for it on their 5 and he was getting 100 yards in about two plays,” Thornton said. “So no, the analytics especially said to go for it from wherever we were at. I can’t really remember, but as a defense we’ve just got to execute. Doesn’t really matter where the ball’s spotted.”

BSU coach Spencer Danielson applauded Notorainni, a junior linebacker who’s seen his playing time trimmed down this season, for making one of the game’s most critical plays.

“I mean, pivotal play in the game,” BSU coach Spencer Danielson said. “… I don’t know what the stats are on stopping QB sneak, but it’s got to be very, very low. One of the first ones I’ve ever seen stopped was tonight and that’s Marco. He’s all about his teammates.”