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Nov. 13—PULLMAN — After completing a win over Utah State last weekend, maybe Washington State defenders figured they had seen all kinds of offenses: spread, run-and-shoot, pro-style, freshmen under center.
In fact, all the quarterbacks WSU has faced this season fashion themselves as pocket passers: Texas Tech’s Behren Morton, Washington’s Will Rogers, San Jose State’s Emmett Brown, Boise State’s Maddux Madsen, Fresno State’s Mikey Keene, Hawaii’s Brayden Schager, San Diego State’s Danny O’Neil and, most recently, Utah State’s Spencer Petras.
What the Cougars have yet to face this fall is a dual-threat quarterback. That’s the challenge No. 19 WSU gets this weekend in a road test against New Mexico and Devon Dampier, the Lobos’ leader in passing and rushing, giving the Cougars something they haven’t seen in more than a full calendar year.
“I think it is very unique,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said.
WSU will have its hands full with Dampier, who has totaled 100-plus rushing yards in three of his past four games, including a 207-yard outing in a loss to Wyoming earlier this month. At 5-foot-10, Dampier doesn’t have much size, so he makes up for it with quickness and elusiveness, forcing 44 missed tackles this season, tied for the most nationally among QBs — with WSU’s John Mateer.
Dampier is averaging 7.8 yards per carry, second in the country by only a hair, showing his inclination to tuck and run. Protected by an offensive line that has yielded only five sacks, Dampier has 35 rushes of 10-plus yard, second nationally among QBs.
“This quarterback is a problem,” Dickert said. “He has more yards from scrimmage than John does, and hopefully, that wakes everybody up, like, this guy is real. He’s shorter, he’s super fast. He has one of the highest explosive play rates in the country.”
The onus might be on the Cougars’…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-19-wsu-prepares-mexico-030200629.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-11-14 03:02:00
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