Blowout wins, especially early in the season, have multiple benefits for a program. Coaches get to evaluate the entirety of the roster, multiple strings of players get live game reps and the starters can take a breather and stay healthy for the following week.
WSU rolled the PSU Vikings 70-30 Saturday, and every Coug on the depth chart and more got to step onto the field. Earlier in the week WSU head coach Jake Dickert said the team has tremendous depth, but also a tremendous amount of inexperience, and he learned plenty about his team in the week one win.
“You could see some nerves, you see a little bit of newness out there a little bit at times,” Dickert said. “We got to wipe that away. We got big-time ball games every week for the rest of the season.”
Many positions featured starters who are locked into their roles getting benched due to the score, seeing the backups get rare live in-game reps. Many others, however, saw a rotation of potential season-long contributors getting reps with a chance not just to improve, but to win jobs.
The position with the most diversity among reps was at Wil linebacker. WSU has three players listed at the Wil position on the depth chart and all of them not only got a chance to play meaningful snaps but all make plays and make an impression on Dickert.
“I think [Kyle Thornton is the leader of that linebacker group. He’s going to be the one leading those guys, but [Wesley Steiner] got in and [Keith Brown] got in. That was the plan to make sure we’re keeping guys fresh,” Dickert said. “We’ll see who continues to rise because we’ve got a competitive group with lots of depth, but guys got to perform.”
Among the three, the redshirt senior Steiner led the way with five tackles and a forced fumble, while the redshirt junior Brown, a transfer from Louisville, also had two tackles. Thornton, a redshirt senior and team captain, may have made only one tackle, but what he lacked in production he made up for in leadership, Dickert said.
The WSU defense commonly lines up in a 4-2-5 look, with four down linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs. Among the two linebackers is typically one Wil and one Mike. While only two players were listed at Mike on the depth chart, both got plenty of reps.
Redshirt sophomore Buddha Al-Uqdah started the game at Mike for the Cougs with redshirt junior Parker McKenna, a Portland State transfer rotating in as well. McKenna got the bulk of the reps playing deeper into the third and fourth quarter recording a team-high five tackles, while Al-Uqdah had four.
True freshman linebacker Frank Cusano also saw his first collegiate action in the contest recording two tackles and a tackle for loss. Cusano is one who Dickert pointed out as a name to watch among freshmen at his press conference earlier in the week.
The Cougs also have a six-man rotation of edge players and a four-man rotation of interior defensive linemen, all of whom saw reps throughout the game. Leading the way amongst the interior guys with five tackles each were redshirt sophomore defensive end Bryson Lamb and sophomore Ansel Din-Mbuh.
Other key contributions came from sophomore defensive tackle Khalil Laufau who recorded his first career sack, and senior edge Quinn Roff with a with a tackle for loss.
Offensively, the quarterback and offensive line positions were ultimately chalk in terms of the order of opportunity. The true depth of the team was highlighted by the playmakers.
Cougar ball carriers averaged just three yards per carry a season ago, but Saturday three running backs averaged at least five yards a carry. True freshman Wayshawn Parker led the way with 96 rushing yards on eight attempts with a touchdown adding a 52-yard receiving touchdown to the mix.
While Parker proved himself as a likely candidate to burn his redshirt in year one, redshirt sophomore Djouvensky Schlenbaker also contributed 20 yards on the ground including an 11-yard touchdown on four carries, with sophomore Leo Pulalasi racking up 54 yards on the ground on just eight carries.
At the tight end position, there were only two catches to be had, but the one touchdown came on a 33-yard catch and run from Trey Leckner, a redshirt freshman. Both the catch and touchdown were the first of his career, and being listed on the depth chart amidst the other three Cougs TEs, Leckner could serve as more quality depth.
Finally, arguably the most electric all-around position on the field in week one: the wide receivers. Seven caught a pass, three scored a touchdown and six recorded their first catch as Cougs.
The position accrued a total of 320 receiving yards and a host of forced missed tackles. With so much success and opportunity across the board, the group’s chemistry was on full display.
“It shows that John [Mateer] can trust a lot of people. Practice is a different thing from the game. You have your practice reps but game time is where everything happens faster. So knowing you can trust those dudes in the game time and clutch moments, it lets us know that we can do a lot,” wide receiver Kyle Williams said.
A lot of players getting a chance to play does not always equal quality depth, but it does equal quality game reps for the backups on the team. Now that so many who do not normally see the field on Saturdays have a taste of the action, they are not just backups, but a part of WSU’s depth.
“Those guys are now seasoned football players, they’re Cougs. They have the right mindset and attitude to go out there and get better,” Dickert said.
The Cougs face Texas Tech in a week two matchup anticipated to be far closer with Wazzu favored by just 1.5 points, according to ESPN. But getting to evaluate the entirety of the team depth, along with providing them quality game reps in week one, a luxury TTU did not have in their week one matchup, could prove advantageous for WSU.
