May 1—With the spring game in the rearview mirror, football pads and helmets go back to the shelf until college teams start fall camp in August.
Here are three things we learned about the Washington State in the spring:
No separation in quarterback battle
Both of WSU’s top-two quarterbacks had a handful of highlight moments, but neither did much to separate themselves in the battle to be the Cougars’ next signal-caller.
Sophomore John Mateer started with the 1s all spring and senior Bryant transfer Zevi Eckhaus spent his time as the No. 2.
Guys like redshirt freshman Jaxon Potter and true freshman Evans Chuba also earned playing time.
But it will likely be Mateer or Eckhaus calling the plays when the Cougars kick off Aug. 31 against Portland State, and both displayed some good things and some areas to improve on.
For Mateer, he is the more exciting player with his ability to run the ball and throw on the run.
His 75-yard, trick-play pass to tight end Billy Riviere was arguably the play of the spring on the first snap of the Crimson and Gray game Saturday.
He also had a throw on the run to wide receiver Josh Meredith for a 41-yard TD in the spring game.
The negative was his 46% completion rate on 11-of-24 passing for 194 yards, but the stats don’t tell the whole tale. Several receivers dropped passes and Mateer also could’ve had a breakaway run that likely would’ve gone for at least 50 yards if the play wasn’t whistled dead for a called sack by linebacker Kyle Thornton. Since quarterbacks can’t be tackled during spring ball, QB run plays and sacks are up to interpretation by the coaches.
For Eckhaus, he was a better 19-of-30 (63%) for 196 yards. Both quarterbacks threw two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Eckhaus also led the Cougars on a 99-yard touchdown drive in the second scrimmage April 20 and dropped a dime to Carlos…
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