In a one-sided affair, where the Cougars dominated on the offensive side of the ball and controlled the Bears’ offense to not let them accumulate any sort of yardage, some of the starters were pulled to not risk any potential injury for them, bringing out the second and third team.

Most people don’t get to see the backups, with just the nature of a competitive football game, or even at all throughout the season, but last week, with the starters being pulled to the bench after leading 43-7 at halftime, came some new names Cougar fans may not have recognized.

With redshirt freshman QB John Mateer under center to start the second half, around him had most of the second strings, including redshirt sophomore Dylan Paine, who got his first collegiate touchdown on Saturday after bursting for a 54-yard run down the WSU sideline.

“It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work,” Paine said about getting his moment after walking onto the program back in 2020. “I’m just proud of those guys up front, they were just going crazy.”

Junior LB Kyle Thornton spoke on Paine’s work ethic, from elevating himself from the scout team all the way to the scholarship roster and how he has grown so much overtime.

“I can still remember his first day showing up on scout team for us… I was running scout with him,” Thornton said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him… no one deserves it more than he does.”

Mateer was able to have a lot more time than his designed runs that OC Ben Arbuckle typically draws up for him, giving him the whole third quarter and then some to get some work in.

The redshirt freshman completed seven of eight passes thrown for 138 yards along with two touchdowns through the air. Not bad for the backup at all.

Mateer expressed doubts about whether or not he could play at the Pac-12 level at one point, but getting some playing time last Saturday reaffirmed that he can throw the ball well and play a factor more than just with designed runs.

“I was still questioning if I could still play at this level because I’ve only ran the ball and thrown it three times before this game,” Mateer said. “Now I feel pretty confident… I’ve done some good things on the field.”

His most impressive throw on the afternoon had to be the 62-yard pass and run from Mateer that found redshirt sophomore WR Tsion Nunnally streaking up the sideline.

Mateer talked about what he saw on that route by Nunnally and what was the deciding factor in making one of the best throws of his WSU career.

“I checked the fade because it was press coverage because coach [Nick] Edwards actually told me he wanted me to throw to Tsion and it just worked out,” Mateer said.

Head coach Jake Dickert was impressed with his second unit coming into the game right as the second half started and immediately making an impact, with big plays all around the field.

“Obviously, just really great to see a bunch of guys play,” Dickert said. “I’m really proud of the second group coming in and running the ball… that’s what we’ve been looking for.”

The Cougars saw a little bit of everyone on both sides of the ball, with Paine and Mateer on offense, along with freshman DB Reece Sylvester getting a considerable amount of playing time, leading the team in tackles, and freshman LB Taariq “Buddah” Al-Uqdah having four tackles as well.

Many different players were able to make their debut, with over 18 Cougars making their first tackle, first catch, even a couple first touchdowns for some people in what was their most dominant performance in a very long time.