No. 21 Washington State controlled Saturday's game from the opening snap, establishing the ground game while totaling for over 300 yards rushing en route to a 49-28 win over Utah State in the penultimate home game of the regular season.
It didn't take much for the Cougars' offense to get things going as they scored on all three drives to open the game to build up an early lead against an Aggies team that likes to keep things interesting late.
Utah State found the end zone on its second possession, but WSU (8-1) was able to get off the field on crucial third downs early in the game against the Aggies.
As soon as Utah State (2-7) would attempt to respond or get too close for comfort for the Cougars, WSU's offense always found a response whether it was on the ground for sophomore quarterback John Mateer and freshman running back Wayshawn Parker, or in the air.
Mateer said the ground game was the point of attack offensively with the Cougs focusing on establishing the run to carry that momentum, especially for Parker on a career day.
"[Parker] has been hard on himself," Mateer said. "He hasn't scored in a while, but he scored twice today. ... Super proud of that guy."
Defensively, the WSU limited Utah State's explosiveness through the air. The Cougars were able to limit having senior quarterback Spencer Petras and his offense be too explosive in the air while also getting off the field on third down as well.
Dickert said his defense adjusted to this fast-paced scheme the Aggies like to run offensively, making them slow down and preventing them from getting ahead of the chains.
"Obviously they have a challenging scheme, and they can do a lot of different things," Dickert said. "To see our guys play complimentary football too ... this team is not satisfied and this team is not going to stop getting better."
The finish line inches closer for what has become a hungry WSU team that has big aspirations this season, but a week-to-week goal of going "1-0" could keep the Cougars level-headed.
"We still got a lot more to do," Williams said. "We look at every game as just a block in the road, another door, and we just gotta bust through that door."