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Nov. 28—In a quiet media room under Reser Stadium, where Washington State took its second-straight loss with a narrow setback to Oregon State last weekend, John Mateer took an even quieter tone. The Cougars’ starting quarterback, usually talkative and bubbly, had little to say about his offense’s outing.
“I thought we came to play overall,” said Mateer, whose unit put up 38 points. “But we didn’t score enough points, and that’s just the way it is.”
Maybe WSU didn’t score enough points — but it might stand to reason that 38 should have been enough, especially on the road. For his part, Mateer completed 17 of 23 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, avoiding a turnover for the fifth straight game. He’s been sharper as the season has unfolded, and the Cougs’ offense has been better for it.
Consider this statistic: Across the first six games of this season, Mateer completed 106 of 188 passes, which is just 56%. In that span, he tossed six interceptions, and including a fumble he lost against Fresno State, he totaled seven turnovers. It was clear he was in his first year starting, and his accuracy eluded him at times.
Since then, Mateer has turned that around: He’s connected on 102 of 137 passes, a blazing 74%. He hasn’t thrown an interception in that stretch, either, and he’s totaled 15 passing touchdowns too. Starting with WSU’s win over Hawaii on Oct. 12, coaches have made a conscious effort to put Mateer in spots he’s more comfortable in, and that has meant whittling down his menu of plays.
It has worked like a magic trick. WSU is averaging 39 points per game in its last five games. Mateer has been at the heart of it all.
“Experience, number one. You get experience out there, you get more comfortable,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said of Mateer’s improvement. “Number two, I thought it was big on that first bye week, we…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/amid-wsu-defenses-struggles-qb-030200616.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-11-29 03:02:00
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