WSU outlasts San Jose State in double OT thriller

PULLMAN — It was the classic trap game, and the Cougars survived.

For the second straight week, the Washington State Cougars had their backs to the goal line and made a play.

In double overtime, both teams cashed in with touchdowns, but it was a WSU quarterback John Mateer 2-point conversion run — that was initially ruled no-good but overturned to complete — and a WSU defense crashing former teammate, WSU transfer and San Jose State QB Emmett Brown’s pocket on his 2-point attempt on the last play of the game, that proved to be the difference.

WSU 54, San Jose State 52.

In a “Pac-12 After Dark” classic, the WSU Cougars (4-0) outlasted the San Jose State Spartans (3-1) of the Mountain West in a rare Friday night game at Gesa Field. Mateer passed for 390 yards and ran for 111 with five total touchdowns.

“John's gutsy. John's cut tough. You know, John really doesn't get too high or too low,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “John does whatever it takes to win. He's going to sacrifice a lot of his body to do that, so obviously, win by him just sheer running through two guys to get that 2-point conversion in. And that was a big play.”

Spartans crash “The Fight”

In an unprecedented season following the departure of 10 Pac-12 schools to other conferences, WSU and lone Pac-12 Conference companion Oregon State adopted a slogan “Welcome to the Fight.”

Last week, the two schools welcomed Mountain West pillars Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Colorado State to the league. The four schools will leave the Mountain West and join the Pac-12 in 2026, leaving the future of the league that threw WSU and Oregon State a lifeline with a six-game 2024 scheduling alliance, in jeopardy.

Missing from that list of new Pac-12 members: San Jose State.

With a freshly minted white Wazzu script on solid crimson helmets, the Washington State Cougars started fast.

Senior running back Dylan Paine got his most consequential carry of the season, to that point, when he took it up the left side for a gain of 8 on fourth-and-1.

The Cougs false started on consecutive plays to back them up, but Mateer found Kris Hutson for 18 and hit up Tre Shackelford for 13 yards to move the chains.

True freshman running back Wayshawn Parker burrowed up the middle for 20 and Mateer tiptoed into the end zone two plays later for the first Cougar touchdown of the night.

The San Jose State Spartans, sporting the best passing attack in the Mountain West through three weeks, threw the ball once on their first drive and scored a touchdown.

Following Brown’s opening 9-yard completion, Spartan running back Floyd Chalk IV broke loose for 66 yards and the touchdown. The Spartans ran two plays in 41 seconds to tie the game at 7-7.

The Spartans’ two-play touchdown drive set the tone for a Mountain West squad left behind.

“I told coach (Ken) Niumatalolo that I got outcoached tonight, and our guys pulled it through,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “The players won this game. The players went out there and made the plays. The players kept believing. They went out there and gritted it out. And I'm really proud of this football team. We will be better because we went through this tonight. I will be a better football coach for these guys because of what we went through tonight.”

The Spartans jolted the Cougs awake with a successful onside kick attempt. They used the extra opportunity to take a 10-7 lead.

Brown was WSU’s third-string QB last season behind 2024 Heisman favorite Cam Ward, who transferred to Miami, and current WSU starter Mateer.

Through the first three games as a starter, Brown had orchestrated the Mountain West’s best passing attack with feature receiver Nick Nash, the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver entering Friday’s game with 485 yards through three games.

Nash left no doubt of his speed and skill. After catching just three of his first six targets for 20 yards, he was on the receiving end of a 43-yard bomb down the right sideline to open the third quarter and on the very next play reeled in a 19-yard touchdown to tie the game at 24-24.

The Cougs had the opportunity the retake the lead, but the Spartans picked off Mateer’s pass.

San Jose State used that opportunity to score two more touchdowns and take a two-score lead — 38-24 — with a 21-0 third quarter.

Cougs stage comeback

After getting blanked 21-0 in the third quarter, Mateer drove his team down the field and found his top target Kyle Williams in the end zone for the 13-yard score. The Cougs still trailed by seven, 38-31, with 13 minutes to go.

Mateer found his old friend Josh Meredith all alone up the right sideline at the 15-yard line. He ran the rest of the way for the TD.

But WSU kicker Dean Janikowski missed the extra point and the Cougars trailed 38-37.

As if any Coug fan had forgotten his name, Kyle Thornton, the goal-line Apple Cup hero and second-longest tenured Coug, dove for an interception late in the fourth quarter.

Cougar ball.

Mateer made quick work of Thornton’s gift of a drive. He fired a dart down the right sideline to Meredith, who fell at the foot of the end zone.

Senior running back Dylan Paine, who had received minimal touches through three games in a crowded running back room, cashed in with the goal-line score. Mateer’s 2-point conversion attempt fell incomplete and the Cougs led by five with 4:46 to go.

Brown led the Spartans down the field to take a three-point lead in the final minute.

Mateer led the Cougs down the field with a 32-yard heave to Williams and an 8-yard scramble.

Then WSU kicker Dean Janikowski sank a 52-yard field goal to knot the game up at 46 and force overtime.

Janikowski was 2-for-4 on field goals entering the game. Dickert expressed confidence in his kicker on Monday after Janikowski had missed another field goal in the Apple Cup and reiterated that confidence after WSU's thrilling Friday night win.

“I believe in Dean, and I told him that,” Dickert said. “For him to come back and be able to wipe that in that quick of time is impressive.”

In overtime, the Cougars and Spartans traded interceptions. WSU redshirt freshman Ethan O’Connor picked off Brown in the end zone, but Mateer gave it back to the Spartans on the next drive on a deep heave up the left sideline.

Per college overtime rules, both teams started 25 yards from the end zone on each drive.

In the second overtime period, Paine ran the ball three times for 25 yards, including a 15-yard gain after the Cougs got backed up on a block in the back penalty. He added an exclamation point to his night with a 7-yard touchdown. Paine racked up 38 yards on six touches with two scores as the Cougars’ primary goal-line power back.

On the 2-point attempt, Mateer took the ball and ran with it, extending past the goal line with Spartan defenders all around him. He was initially called short. After review, the call was overturned in favor of Mateer and the Cougs had the difference in the game.

Brown, capped his sensational Pullman homecoming in which he completed 35-of-54 passes for 375 yards, with his fourth touchdown pass of the night, once again finding Nash.

On the 2-point attempt, the Cougar defenders crashed the SJSU pocket and it was senior edge Quinn Roff who sacked Brown and forced the fumble.

Game over.

Mateer to Mathers for two TE TDs

For the first time in a long time, a WSU tight end caught two touchdowns in one game.

The first touchdown came with the Cougs knocking on the door and down by three. Mateer pedaled to his left and ran toward the line of scrimmage with Spartans surrounding him. In another mystifying Mateer magic play, the sophomore quarterback rainbow flicked it to senior tight end Cooper Mathers on the left edge of the end zone, who leapt to haul in the score.

It was another example of Mateer’s athleticism, awareness and talent to find Mathers in a sea of Spartans and seemingly will the ball up and over defenders' hands and into Mathers’ hands.

Mathers found himself on the receiving end of the Cougars' next touchdown, a much more conventional pass up the middle that put WSU up 24-10 in the second quarter.

The gist

The Cougars led the Spartans 24-10 at halftime. San Jose State shut out WSU in the third, 21-0, before the Cougs posted a 19-0 run in the fourth quarter. The Spartans retook the lead in the final minute and WSU drove down the field to sink the game-tying field goal.

Overtime included interceptions by both teams in the first period and touchdowns by both teams in the second period, with WSU's successful 2-point conversion and Quinn Roff's strip fumble sack on the Spartans' 2-point attempt the difference in the game.

WSU improves to 4-0 and prepares for its first true road game — a quick jaunt to the Smurf turf to face a feared Mountain West power: the Boise State Broncos.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.