Going into last week’s game with Utah State, the mandate was clear for Washington State: Win and hope for help.
Mission accomplished on both counts. Not only did the Cougars cruise to a 49-28 decision, but enough teams ahead of them in the College Football Playoff poll lost so that they were able to climb from 21st to 18th in Tuesday night’s rankings.
Now Washington State needs to lather, rinse and repeat, starting with a victory Saturday night when it travels to Albuquerque for a matchup with improving New Mexico.
The Cougars (8-1) did what they hoped to do last week, besides winning easily. They cranked up the running game for a season-high 303 yards and took some pressure off star quarterback John Mateer, who threw sparingly but efficiently, going 18 of 24 for 179 yards and four touchdowns.
“I feel like they played their (butts) off today,” said Washington State receiver Kyle Williams of the offensive line. “I feel like we can’t do anything without the O-line. That’s our forefront and that’s who gets everything started.”
Coach Jake Dickert said the ability to run the ball made things easier for Mateer and the entire team.
“Now we’re second-and-3, now we’re second-and-2, now we’re second-and-4,” Dickert said. “Just having those abilities to attack in different ways, I think that opens up everything that we wanna do.”
Mateer is completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,332 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions, while also leading the team in rushing with 630 yards and 11 scores. He got help last week from freshman Wayshawn Parker, who rushed for 149 yards on just 11 attempts, including a 75-yard touchdown run to start the second half.
On paper, the Cougars should enjoy another big game against the Lobos (4-6), who are allowing 38 points per game and have notched just 10 sacks. But New Mexico is 4-2 in its last six games, including a 21-16 win last week at San Diego State that kept its bowl hopes alive.
For first-year coach Bronco Mendenhall, the chance to extend the season past the Nov. 30 regular-season finale at Hawaii is appealing.
“It’s a big opportunity but it’s also the next opportunity,” he said. “This is the University of New Mexico fighting for postseason eligibility against a ranked opponent — at home — and it’s game 11. How could you downplay that?
“Now that we’ve acknowledged it, we just play football.”
While it’s gone mostly unnoticed, Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier has comparable numbers to Mateer. Dampier has thrown for 2,418 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for 872 yards and 13 scores. The biggest difference is that Dampier has been more mistake-prone, tossing 12 interceptions.
Iowa State transfer Eli Sanders has added 834 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, while Luke Wysong and Ryan Davis have combined for 101 caches and 1,334 yards. New Mexico is averaging 33.4 ppg.
Washington State has won both previous games with the Lobos, including a 21-17 victory in 2004 in Albuquerque.
