Washington State University Athletics
Washington State University
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Cougars Use Big Plays to Sink Vikings, 70-30
August 31, 2024 | Football
"The biggest thing I told the team is the mission was to be 1-0, there was no score expectation, it was just to go out there and get the win and we did that," WSU Head Coach Jake Dickert said. "We're going to take a lot of positives from this game. We're also going to take a critical eye on what we need do to get better and be a team on the rise. Excited about the way we played. We had to respond in many different ways from special teams to offense to defense."
Playing under a Heat Advisory with temperature rising into the 90s, and even hotter on the field, the Vikings wilted under the relentless pressure from the Cougars after taking a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
WSU scored seven first-half touchdowns, all 30 yards or longer. The blitz started when Mateer connected with Kris Hutson for a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. A 39-yard TD pass from Mateer to Tre Shackelford put the Cougars up for good and Mateer closed out the first quarter with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams that put WSU up 22-7 after a successful two-point conversion.
After a Vikings' field goal, the Cougars returned to their big plays when freshman Wayshawn Parker scored on a 54-yard touchdown run, which was followed by a Mateer-to-Parker 52-yard touchdown connection.
The defense got in the act when redshirt-junior Stephen Hall returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, the longest pick-six in program history.
Mateer's six total touchdowns were the most by a Cougar quarterback in their first start going back to at least 1976. He added 55 yards rushing, including a 40-yard touchdown run that capped the Cougars' 49-point first-half scoring explosion.
The Cougar offense rolled up 637 yards in total offense, including 224 yards rushing. Williams led a contingent of 10 WSU receivers who caught at least one pass with 141 yards. Parker rushed for 96 yards on eight carries.
The 70 points scored by the Cougars tied for the sixth-most in program history and most since a 77-7 win over SW Louisiana in 1997.
The Cougars return to action at Gesa Field, Saturday, Sept. 7 against Texas Tech. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Buy tickets at WSUCougars.com.
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Team Stats
PSU 7, WSU 0
PSU - Chachere,Dante 5 yd run (Uribe,Mathias kick), 5 plays, 65 yards, TOP 01:44
PSU 7, WSU 7
WSU - Hutson,Kris 30 yd pass from Mateer,John (Janikowski,Dean kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:11
PSU 7, WSU 14
WSU - Shackelford,Tre 39 yd pass from Mateer,John (Janikowski,Dean kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:04
PSU 7, WSU 22
WSU - Williams,Kyle 58 yd pass from Mateer,John (Riviere III,Billy rush) 1 plays, 58 yards, TOP 00:04
PSU 10, WSU 22
PSU - Uribe,Mathias 43 yd field goal 8 plays, 49 yards, TOP 03:12
PSU 10, WSU 29
WSU - Parker,Wayshawn 54 yd run (Janikowski,Dean kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:16
PSU 10, WSU 36
WSU - Parker,Wayshawn 52 yd pass from Mateer,John (Janikowski,Dean kick) 4 plays, 68 yards, TOP 01:19
PSU 10, WSU 42
WSU - Hall,Stephen 100 yd interception ()
PSU 10, WSU 49
WSU - Mateer,John 40 yd run (Janikowski,Dean kick), 2 plays, 47 yards, TOP 00:12
PSU 17, WSU 49
PSU - Haskell,Will 10 yd pass from Haskell,Will (Uribe,Mathias kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:22
PSU 17, WSU 56
WSU - Schlenbaker,Djouvensky 11 yd run (Janikowski,Dean kick), 2 plays, 70 yards, TOP 00:28
PSU 17, WSU 63
WSU - Williams,Kyle 59 yd pass from Mateer,John (Janikowski,Dean kick) 2 plays, 64 yards, TOP 00:46
PSU 23, WSU 63
PSU - Denham,Eric 40 yd pass from Chachere,Dante () 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:57
PSU 23, WSU 70
WSU - Leckner,Trey 33 yd pass from Eckhaus,Zevi (Janikowski,Dean kick) 11 plays, 92 yards, TOP 04:31
PSU 30, WSU 70
PSU - Chachere,Dante 4 yd run (Uribe,Mathias kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 08:57
