Facing an uncertain future, Washington State is controlling its own narrative by winning on the field

When Washington State quarterback John Mateer was a junior at Little Elm High School, he knew he had to find an advantage somewhere, anywhere, to compete against the stiff competition that Texas 6A high school provides. He had to get faster and that brought him to the hill. 

“I’d walk to it every day and really just run it constantly,” Mateer told CBS Sports. “I learned more, Instagram and YouTube were great tools on just learning how to get faster.” 

It was perfect, right in his neighborhood and walking distance from his house in cleats. This was at the height of the pandemic — when most gyms were closed — but that was no excuse to put his football career on hold. Instead, Mateer kept coming back to that hill, running it over and over again. 

Washington State is in the midst of one of the weirdest seasons in college football. The Cougars are technically competing as an FBS Independent. The schedule is a hodge podge of Mountain West powers, Power Four nonconference games and Oregon State. There’s no conference championship or all-conference awards to strive for. Instead, Washington State’s is littered with self-motivated underdogs who just want to win. 

“I think we did a good job painting a realistic picture of what it would look like,” Washington State coach Jake Dickert told CBS Sports. “There’s seven at-large College Football Playoff spots. That’s what everyone is chasing. We painted a picture of what we would need to do to put ourselves in that conversation.” 

Several top players understandably decided that the future was just a little too murky and transferred from the program, but plenty bought into Dickert’s message and stuck around. For the ones who stayed, the first four weeks at Washington State have been nothing short…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/facing-an-uncertain-future-washington-state-is-controlling-its-own-narrative-by-winning-on-the-field/

Author : Shehan Jeyarajah

Publish date : 2024-09-26 22:48:40

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