Apr. 12—Thursday marked the midpoint of spring camp for the Washington State football team and the offense might’ve had its best showing so far, according to coach Jake Dickert.
There were no interceptions, no fumbles and a plethora of touchdowns throughout the day in Pullman.
“It was obviously live reps today. Any time (you do) that, it’s going to bring out a ton of energy,” Dickert said. “I thought (quarterback) John (Mateer) was extremely sharp all day and went out and made some plays. It’s good to see the receivers in live situations doing some yards after catch.”
Running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker and wide receivers Kyle Williams, Josh Meredith and Kris Hutson were among the players to reach the end zone. Meredith’s TD came on a snazzy jump pass by Mateer.
And edge Nusi Malani nearly had an improbable pick-six off of quarterback Zevi Ekhaus that was juggled and dropped.
“I can’t wait to see that one on film and we’re going to show it to the whole team too,” Dickert said. “He had it, he dropped it. It’s a big man’s dream for a pick-six and it just kind of slipped through his fingers there.”
A packed running back room
One of the biggest position battles of the spring is at running back, where a conglomerate of ball-carriers are vying to replace graduating senior Nakia Watson.
Rushing offense has been a major weakness for the Cougs in recent seasons. Last year, WSU ranked 11th in the Pac-12 Conference in rushing yards per game (85.3) and yards per carry (3.0).
On Thursday, the group was a bright spot.
“Another good day for our backs and our best day running the football,” Dickert said.
Throughout the spring, WSU is splitting reps evenly among about four running backs: freshman Wayshawn Parker, redshirt freshman Leo Pulalasi, sophomore Schlenbaker and junior Dylan Paine.
Dickert said the goal when the 15 spring practices…
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