PULLMAN, WA. — In last weeks loss to Utah, quarterback Cam Ward was 27/31 for 222 yards and a touchdown. At first glance, this looks like a pretty decent statistic, but a closer look reveals just how conservative the attack was. Of the 27 passes completed, 15 went for just five yards or less, and most of those short passes are part of the screen game that has been a big part of the offense this season. Head coach Jake Dickert says Utah was a much more physical team on the perimeter Thursday night.
“We’re not going through enough progressions down the field, and if you don’t get film on your screen game, if you expect them to be 5-6 yards to stay ahead of the chains, we put ourselves in bad situations and some long 3s -x drops, and so we can’t convert and keep going,” Dickert said at a press conference earlier this week
And while it was frustrating to watch the forward struggle to move the ball up the field with so many short passes, the players understand what they need to do to stay on the field and turn long runs into points.
“Just trusting our technique, our hand placement at the end of the day, getting them out first. Not letting them dictate where we want to go,” added Lincoln Victor, who accepts all rights.
With four games left in the regular season and bowl eligibility up for grabs, Dickert’s message applies not only to 2022, but also to the long-term future of the program.
“Since 2018, the Washington State football team has not had a normal recruiting cycle. So we stick to what we want to do and we didn’t live up to some of the expectations that we had, we think our offensive coaches are finding ways to make sure we get better every week and we’ve been a little bit on the places but I’m excited about what we can do this week and where we’re going and these guys shelter No excuses allowed because it weakens the mission. So the players take responsibility, the coaches take responsibility, and we move forward,” Dickert said.
Washington State will open against Stanford at 12:30 Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, the Cougars haven’t lost to the Cardinal since the 2015 season.
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