No. 21 Washington State controlled Saturday’s game from the opening snap, establishing the ground game while totaling for over 300 yards rushing en route to a 49-28 win over Utah State in the penultimate home game of the regular season.

It didn’t take much for the Cougars’ offense to get things going as they scored on all three drives to open the game to build up an early lead against an Aggies team that likes to keep things interesting late.

Utah State found the end zone on its second possession, but WSU (8-1) was able to get off the field on crucial third downs early in the game against the Aggies.

As soon as Utah State (2-7) would attempt to respond or get too close for comfort for the Cougars, WSU’s offense always found a response whether it was on the ground for sophomore quarterback John Mateer and freshman running back Wayshawn Parker, or in the air.

Mateer said the ground game was the point of attack offensively with the Cougs focusing on establishing the run to carry that momentum, especially for Parker on a career day.

“[Parker] has been hard on himself,” Mateer said. “He hasn’t scored in a while, but he scored twice today. … Super proud of that guy.”

Defensively, the WSU limited Utah State’s explosiveness through the air. The Cougars were able to limit having senior quarterback Spencer Petras and his offense be too explosive in the air while also getting off the field on third down as well.

Dickert said his defense adjusted to this fast-paced scheme the Aggies like to run offensively, making them slow down and preventing them from getting ahead of the chains.

“Obviously they have a challenging scheme, and they can do a lot of different things,” Dickert said. “To see our guys play complimentary football too … this team is not satisfied and this team is not going to stop getting better.”

The finish line inches closer for what has become a hungry WSU team that has big aspirations this season, but a week-to-week goal of going “1-0” could keep the Cougars level-headed.

“We still got a lot more to do,” Williams said. “We look at every game as just a block in the road, another door, and we just gotta bust through that door.”

First quarter

10:24, WSU – Kyle Williams 17-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 7-0

5:01, USU – Jack Hestera 3-yard pass from Spencer Petras (Tanner Cragun PAT) Tied 7-7

Second quarter

14:57, WSU – Wayshawn Parker 1-yard run (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 14-7

7:17, WSU – Kyle Williams 14-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 21-7

Third quarter

14:48, WSU – Wayshawn Parker 75-yard run (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 28-7

5:52, WSU – John Mateer 1-yard run (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 35-7

2:02, USU – Bryson Barnes 2-yard run (Tanner Cragun PAT) WSU 35-14

Fourth quarter

14:49, WSU – Kyle Williams 5-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 42-14

8:39, USU – Kyrese White 12-yard pass from Spencer Petras (Tanner Cragun PAT) WSU 42-21

1:05, WSU – Cooper Mathers 2-yard pass from John Mateer (Dean Janikowski PAT) WSU 49-21

0:41, USU – Derrick Johnson 72-yard run (Tanner Cragun PAT) WSU 49-28

Mateer through the air and on the ground. Williams as his favorite target. Parker on the ground.

The star QB-WR duo filled up the stat sheet, with Mateer totaling four touchdowns himself, and three of his four passing TDs landing in the hands of Williams.

The big playmakers on offense showed up and showed out, with Parker running for a season-high 149 yards rushing while also finding the end zone twice.

Parker’s big 75-yard run to start the second half was the key difference maker, and this week’s game of the play, finding the hole and bursting up field to find the end zone.

After all the dust settled, Williams said the credit for the offensive performance goes to the offensive line as well with WSU being able to have a flourishing offense with a dominant ground game and complimenting four passing TDs.

“We can’t do anything without the O-line.” Williams said. “That’s our forefront, and that’s who gets everything started. … They played a hell of a night tonight and we just want to keep stacking onto that.”

Senior defensive back Kapena Gushiken read Petras’ eyes perfectly on a potential scoring play that could’ve really switched the momentum of the game.

Gushiken was in the right place at the right time, falling back for the interception on the best read of the night after seeing where Petras wanted to go the entire time.

While the defense didn’t record any sacks, pressure was definitely in the face of Petras at times forcing him to make some inadvertent throws.

Dickert said with all the adjustments Utah State made, there is still room for improvements with the Cougars’ defense to be better for the remainder of the season.

“Defensive communication needs to improve,” Dickert said. “I thought we finally got to the quarterback near the end … get some big stops.”

This team is now 8-1, and the Cougars are charging ahead with three games left to play in the regular season.

With a little help from other teams around them, WSU looks like it could end up inside the top 20 of the College Football Playoff rankings when all is said and done. The Cougars did their job Saturday night.

It remains unclear where the CFP will rank this team as of right now, but there is optimism that the Cougars could end up 11-1 at the end of the regular season. WSU checked in at No. 21 in the initial CFP rankings last week.

The Cougars will travel down to Albuquerque next week to face a high-powered offense, once again, as they face New Mexico on the road with just three games left to play.

Passing

John Mateer – 18 of 24 passes completed, 179 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing

John Mateer – 13 carries for 55 yards, 1 TD

Wayshawn Parker – 11 carries for 149 yards, 2 TDs

Leo Pulalasi – 6 carries for 62 yards

Djouvensky Schlenbaker – 10 carries for 26 yards

Kyle Williams – 3 carries for 14 yards

Receiving

Kyle Williams – 5 receptions for 55 yards, 3 TDs

Cooper Mathers – 2 receptions for 12 yards, 1 TD

Carlos Hernandes – 4 receptions for 42 yards

Josh Meredith – 2 receptions for 23 yards

Kris Hutson – 1 reception for 12 yards

Trey Leckner – 1 reception for 7 yards

Branden Ganashamoorthy – 1 reception for 6 yards

Wayshawn Parker – 1 reception for 10 yards

Leo Pulalasi – 1 reception for 12 yards

Defense

Kapena Gushiken - 2 solo tackles, 1 INT, 2 pass deflections

David Gusta – 1 solo tackle, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack

Taariq ‘Buddah’ Al-Uqdah – 7 tackles (5 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

Stephen Hall – 4 tackles (3 solo), 0.5 tackles for loss

Adrian Wilson – 7 tackles (3 solo), 0.5 tackles for loss

Ethan O’Connor – 2 tackles (1 solo), 1 pass deflection

Jackson Lataiuma – 2 tackles (1 solo), 1 pass deflection