Washington State Football: Jake Dickert is Failing

By: Brock Vierra

It is no secret that when it comes to passing the football, you need to come to the pacific northwest or more importantly, Washington State University. WSU used to be home to some of the most prolific passing offenses in college football. Now arch rivals the University of Washington is known for their gunslingers but Washington State built its success off of pass-happy offenses. Whether it was the spread attack of the 1990s or the Air Raid under Leach, Washington State had some talent at the QB position. Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf, Jason Gesser, Luke Falk, Gardner Minshew, Jayden De Laura and now Cam Ward have dazzled and amazed. However what was supposed to be Ward’s and Washington State’s breakout year turned sour and after an offseason filled with departures, here’s why Jake Dickert is failing.

Now let’s talk 2022. It couldn’t have started better for the Cougars. 3-0 start with a victory over arch-rivals Idaho and a road win over ranked Wisconsin. They lost a game they should’ve won against ranked Oregon but they rebounded with a win against Cal to take them to 4-1 and 1-1 in the conference. The solid start failed to maintain itself as WSU would suffer three losses against tough opponents in USC, Oregon State, and Utah. All three of those teams finished the year with double-digit wins while USC and Utah played in the conference championship game. They would then win three straight against three teams that finished the year with losing records (two of the teams firing their head coach) in Arizona, Arizona State, and Stanford, setting up a senior night matchup against arch-rival Washington for the Apple Cup.

Now Washington had WSU number for the 2010s, winning 9 out of 10 games played. However, the tide turned in 2021 when Washington State, Jayden De Laura, and Jake Dickert blew out UW in Seattle, 40-13. Such jubilation was in the air for the Cougars that the students that came down from Pullman rushed the Huskies’ field while De Laura planted the Cougars’ flag. In 2022, it was now Cam Ward’s turn to deliver WSU its first Apple Cup victory in Pullman since 2012. They failed. They had the offense to match but critical coaching mistakes cost them opportunities to score while the defense (Dickert’s specialty) failed to stop Michael Penix Jr and Wayne Taulapapa from lighting up the scoreboard. Penix Jr finished with 485 passing yards, five total touchdowns, and one interception while Taulapapa had 126 yards, averaging close to 10 yards per carry with a score. Washington wide receivers Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillian both had 150+ receiving yards and a score each.

Ward was no scrub but his 322 passing yards and three total scores would not be enough. Washington State would finish the year getting blown out in the LA Bowl 29-6 by Mountain West champ Fresno State. Ward was outplayed by Jake Haener, another crushing blow to the once Heisman dark horse.

A team like WSU, who started 4-1 should not finish 7-6. Now we’re in 2023, Dickert is on his third defensive and offensive coordinator in three years. His OC Ben Arbuckle comes from Western Kentucky where his offense led the nation in passing yards but with the losses of De’Zhaun Stribling, Donovan Ollie, and Robert Ferrell, Dickert’s new transfers of Kyle Williams, Isiah Hamilton, Josh Kelly, and DT Sheffield need to elevate themselves to a level they haven’t played at before.

However, the main issue is that Dickert put in a lot of work to get nowhere. Now Nick Rolovich may have not had success (or the COVID vaccine) but he did have something else and that is the foundation. When Dickert took over for Rolovich, he had a gunslinger in De Laura. De Laura who was Pac-12 freshman of the year was coached by Brian Smith. Smith whose offense scored 27.8 ppg and 20.8 ppg after Rolovich and Co-OC Craig Stutzmann were fired was ousted for Eric Morris. Now the hire of Morris brought over Ward and Robert Ferrell and all that work paid off when Washington State averaged…26 ppg. Yes, Dickert replaced his OC and QB in order to score fewer points and lose the Apple Cup. But it doesn’t end there, Smith would go to the University of Ohio as PGC where he had the 23rd-ranked passing offense while running back Sieh Bangura was awarded MAC and All-American Freshman honors. Ohio averaged 32 ppg in 2022. Oh and De Laura ended up transferring to Arizona where the Wildcats averaged 31 ppg on offense. Sorry to rub salt in the wound.

The bigger issue is that a quarterback of Ward’s abilities shouldn’t be averaging any less than 35 points per game. If this was the Air Raid, Spread, or Run N Shoot offense, Ward would be ranked as a top 3 QB in the country. Yes, going from Incarnate Ward to Washington State is a big jump but throwing for almost 1500 fewer yards and 24 fewer touchdowns is unacceptable. Now I’ve watched his tape and he’s got the stuff. If he was at Alabama, Tennessee, or even USC, I would have those teams as the favorite for the National Title. He is that good but Dickert’s inability to find the proper coaches and players to supplement him is a crime. Especially when we look at the talent available in the pacific northwest.

In 2022, the three other Pac-12 teams in the pacific northwest all vastly improved their records from the year before. Washington went from 4-8 to 11-2. Oregon went from 10-4 to 10-3 with a bowl win and a better ranking. Oregon State went from 7-6 to 10-3. All three teams underwent coaching changes, they brought in new QBs except OSU who waited till 2023 to get a new QB in D.J. Uiagalelei, and all three teams had double-digit wins and bowl victories. WSU didn’t.

Dickert’s roster and staff have had tremendous turnover, his program has little success or stability and when you look at 2022, he has zero impressive wins. He only won by 7 at home against Idaho. An FCS school that went 7-5. He beat Wisconsin but they sucked. They fired their head coach and coordinators while going 7-6 with a losing conference record and the total wins-to-losses record of teams that Dickert defeated is 32 to 44.

With a 2023 schedule that is way tougher than 2022, against teams who all have had massive rebuilds, it’s not looking good for WSU. Dickert should be coaching for his job and anything less than 8 wins should get him the boot. If things go sour, Ward will enter the transfer portal, and losing two young and talented QBs within a span of two years isn’t gonna cut it. Jake Dickert is failing and we all need to recognize it.