Critical fourth-down decision looms large in Washington State’s 45-24 loss to No. 25 Boise State

Sep. 29—BOISE — In a game largely defined by the 259-yard rushing clinic from Boise State sensation Ashton Jeanty, most of the plays and moments Washington State would prefer to have back from Saturday night’s loss at Albertsons Stadium came on long, hard-fought runs, where it wasn’t uncommon for the junior to break anywhere from three to seven tackles, pinballing between white jerseys on his way to the end zone.

Outside of those, the biggest “what-if” moment for WSU in a 45-24 loss came with approximately two minutes remaining in the third quarter, at a point when just seven points were separating the future Pac-12 foes competing in Saturday’s heavily-anticipated nonconference game.

After WSU running back Wayshawn Parker was stalled for no gain on third-and-1, the Cougars kept their offense on the field for fourth-and-1 from their own 27-yard line.

Courageous call or head-scratcher? WSU fans probably fell on both sides of the ledger, but all parties wished they could’ve had the sequence back after John Mateer’s quarterback sneak was stuffed by Marco Notarainni for no gain.

Officials initially signaled for a first down, but went to the booth for further review and ultimately decided Mateer was inches short of the marker.

“I haven’t watched it, I haven’t seen it,” Mateer said. “It was a good play I think by (Notarainni), he came over the top and hit me. It was a good play by him. But just run my feet. I’ve got to get the yard.”

Unable to steal 12 more inches of blue turf, the Cougars instead handed the ball — and tons of momentum — back over to the Broncos, who found the end zone just three plays later on a 22-yard touchdown connection between Maddux Madsen and Matt Lauter.

The touchdown grew BSU’s lead to 24-10 and it eventually ballooned to 45-17 after more determined running from Jeanty in the fourth…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/critical-fourth-down-decision-looms-150200994.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-09-29 15:02:00

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