COMMENTARY: How good can the Mateer-led WSU offense be?

If there were any doubts Coug fans had about John Mateer, Washington State’s first-time starting quarterback, they were quickly quelled following the Texas-born signal-caller’s eight consecutive touchdown drives, six of the scoring plays courtesy of the arm and legs of Mateer himself.

Mateer completed 11-of-17 passes (including 10 of his final 11 attempts) for 352 yards (an average of 20.7 yards per completion), five touchdowns and no interceptions and ran the ball twice for 55 yards and a score.

His six touchdowns were the most by a Cougar QB in his first career start in school history.

“Really good to see him bounce back, take a hit, get back up,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “That’s John Mateer football.”

Three Cougs — senior receivers Kyle Williams and Kris Hutson and true freshman running back Wayshawn Parker — racked up over 100 yards and two touchdowns each as part of WSU’s 637-yard, zero turnover day.

Those still skeptical about WSU’s offensive potential may point to the fact that the Cougars’ success came against Portland State, a Football Championship Subdivision school.

While the expectation was that WSU should have won by a wide margin — no one was quite bold enough to have predicted a 70-30 final score.

“How can you complain at the end of the day? Our guys went, made a ton of plays,” Dickert said. “You know, up front, I thought it was really solid, but I think we’re capable of more, right?”

Wazzu’s passing game thrived despite the absence of starting sophomore receiver Carlos Hernandez, who suffered a foot injury during fall camp and is expected to be out for about the first month of the season.

In Hernandez’s absence, the Cougars’ receiver depth showed out.

Williams, WSU’s star receiver and biggest returning offensive contributor, was as good as advertised, racking up 141 yards on four catches. Perhaps even more impressive is that 105 of those yards came after the catch.

For a receiver used to taking the top off the defense, the ability to catch the ball in space and make men miss is not a skill Willliams takes for granted.

“It comes with the preparation throughout the week, watching film consistently, just getting the passing down for John, just working the routine stuff,” Williams said. “So when it’s in the game, it’s nothing new. It’s like we’ve seen this all week, we’ve seen this all year. So it’s just another day in the office.”

Hutson, the former Oregon Duck, saw his role diminish at Oregon, but sets up as an impact playmaker on the Palouse.

Following WSU’s lackluster three-and-out on the opening drive, Hutson dove for a back-of-the end zone, 30-yard touchdown catch, the first of his Cougar career and of Wazzu’s 2024 season.

Hutson’s senior presence spiked and sparked WSU’s 10-touchdown day.

“I was just as surprised as y’all. I mean I know he makes those routine catches but when you see it in person. It’s just, yeah, it’s eye opening,” Williams said. “I love it.”

Austin Peay transfer Tre Shackelford found the end zone in the first quarter on a 39-yard catch-and-run as he shook off a couple of defenders.

Shackelford’s name may be familiar to fans who followed camp coverage for being the Coug that compared WSU’s receiving core to that of the 2019 Alabama Crimson Tide unit that sent multiple players to the NFL.

In WSU’s opener, the Cougar receivers certainly looked the part, cashing in on five of WSU’s 10 touchdowns.

The Cougs have a lot of guys who can do different things. They beat defenses over the top in the deep ball game, they can make difficult catches in space and make guys miss with their speed and agility and perhaps, most importantly, no one is too cool for the more mundane and less flashy parts of football like blocking.

“I saw Kyle Williams, 25, 30 yards down the field, blocking on Wayshawn’s big run,” Dickert said. “I saw a bunch of other guys really giving great efforts to spring their teammates and those are the things that we’ll really highlight on Monday because that’s gotta continue.”

A top-five passing game alone will not be enough for the Cougs to accomplish their goals. WSU ranked fourth nationally in passing in 2023, but won just five games and two in the Pac-12.

The Cougars' offensive deficiencies in the Dickert era can be traced to a weak offensive line and the lack of a dependable run game.

Mateer handed the rock to four different running backs 23 total times. Two freshmen separated themselves as Parker, a true freshman from Sacramento, Calif., ran the ball eight times for 96 yards (and caught a wide-open 52-yard catch-and-run TD pass from Mateer), and redshirt freshman Leo Pulalasi racked up 54 yards on eight attempts, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

Third-year Coug Djouvensky Schlenbaker provided an 11-yard TD run on Wazzu’s two-play 70-yard drive.

The Cougar run game could be dangerous in 2024, but the key to that success is the offensive line.

The late Mike Leach brought Clay McGuire, an assistant coach from his previous job at Texas Tech, to the Palouse. Together, they built competitive offensive lines which enabled Cougar QBs Luke Falk and Gardner Minshew to break records and win big games.

Former coach Nick Rolovich failed to uphold this standard, recruiting a minimal number of O-linemen in his brief tenure.

When Dickert was named the full-time head coach in 2022, he brought McGuire back to WSU on day one.

In two seasons, McGuire restored WSU’s O-line recruitment and developed the guys in the room.

McGuire returned to Texas Tech for a third stint (and will return to Pullman Saturday when the Cougs host the Red Raiders) and Dickert hired Jared Kaster, a former Texas Tech starting center and assistant to former Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Dickert said Kaster brings a continuation of he and McGuire’s vision for the offensive line, which turned in one of the best performances of the Dickert era. Mateer did not take a sack — something the first-time starter was certainly thankful for.

“They were good. Damn good today,” Mateer said of his offensive line. “Running the ball, protecting. I didn’t take a sack, I took one hit, but that was because I was late on a (run-pass option).”

Dickert had high praise for his O-linemen, especially for their extra effort on the Cougars’ many explosive plays.

“That was Christian Hillborn’s best performance since I’ve been here. And Christian’s put in a lot of work to see him do it at right tackle,” Dickert said. “Go watch Kyle Williams’ catch and run touchdown. Christian Hilborn was the first one to congratulate Kyle Williams in the end zone.

“That’s how fast he ran from the line of scrimmage. We showed it to the team. One of the coolest plays I’ve seen in a long time.”

Hilborn is filling in for team captain Fa’alili Fa’amoe, last season’s 12-game starter at right tackle.

Fa’amoe is still several weeks out from returning from an injury, but the WSU O-line held down the fort and then some in the season opener.

The teachings of Kaster coupled with the natural development sparked by McGuire figure to have prepared the Cougars’ O-line to be the best they have been in at least three years.

It all led to the Cougars scoring 70 points (63 via offensive drives). In 2021 versus Portland State, they scored 44. That marked improvement matters.

“It was exciting. It was a great first step,” Dickert said. “But just like anything else, we need to be humble. We need to be able to handle success. We need to have a certain level of expectation that this is the standard.”

Can the Cougar offense be successful down the stretch versus tougher opponents? Yes, it can and it should be. WSU has the right guys in the room to succeed.

Anyone still doubting the Cougs could consider following Williams’ lead after he was asked for his thoughts on Mateer’s first start.

“I loved it. Heisman,” Williams said, and left it at that.

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