Quarterbacks don't tend to bounce off 265-pound defensive linemen, but that's kind of Washington State quarterback John Mateer's vibe. On a goal-line carry two weeks ago against Utah State, he shoved off a 265-pound defensive tackle, ran through a 230-pound inside linebacker and then dragged both players into the end zone after they attempted to bring him down as he ran past. He finished the play by slyly sticking out the ball with his left hand for the score.
Mateer's memory of the touchdown? "Pretty cool."
It's the type of ping-ponging, disregard-for-his-body play that's made Mateer and the Washington State Cougars must-see TV during their 8-2 run.
"I'll do whatever it takes to win," Mateer told CBS Sports. "I can do some pretty cool things. I'll run whenever I need to, and I'll play harder than anybody else and do whatever it takes to score points."
The Cougars are scoring plenty under his direction. Washington State ranks ninth nationally averaging 38.9 points per game. Mateer is the engine of the offense. He's thrown for 2,707 yards and 26 touchdowns against just six interceptions. He's run for 695 yards and 12 touchdowns while earning more yards after contact (617) than any quarterback in the FBS.
As several college football scouting sources have said of Mateer this season: "He's a DUDE." Or, as his high school head coach Kendrick Brown would put it, "When you look at that ideal quarterback, it's John Mateer."
He could not have emerged at a better time for the Cougars, a program stuck in nowhere-land just 12 months ago.
Washington State and Oregon State, which will clash this weekend in the only in-conference Pac-12 game of the season (5 p.m. E.T., CW Network), were left behind by the other 10 members of the league last summer. Four left for the Big Ten. Four joined the Big 12. Two headed to the ACC. Only the Cougars and Beavers were left without a Power Four chair in the latest round of realignment.
Then at the end of the 2023 season, Cougars QB Cameron Ward -- now a Heisman contender at Miami -- left along with several other key starters to the portal.
But Washington State, despite all the change, hasn't regressed. The Cougars are 8-2, their best season since Mike Leach roamed the sidelines, and Mateer is the face of that resurgence alongside head coach Jake Dickert.
Mateer knows what it feels like to be overlooked. It's why those closest to him believe he's a perfect fit to lead a school and a fan base with, frankly, a bit of f*** you energy to it given what's happened over the past year.
"He's very happy that he's been able to come in with all the s*** Washington State has gone through to help get that organization some national recognition when everyone was basically writing them off," John's dad, Steve, said. "I think he's very proud about that.
"There have been a lot of people who have literally gone up and thanked him, 'You've made us relevant again.'"
247Sports, who this writer also works for, ranked Mateer as the No. 124 overall quarterback in the 2022 class. Mateer hasn't forgotten. When asked about going from overlooked to emerging as a national name, Mateer quickly countered: "You do work for 247Sports, so I would say if y'all weren't wrong …"
He later added he was "over" the rankings snub. But, after a quick follow up, admitted: "Yeah, no. I'm not."
Who would be? Tom Brady, one of Mateer's idols, can famously name every quarterback picked ahead of him from the 2000 NFL draft.
Mateer never plans on letting go of the chip on his shoulder.
That it happened at all is a bit puzzling in retrospect. Mateer is from Little Elm, Texas. It's a city of nearly 50,000 people located just northwest of Frisco. Mateer played 6A football in the most football-crazed state in the country. Not only that -- he started for four years. Steve remembers being a little hesitant when Little Elm's offensive coordinator told the family he wanted Mateer to start as a freshman. That's when John told his dad: "You knew I was practicing with the varsity quarterbacks. I beat them out. What are you going to do, hold me back?"
Little did across four years with Little Elm. Mateer finished his career with 7,060 yards and 66 touchdowns. He battled head-to-head with recruiting darlings like Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold (Denton Guyer) and Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins (Allen).
Despite that schedule and despite playing with several high-level recruits at Little Elm -- his teammates Ryan Watts (Ohio State signee) and Terrance Brooks (Texas signee) were national prospects -- Mateer could not claim a single FBS offer until Jerry Kill and New Mexico State extended two days before the 2022 Early Signing Period.
As for what teams didn't like about Mateer, those around him can only speculate. Brown said it comes down to measurables. Mateer is listed at 6-foot-1, 219 pounds, shorter than usual for a high-level recruit. Mateer assumes it had something to do with Little Elm's lack of success, never winning more than five games in a season with Mateer as the starter in a district with several other state powers. Brown, who pushed Mateer hard to the schools that came through his program to recruit Little Elm's star DBs, remembers opposing coaches in his district doing the same because everyone knew Mateer could play.
Either way, many teams missed. That is until the Cougars hired Eric Morris as offensive coordinator. Morris, now the head coach at North Texas, added Ward -- his QB at Incarnate Word -- as a transfer in the 2022 cycle. But Dickert also wanted a young QB in the room who could run Morris' system. Morris already had one in mind.
Mateer committed 10 days later.
"It never made sense to me," Mateer said of his recruiting process. "I knew some of the guys that were getting recruited. Some of the quarterbacks like really close to me. Rockwall (Braedyn Locke, Wisconsin), Frisco Lone Star (Garret Rangel, Oklahoma State) and other places I'd thrown with before. I was like, 'OK, I stack up with these guys?' I don't get it.'
"It all worked out. I don't want to say I'm happy it happened that way. But it did drive me."
When Dickert discussed Mateer's rise earlier this month, he said the best thing the redshirt sophomore QB has done this season is choosing to be himself instead of attempting a strained Ward impression
The offense the Cougars run under offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle remains the same, albeit tweaked for Mateer's skillset. But Mateer came into the season aware he and Ward operate differently after backing him up the last two seasons.
"Normally when the pocket breaks down, I'm usually trying to run forward," Mateer said. "He does some super cool things behind the line of scrimmage. I was a fan of watching it, because it's super cool to watch. But I was never like, 'OK, yes, I plan on doing that, too."
Ward finished fourth nationally in passing yards per game in 2023. Mateer isn't on pace to do that. But he's emerged as a high-level passer in his own right ranking in the top 20. He started a bit slow, completing 54% of his attempts and throwing five interceptions through his first four games -- he made up for that with 106 rushing yards per game. But he's completing 69% of his passes since and hasn't thrown an interception in four weeks.
Mateer credits that jump to experience and more time working with his offensive line. But it's also, at least in part, the realization that he can be the instinctive quarterback he always was in high school on the FBS level.
"At first I didn't know if I'd be quick enough to relax back there and react to get out of some things," Mateer said. "Recently, I can sit back there and really go through my reads because I can react to quickly move and get off my spot to make a play."
Brown said Mateer is likely a 4.5-second 40-yard dasher. Mateer, who said he hasn't run it in Pullman, is a bit doubtful of that estimation. Either way, Mateer's shown to be plenty fast enough during a season in which he's forced the second-most missed tackles (47) among quarterbacks nationally.
It's a visibility chaotic, internally logical, in-control style that Mateer's always found success with. Said his dad: "That's the way he does it -- go, go, go."
"It's just like a carbon copy," Brown said of Mateer now versus high school. "He's a much better player. He's gotten older. But the same results. He gets the job done."
That's why, whether Mateer wants the attention or not, the eyes of college football will be upon him over the next few weeks. Obviously, Washington State's 8-2 record is part of that appeal. Mateer's already turned into a favorite of the college football internet. He's a throwback, a new-school "Pac-12 After Dark" must-watch on Saturday evenings.
But it's also because, like Ward before him, there are those who will speculate about whether Mateer could leave Washington State. The rumors have already kicked up with a $1 million offer from another school supposedly on the table for Mateer, per CougFan. Numbers like that mean Mateer could be one of the hottest commodities in college football in a matter of a few weeks if he chose to leave Washington State.
Not that Mateer is particularly concerned about any rumors of the sort.
He's got a job to do -- score points. He plans to keep doing that whether it means completing 70% of his passes or, you know, running through a defensive tackle or two.
"It's a blessing to be wanted, I guess," Mateer said. "Playing quarterback is not easy and playing quarterback at a high level is not something everybody gets to do. I've done it in (10) games, and that's great. But I'm not really worried about all the outside noise and the NIL deal this and poaching or all that. You can let that get to you. But we're (8-2) and I'd be a fool to focus on that instead of focus on winning games like these."
