The WSU Cougars (6-1) are bowl eligible, and now the Cougs head to America’s Finest City to face off with future Pac-12 rival San Diego State (3-3).
The two schools have faced off twice before, splitting the all-time series. The rivalry, however, is just being born with the matchup coming to Pullman in 2025, and the Aztecs joining the Pac-12 beginning in the 2026-27 season.
The Aztecs come in off a bye week, while WSU comes in off a 42-10 confidence-boosting win over Hawai’i. SDSU has improved throughout the season, and with the extra week of prep, they have had time to watch everything WSU has done, head coach Jake Dickert said.
Another challenge going on the road to play SDSU, is the Cougs will be playing on an authentic grass surface, a challenge Dickert has attempted to prepare his team for.
“Going out there, playing on grass, it’s a different thing. When you watch it in the Hawai’i game, they just top-dressed it with sand. It was really bad. So hopefully three weeks later it’ll be better,” Dickert said. “I tried to ask [WSU soccer] coach Schulenberger to practice on the soccer field. That was a quick no.”
With the potential of a sloppy surface, WSU will need to be dialed in. Despite a .500 record, nailbiter wins over Hawai’i (2-5) and Wyoming (1-6) and a loss to Central Michigan (3-4), SDSU is less a sum of its parts and more led by individual star power.
The Aztec defense is anchored by Trey White. White, a sophomore edge rusher, currently leads the nation with 11 sacks in six games of play, after having none his previous two seasons. WSU’s offensive line has allowed 20 sacks this season and will have its hands full Saturday.
“[SDSU’s] defensive coordinator came from UW, and it is very similar. Last year[Bralen] Trice was a menace [for UW]. They allow those [edges] to get off the ball a lot. They’re pass rush first, react to the run at times, especially against offenses like ours,” Dickert said. “They’re doing a great job creating one on ones for [White]. He’s a high-motor individual, a hard charger. He’s got 11 sacks through six games. That’ll get you All-American status pretty quick.”
The area where WSU may be able to attack best is on the ground. The Cougars are averaging 176.1 rushing yards per game this season, while SDSU is allowing 167.2 per game. Starting running back Wayshawn Parker is also back to full health for the game, Dickert said, also mentioning the Aztecs’ tendency to over-pursue when pass-rushing, creating chances to run.
The run game, as well as the passing game, runs through WSU quarterback John Mateer. He was named to the midseason Manning Award watchlist and has 1,896 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, also racking up 533 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the ground this season.
Mateer is coming off his most efficient week of the season, completing 23 of 27 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for 34 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers. Now the Cougs put their 21st (39.4ppg) ranked scoring offense to the test this week against White and the Aztec defense.
On the other side of the ball, the WSU defense had a strong effort against Hawai’i, allowing just 10 points and 300 yards, moving up to 163rd in the nation in scoring defense (27ppg) and lowering their yards allowed per game to 425.9. The mark is far improved, but still the 17th most in the nation.
The Cougs also have the second most missed tackles this season with 105, trailing only 1-6 Akron. However, they missed just six tackles vs Hawai’i. The Cougar defense has a tall task this week in the nation’s active career all-purpose yards leader in SDSU running back Marquez Cooper.
Cooper, a transfer from Kent State and Ball State, is playing in his fifth season, and has 4,955 career all-purpose yards, including three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Despite not being a major threat in the passing game, and having no career touchdown catches, Cooper has averaged over four yards per carry every season, and with 55 all-purpose yards Saturday, would become the 83rd player all-time to reach 5,000 in a career.
He would also be the third ever Aztec to reach the landmark, with NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk doing so, as well as Donnell Pumphrey, who holds the NFL record for career all-purpose yards with 7,446 from 2013-16.
So far this season Cooper has 670 yards rushing with six touchdowns on 151 carries. The Cougs as a defense have allowed 157.6 rushing yards per game.
Outside of Cooper, the Cougs will be facing a true freshman QB in Danny O’Neill for the Aztecs. It was a slow start for O’Neill, but he has improved every week, Dickert said. He has won Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Week for his last two performances. Overall, the SDSU offense has a couple of interesting elements.
“Tons of RPOs, midline option read stuff. It’s very challenging, a willingness to want to spread you out and run the ball,” Dickert said. “They got good space receivers, their offensive line is getting better and better, so it’s a unique challenge schematically.”
One area where WSU has excelled is forcing turnovers. The Cougar defense has forced 14 this season, good for sixth in the NCAA after recording three against Hawai’i. Creating the turnovers supplies the team energy, senior edge Syrus Webster said.
“It’s a big testament to our coaches and our players, to be able to see what is going on in the game and then making that adjustment in the game, and making turnovers,” Webster said. “It creates energy, it creates a lot of momentum.”
With the Cougs receiving the most votes of non-ranked teams in the most recent AP Poll, unofficially ranking them 26th in the nation, a win with style could help WSU crack the top 25 for the first time this season.
WSU appeared to take a major step forward offensively and defensively in its seventh game of the season. With bowl eligibility no longer something to worry about, the Cougs can focus on the bigger picture, one game at a time.
The Cougs and Aztecs will face off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Calif. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
