Comeback Cougs strike again in win over SDSU

Kris Hutson dropped the ball.

Then he picked it up and found his quarterback, John Mateer, wide open in the right side of the end zone for the 2-point conversion to give Washington State the 29-26 lead over San Diego State with just over five minutes to play after the Cougs had trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter.

WSU had spent three quarters struggling to score and getting carved by an Aztec passing game like thousands of pumpkins across the nation.

The Cougars dropped the ball.

Then, they picked it back up.

Midway through the fourth quarter, linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah intercepted an SDSU pass. Quarterback John Mateer aired it out and plowed through the Aztec defense, and his receivers stayed on their feet after hits to grasp the proverbial pumpkin-carving knife for themselves en route to the win over the Aztecs on Saturday in San Diego.

Mateer completed 19-of-27 passes for 257 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He added 42 yards and two scores on the ground.

Senior wide receiver Kyle Williams caught five passes for 74 yards and sophomore wideout Carlos Hernandez hauled in four completions for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Aztec QB exits early, returns

SDSU freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil left the game briefly following a hard sack from WSU defensive tackle Ansel Din-Mbuh toward the end of the first quarter. The Aztecs settled for a field goal early on that drive and turned to another freshman quarterback.

O’Neil returned to the game late in the second quarter and finished with 195 yards on a 22-for-34 clip.

Fourth down frenzy

Both WSU and San Diego State’s offensive identities were rooted in fourth-down conversion attempts.

The Cougars went for it three times and got one of them. SDSU got 1-out-of-2 attempts, all in the first half.

SDSU’s lone conversion came on a 21-yard fake punt pass to set up the Aztecs’ first field goal. The Aztecs trailed 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

Wazzu’s lone successful fourth-down conversion came on a Mateer QB sneak at the goal line to give WSU a 14-6 lead.

After the Cougars failed to convert a fourth down late in the first half, SDSU went 60 yards on six plays thanks to a pass interference penalty and three straight passes (two of which for 13 yards each) to set up Marquez Cooper’s 7-yard touchdown cut the Cougar lead to two.

Cougs muff punt, Aztecs score, Cougs respond

WSU punt returner Tony Freeman dropped a punt, which set up SDSU’s three-play, 43-yard touchdown drive.

Then Mateer took matters into his own hands — and legs.

Mateer found Williams for 33 yards. Then Hernandez for the 34-yard score — his second career touchdown. Hernandez caught the ball in space and dove to extend his hand for 6 to cut the Aztecs’ lead to six.

Al-Uqdah disrupted a promising Aztec drive late in the fourth quarter with an interception, setting up Mateer to take over.

WSU’s first-year starter broke out for runs of 18 and 15 yards and completions of 9, 14 and 15 yards.

He completed the drive by bouncing off several guys for the 2-yard touchdown with 5:03 left.

WSU’s defense contained the Aztecs for the rest of the game.

Mateer to Mathers for the record

Senior tight end Cooper Mathers reeled in WSU’s first touchdown on the night, getting wide open on a Cougar opening drive flea flicker.

Mateer handed off to Wayshawn Parker, who flicked it back to Mateer who found Mathers wide-open for the 26-yard touchdown. It was Mathers’ fifth touchdown reception of the year — a single-season WSU tight end record.

WSU enters its second bye week before hosting Utah State on Nov. 9.

Washington State 29, San Diego St. 26

First Quarter

WSU: Mathers 26 pass from Mateer (D.Janikowski kick), 12:26.

SDSU: FG Plascencia 46, 8:54.

SDSU: FG Plascencia 28, :00.

Second Quarter

WSU: Mateer 1 run (D.Janikowski kick), 7:21.

SDSU: Cooper 7 run (run failed), :17.

Third Quarter

SDSU: Bennett 27 pass from Napier (Plascencia kick), 7:05.

Fourth Quarter

SDSU: Cooper 1 run (Plascencia kick), 13:39.

WSU: Hernandez 34 pass from Mateer (D.Janikowski kick), 12:08.

WSU: Mateer 2 run (Mateer pass from Hutson), 5:03.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Washington St., Mateer 21-42, Parker 9-33, Ky.Williams 1-22, Schlenbaker 4-15, Pulalasi 4-6, (Team) 1-0. San Diego St., Cooper 17-73, Davis 1-38, Tupou’ata-Johnson 5-16, Poke 1-1, O’Neil 5-(minus 3).

PASSING: Washington St., Mateer 19-27-0-257. San Diego St., O’Neil 22-34-1-195, Tupou’ata-Johnson 4-5-0-41, Napier 1-1-0-27, Herman 1-1-0-21.

RECEIVING: Washington St., Ky.Williams 5-74, Hernandez 4-65, Shackelford 3-27, Hutson 3-16, Meredith 2-44, Mathers 1-26, Pulalasi 1-5. San Diego St., Poke 10-80, Harrison 6-46, Bennett 5-73, Napier 3-44, M.Shaw 3-35, Cooper 1-6.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.

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