Washington State hosts Texas Tech in nationally televised evening clash

Sept. 2 — PULLMAN — Here’s your first look at Washington State’s home game against Texas Tech on Saturday.

What is it? For the second straight year, Washington State hosts a road game against a strong conference opponent, welcoming Big 12 team Texas Tech to Pullman for a nightly kickoff. The Cougs will be looking for their second straight win after beating Big Ten rival Wisconsin last fall.

This is a meeting of two programs that were most influenced by the late coach Mike Leach, who coached Texas Tech from 2000-09 and WSU from 2012-19.

Where is it? Gesa Field at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

When? Kick-off is scheduled for 7 pm local time.

Where can I watch it? Fox 28 will be broadcasting the game.

Who is the favorite? As of Monday afternoon, WSU was a favorite by about 1.5 points in most sportsbooks.

How did the Cougars fare last week? In a 70-30 season-opening victory over FCS Portland State, WSU scored points quickly and efficiently. Quarterback John Mateer turned a slow start into 11-of-17 passing, scoring five touchdowns through the air and one on the ground, helping the Cougars score eight more touchdowns at one point.

WSU also had a great showing on the field. True freshman Wayshawn Parker had 96 yards rushing, the most by a WSU running back in two years. Mateer added 55 yards rushing and running back Leo Pulalasi added 54 to give the Cougs 224 rushing yards, the most in a game since a win over FCS Northern Colorado last season.

The heart of that effort was Washington State’s run-blocking, which earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 85.4, the Cougs’ highest in a single game since 2018. It might not be wise to draw far-fetched conclusions from a win over an FCS opponent, but it was a real struggle all of last season, and WSU seems to be headed in the right direction in that department. After the game, WSU coach Jake Dickert pointed to wide receiver Kyle Williams’ downfield blocking on Parker’s long touchdown run as the kind of effort that unleashed the Cougs’ running attack.

“Our guys went out and made a lot of plays,” Dickert said. “Just a lot of things to work on, from effort, finishing, coverage, communication. Up front, I thought we were really solid, but I think we can do better. So you look at every trade with a critical eye.”

The Cougars’ defense was more shaky, allowing 30 points to an FCS opponent that was picked to finish 10th in the Big Sky Conference this season. On its first series, Portland State marched 65 yards for a touchdown that made Washington State’s starters sweat. The Cougs failed to complete 17 tackles in the game, the most against an FCS opponent since a win over Northern Colorado in 2019.

Dickert felt his club wasn’t aggressive enough from the line of scrimmage, didn’t handle the rushes, didn’t communicate well enough. Four Cougars missed two tackles, including starters at safety Jackson Lataimua and linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah.

“One hundred percent (of those issues) are fixable,” Dickert said Monday. “Their scheme keeps you on your toes. I didn’t feel like we were attacking. From my standpoint as a coach, we’ve got to have more things to free up our guys. I think the option was a little bit hesitant about what we wanted to do, unbalanced things, obviously the quarterback running — there’s a lot of different things they do.”

WSU was without punter Nick Haberer, who left the game with a back injury. Dickert said Monday that Haberer would be a game-time decision for Saturday’s game.

Dickert also declined to comment on the nature of the injury to defenseman Jamorri Colson, who missed the last few practices of fall camp, prompting Dickert to say last week that he would be sidelined for an “extended period of time.”

“We won’t reveal that,” Dickert said. “Jamorri will be out for a while, we’ll let you know when he comes back.”

Texas Tech Scouting … Texas Tech is coming off a 52-51 overtime win over FCS Abilene Christian on Saturday, surviving a two-point attempt by the Wildcats to win the game. In the final seconds of regulation, ACU found itself on the Texas Tech 5-yard line, but the Red Raiders held off the Wildcats for a tying field goal to force overtime.

Tech quarterback Behren Morton completed 30 of 42 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns, finding former WSU quarterback Josh Kelly for one of those scoring passes. The Red Raiders also got 161 rushing yards, including 151 from senior quarterback Tahj Brooks, and quarterback Coy Eakin caught a pair of touchdown passes from Morton.

Brooks, who carried the ball 27 times and caught three passes in the game, was listed as questionable for Saturday’s game because of a shoulder injury. It’s hard to overstate the significance of that development. Brooks is considered the Red Raiders’ best player, appearing on the Maxwell Award watch list (college player of the year) and on the preseason All-Big 12 team.

“I think by the end of the season, 12 games from now, Texas Tech’s offense will be in the top 10 in the country,” Dickert said. “I think since they switched to that quarterback last year, it just clicked. They’re rolling. He’s confident. They’ve got a lot of receivers there.”

But the Red Raiders defense, which received a 61.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, left much to be desired. ACU quarterback Maverick McIvor completed 36 of 51 passes for 506 yards and three touchdowns, completing seven passes to receiver Blayne Taylor, who amassed 141 yards and a touchdown.

It’s been at least 20 years since Texas Tech last allowed an FCS opponent to score more than 50 points.

“They’ve come up with a great game plan,” Dickert said. “And you can’t just say, oh, let’s just do what ACU did, right, because they’re making those adjustments and they’ll be ready for it.”

Saturday will not only feature Kelly, who led the Cougars last year with 923 yards on 61 receptions, including eight touchdowns, but it will also feature the return of former WSU offensive line coach Clay McGuire, who coached the Cougs’ offensive line in 2022-23 and from 2012 to 2017.

What happened recently? The Cougs and Red Raiders have met only twice in program history, facing off in 1963 and 1964, both times in Lubbock. Texas Tech won the first game 16-7 and the second 28-10.