WSU is one win from bowl eligibility less than a year removed from missing its first bowl game in seven seasons. Wazzu (5-1) welcomes the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (2-4) to the Palouse for the sixth matchup in the two programs history.
UH leads the all-time series 3-2, with the last meetings coming in a home and away series in 2008-09, both going the Rainbow Warriors way. The last time WSU beat UH was in 1999 in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is the first time UH has traveled to Pullman, with the 2009 matchup taking place in Seattle, marking the only matchup that was not in Honolulu.
With only one more win needed for WSU to reach bowl eligibility, there is more on the line in this matchup than just another win.
“We’re gonna accomplish something important to us, it is important to our fans. I’m never gonna act like that’s not a big step for our football program, to win those games. We gotta go earn this one, it’s a big challenge for us,” WSU head coach Jake Dickert said.
The matchup presents the Cougs with another chance to face the run-and-shoot offense, which “did not go very well last time,” Dickert said. The Wazzu defense faced a run-and-shoot attack from San Jose State in week four, surrendering 52 points in a double overtime barnburner.
The run-and-shoot offense is a style that emphasizes spreading the field out with four or five receivers often, emphasizing the pass with several options routes for receivers, a quarterback with a quick release, a fast-paced tempo and a run game to keep defenses honest. The style was popularized in the late 20th century by former Portland State offensive coordinator Mouse Davis, who was born in Palouse, Wash. Interestingly enough, the run and shoot now makes another return to its home on the Palouse.
Due to the style of offense, UH only averages 3.2 yards per carry, with leading rusher Landon Sims totaling just 160 yards and one touchdown on 39 carries so far this season. The offense is led by senior quarterback Brayden Schager. Schager excelled in the offense in 2023 with 3,542 passing yards and 26 touchdowns. In 2024, he has 1,592 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, completing just 59.9% of his passes. He also has 109 rushing yards this season, a career-high.
The WSU defense will look to limit Schager the way they did Fresno State QB Mikey Keene a week ago.
“Communication, we stress that the most,” said Kapena Gushiken, WSU senior defensive back. “Making sure we’re all on the same page. Talking pre-snap, talking as the snap is happening.”
Game six was a breakthrough for the Cougar pass defense, but the run defense still struggled, allowing 120 rushing yards on six yards per carry to FSU’s leading rusher a week ago. The issues stopping the ground game stem from tackling, said Keith Brown, WSU senior linebacker.
“[The key to fixing the tackling is] never assuming that someone is down. That’s something we harped on big after the Boise State game. Sometimes you see a guy wrapped up and you think he’s gonna get tackled. Never assume, and all 11 hats to the ball,” Brown said.
WSU has had a pass rush issue as well, only manufacturing two sacks against FSU. The key is to get teams in longer third downs, Dickert said. By solving the tackling problem, WSU can better stop the run, thus setting up longer third downs and helping the pass rush.
“It starts with stopping the run on first and second down. Third and four, third and five can be considered third and long now. So as long as we can get stops on first and second down, we should be able to get that pass rush going,” Brown said.
On the offensive side for WSU, the rhythm was lost after the first two drives a week ago, Dickert said. The goal was to start fast and get an early lead, but the FSU defense adjusted well. Wazzu went for two on the first drive of the game and failed, but no matter the game script, the Cougs play to win, Dickert said.
A lot of the loss of rhythm can be attributed to QB John Mateer’s inconsistency, Dcikert said. Mateer has shown flashes of greatness, accruing 1,601 passing yards and 13 touchdowns to go with a team-leading 499 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
He is on pace for a 3,000-yard passing season, and a 1,000-yard rushing season, and would be the first to do so in WSU history.
However, mistakes have been an issue. In each of the last two games, Mateer has thrown an interception late in the first half while the offense was driving, he lost a fumble on a scramble against FSU and his completion percentage sits at just 56.4%. Mateer is extremely hard on himself and wants to improve, but much can be solved from a schematic standpoint, Dickert said.
“We talked about this issue in the Spring when we were having issues in the red zone. We had another red zone pick today [Wednesday] in practice. He’s identified it, we’re working on it, and we gotta give him some cleaner reads. With John, when you watch what he’s been successful with this season, he’s a great progression passer. Good coaches shape the scheme to what their guys do well. This will always be players over plays,” Dickert said.
The challenge will continue to be presented this week, as Mateer and the offense face a UH defense allowing only 193.5 passing yards per game and just 20.5 points per game.
This is the fourth Mountain West opponent WSU has played this season, and so far, the football has provided as much drama as ever. A double overtime game at home, a battle against a Heisman favorite on the road and a tight one-score win on the road. UH comes in at 2-4, but If this MWC slate has taught Coug fans anything, it is to expect the unexpected.
“It’s a maturity test. You can look at their record or you can look at the film. What do you wanna do? One thing I’ve learned about this Hawai’i team, is they play hard,” Dickert said.
The Cougs are home for the first time in a month, in time for homecoming. After facing two sellout crowds in BSU and FSU and feeling what a future Pac-12 environment can be like, the expectation for Coug fans and Gesa Field at 12:30 p.m. Saturday is nothing less, Dickert said.
“That’s college football that’s why you love it,” Dickert said. “That’s the way Gesa Field needs to be. That’s the way it can be. We just gotta make that choice. It’s homecoming… We should take a lot of pride in that. We just played in front of sold-out Boise, sold-out Fresno, damn sure better play in front of sold-out Gesa Field on homecoming. It’s a challenge to Coug fans, let’s sell out our stadium, let’s create edges with noise.”
