In Washington State’s two wins this season, they’ve been successful with both the arms and legs of quarterback John Mateer (though mostly his legs). In week one against Portland State, Mateer had 352 passing yards and five touchdowns, while last week against Texas Tech he rushed for 197 yards. Like Washington, their opponents have been weaker, so it remains to be seen how they’ll fare in an emotional matchup against tougher competition.

Key players

John Mateer is not your average WSU quarterback. Instead of a pocket passer with a big arm, he is a real threat in the tackle (maybe even on the first run). Aside from his aforementioned school record for a quarterback with 197 yards on the ground last week, he also ripped off a 40-yard run against Portland State. When he runs, he doesn’t look like a quarterback, but rather a true running back with patience, vision and power. While he shredded PSU with his arm, he was less effective against Texas Tech, finishing 9/19 for 115 yards with a TD and an interception.

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At running back, true freshman Wayshawn Parker has been a pleasant surprise, making several big plays in the running and passing game. The 6’1″, 200-pound player already has a 43-yard run, a 54-yard run, and a 52-yard pass reception. Not to mention his first run of his college career, which he had for 20 yards. Djouvensky Schlenbaker is technically the starter at running back, but has fewer yards and runs. At 215 pounds, he’s not as explosive as Parker, but he’s a bruiser who already has 3 touchdowns to his name.

WR Kyle Williams has picked up where he left off last year (61 catches/842 yards/6 TDs) and has 162 yards and 3 touchdowns in two games this year. He is a quick and athletic threat. Kris Hutson is another athletic and twitchy option who mostly operates out of the slot and uses his speed and route running to beat opponents. He has 7 catches for 126 yards this year.

Scheme

Ben Arbuckle is only 28 years old and in his second season in Pullman. He comes from Western Kentucky. He wants to use every inch of the field horizontally and put pressure on the defense that way, so expect a lot of spread formations. That doesn’t necessarily mean WSU is all about passing, in fact they’re likely to run first, as Mateer has only had 36 pass attempts this season (compared to…). Against PSU he only ran twice, but against Texas Tech he ran a whopping 21 times. The quarterback buildup up the middle in particular was effective, with Mateer using his patience to wait out the entire development and then using his speed to break through and make big gains.

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