Washington State to welcome Wyoming for senior day with a chance to go undefeated at home

It is a Thanksgiving weekend tradition: WSU vs. UW.

Except this year, the Washington State Cougars won’t be playing the University of Washington and dividing in-state families a day or two after Thanksgiving. The two rivals already played in September.

Instead, the Cougars will host another UW — the University of Wyoming Cowboys of the Mountain West — at 3:30 p.m. today (The CW) at Gesa Field in Pullman.

It’s a reunion of sorts for WSU coach Jake Dickert, who coached at Wyoming as a defensive coach and a one-year defensive coordinator before becoming WSU’s DC in 2020.

Something and somebody to play for

After two one-score losses in which the Cougar defense conceded 35 and 41 points to sub-.500 record teams, the taste in the mouths of those who work in the Cougar Football Complex is, as Dickert described, “sour.”

Dickert said the Cougars (8-3) have a tremendous opportunity in front of them when they take the field today against Wyoming (2-9).

With one more regular season contest to play plus a bowl game, the Cougars have a shot at becoming just the seventh team in program history to win double-digit games.

They also have the pride that playing in a major bowl game brings a team and the chance to honor the 2024 seniors by winning today and going undefeated at home.

WSU will recognize 17 seniors prior to today’s game. Some seniors, like safety Tyson Durant and wide receiver Kyle Williams, transferred to WSU after multiple years elsewhere, while seven seniors have spent their entire college career in Pullman, including sixth-year guys Kyle Thornton and Dean Janikowski.

“They did stay here,” Dickert said. “It was important to them to build a great program. And I think we’ve had a great season. I know everyone feels down right now, I’m with that, but at the end of the day these kids have really honored what it’s like to wear that logo. So honor them by showing up and supporting them this weekend.”

Wyoming’s quarterback situation

After two months of frustrating quarterback play, the Pokes turned to freshman QB Kaden Anderson in their 27-25 loss to Utah State. The freshman from Southlake, Texas, completed 15-of-24 passes for 182 yards.

Anderson made his first career start the next week in Wyoming’s 49-45 win over the New Mexico Lobos. Anderson completed 20-of-29 passes for 342 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in that one.

Anderson’s season stats include a 58.3 completion percentage, 955 passing yards, six touchdowns to three interceptions and a 1-2 record as a starter, although he left his third career start with an injury last week versus Boise State.

Wyoming began the year with junior quarterback Evan Svoboda, who started eight games and completed 46.9% of his passes for 1,112 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Svoboda has passed for fewer than 200 yards each game this season. He got his season-high of 194 on Oct. 19 versus San Jose State.

With Anderson somewhere “between questionable and doubtful,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel said via WyoSports, Svoboda could very well be back under center when the Cowboys play in Pullman today.

Scouting the Cowboys (Pokes)

Wyoming opened the season with four straight losses, including dropping a 17-13 affair to the Idaho Vandals on Sept. 7.

The Pokes’ two wins are a 31-19 victory over Air Force on Sept. 28 and a 49-45 Nov. 2 win in the place where the Cougars lost two weeks ago: Albuquerque, N.M., to New Mexico.

Wyoming’s run game has been limited to 138.2 yards per game, but Sam Scott, who switched to linebacker out of high school because of no available running back opportunities, has led the Pokes in rushing with 435 yards on 92 carries and three touchdowns.

He rushed for over 90 yards against Air Force on Sept. 28 and San Diego State on Oct. 12 and finally eclipsed the century mark in a 27-25 loss to Utah State on Oct. 26 when Wyoming made a QB switch.

Scott got hurt on Nov. 16 at Colorado State and sat out last week game against Boise State. His status for Wazzu is unknown.

Jaylen Sargent of Logan, Utah, is the Pokes’ leading receiver with 448 yards on just 21 catches — good for a staggering 21.3 yards per catch.

Wyoming allows 29.6 points per game, just behind Oregon State at 29.5 points per game.

The Cougar offense posted 30 points versus the Beavers, just above average, and a timely Buddah Al-Uqdah pick-6 brought the total to 42.

The Cougar offense should achieve a similar result versus Wyoming with the real question mark being the defense’s ability to contain the Cowboys.

However, the major outlier is Wyoming’s 17-13 loss to Boise State in which the Cowboys had the chilling advantage of home field in Laramie, Wyo., last week.

Against Heisman-contending running back Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos, Wyoming kept it a one-score game for 60 minutes, held three different leads and kept Boise State scoreless for the third quarter.

While Jeanty ran for 169 yards and a touchdown, the Cowboys held him to a single score and only three runs for 20-or-more yards.

Boise State still generated over 350 yards of offense, but the Cougars know better than anyone that the game is not won in the yardage column, but rather in the points column.

“They can match anyone’s physicality in the country,” Dickert said of Wyoming. “(What) they’ve proven throughout the course of the last how many years is they are a physical outfit.”

Extra points

WSU quarterback John Mateer ended last week as college football’s overall touchdown leader with 38 total touchdowns.

Williams ended last week with the second-most receiving touchdowns in the country at 13.

Dickert said that senior tight end Cooper Mathers would be unable to play in this game and will aim to play in the bowl game, joining tight end Andre Dollar on the bench. Mathers has a WSU tight end-record six receiving touchdowns this season.

Junior Brock Dieu started at center versus Oregon State with Devin Kylany unavailable with an injury. Dickert did not know as of Monday if Kylany would be able to play or not.

The basics

What: WSU (8-3) vs. Wyoming (2-9)

Where: Gesa Field, Pullman

When: 3:30 p.m. today

TV: The CW Network

Radio: Radio: KHTR-FM (104.3/103.9), KCLX-AM (1450)

Spread: Washington State -17

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.