COMMENTARY: Are Cougar coordinators to blame for early issues?

True freshman running back Wayshawn Parker got five of his 12 touches on Washington State’s final drive in its 25-17 win over Fresno State on Saturday in Fresno, Calif.

He racked up 34 yards on his first three carries of that drive to help the Cougs extend their lead to eight with 1:50 remaining.

On a day when WSU quarterback John Mateer struggled — completing 17-of-35 passes for 172 yards, no touchdowns and one interception — the question is obvious: Why didn’t the Cougs run the ball more?

Prior to Wazzu’s final drive, Parker had seven touches for 31 yards. Running backs Djouvensky Schlenbaker and Leo Pulalasi had one touch each.

Mateer totaled 75 yards on 18 attempts and was sacked four times.

WSU coach Jake Dickert acknowledged that WSU had nine tailback touches midway through the fourth quarter on Saturday and said the Cougs need to run the ball more.

“Everything stems from running the football,” Dickert said. “So we’ve addressed it. We’ve talked about it. It’s got to be part of our identity, and we’ve been good at it this year. So to not really test the waters, I don’t think was good enough.”

While Dickert took public responsibility for this lack of rushing attempts, offensive playcalling falls on WSU’s second-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.

On the other side of that coin, Saturday was WSU’s second straight game allowing fewer than 225 passing yards, but it was not mistake-free.

Now-No. 15 Boise State got away with 184 passing yards in its 45-24 win over WSU on Sept. 28 because the Broncos have Ashton Jeanty, the best player in college football, in their backfield.

Fresno State’s running back Elijah Gilliam totaled a season-high 120 yards on 20 touches.

The Cougs also have not been able to scheme their way into consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, with just seven sacks on the year.

The Boise State Broncos got seven sacks in one game against the Cougs.

Responsibility for that lack of sacks partially falls on defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding.

It is worth noting that despite all of the shortcomings, WSU is 5-1 for the first time since 2018.

Three of Wazzu’s wins have been by one score (24-19 over Washington on Sept. 14, 54-52 over San Jose State on Sept. 20 and 25-17 over Fresno State on Oct. 12).

In each of those games, the Cougar defense stepped up to make the plays to win the game. Senior linebacker Kyle Thornton’s game-sealing tackle of Husky running back Jonah Coleman on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and Ethan O’Connor’s go-ahead pick-6 versus Fresno State have already earned their place in the pantheon of Cougar history.

That said, WSU’s defense has gotten shredded on the ground and through the air by nearly every opponent, with former WSU quarterback Emmett Brown and the San Jose State Spartans gaining 375 yards through the air and over 500 total yards and Jeanty breaking out for touchdown runs of 64 and 59 yards during his four-touchdown performance for the Broncos.

Facing Jeanty aside, the Cougs entered their Boise State matchup with the second-most missed tackles in the nation, per Pro Football Focus. That struggle was only magnified versus Jeanty, who shook off 17 Cougar tackle attempts on his own.

Missed tackles are on the players for the most part. Dickert has said that in many cases, the Cougs have been in the right spot schematically and just failed to come up with the stop or make the play.

Last year, Dickert took direct control of the defense midseason and engineered what was almost an all-time performance in the 2023 Apple Cup as the Cougs took the then-No. 2 UW Huskies to the final seconds in a 24-21 WSU loss.

In Dickert’s first and only year as Wyoming’s defensive coordinator in 2019, the Cowboys sported the ninth-best defense in college football with 17.8 points allowed per game.

His defense ranked 43rd in total yards (365.8) but 12th in rushing yards allowed per game (109.1).

Dickert used that top-10 defense resume to land a gig as WSU’s DC in 2020, joining a program on the brink of turmoil and emerging as the calming force that guided WSU through the tidal waves of a pandemic and a head coach firing when he was tapped as interim coach.

WSU’s third-year coach has the resume for strong defenses, but even the best scheme can’t make up for being physically outmatched, which the Cougs have often been at the line of scrimmage.

Dickert said the Cougs’ inability to stop the run with authority in several contests has negatively impacted the pass rush by giving them fewer opportunities to rush a passer in the first place with teams choosing to run.

While issues exist, the Cougs have seen an improvement in communication.

“We got to put our guys in the best position to make plays,” Dickert said. “You didn’t see all the busts out there. You saw better communication ... and I think when you demand it, you see it on the field. So I do think that’s part of coaching.”

For the WSU offense, it is also worth noting that Arbuckle is 29 years old. He is less than a decade removed from his own college football playing days. He engineered the fourth-best passing offense in the country last year at 336.8 yards per game and has WSU’s ’24 offense in the nation’s top 20 to start the year at 39 points per game.

Schmedding’s impact is less dominant statistically speaking, but his blitz packages versus Fresno State were a step in the right direction as the Cougs totaled two sacks.

Dickert said his expectations for his coordinators are similar to that of his players.

“Don’t make excuses. Find ways for us to be successful. Stay ahead of the game, and, most importantly, never get complacent,” Dickert said. “I think anytime you get complacent in football, in your job, in high performance as a player, that’s when we start seeing diminishing returns.

“And trust me, there’s nobody that’s comfortable on that fifth floor (of the Cougar Football Complex).”

Next up, WSU hosts Hawaii at 12:30 p.m. Saturday (The CW) at Gesa Field.

It has not always been pretty, but it has certainly been a unique first half of the season for the Cougs. As they sit one win away from bowl eligibility in October and prepare to return to Gesa Field for the first time since Sept. 20, there is a lot to like about the Cougs and a lot of promise for both Arbuckle and Schmedding to build on.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.