John Mateer's Back Story and Why He Should Concern the Huskies

The dual-threat WSU quarterback comes off a 197-yard rushing performance.

WSU quarterback John Mateer carries the ball against Texas Tech for some of his 197 yards rushing. / James Snook-Imagn Images

Once Cam Ward left WSU for Miami, where the quarterback has drawn raves and Heisman Trophy consideration, the University of Washington football team couldn't have been faulted for thinking this next Apple Cup would be easier.

Except no one knew much about Ward's back-up, John Mateer -- who rhymes with Musketeer and Mouseketeer -- who, like his predecessor, is a serious dual-threat signal-caller and a Texas-produced player. He appeared briefly in the UW's 24-21 victory decided by a Grady Gross walk-off field goal last season at Husky Stadium.

The Huskies are well aware of Mateer now.

Last weekend, the 6-foot-1, 219-pound sophomore made his presence felt all across college football when, in his second start, he ran 21 times for a school-record 197 yards for a Cougars quarterback and led his team to a decisive 37-16 victory over Texas Tech in the Palouse.

"You just saw this guy making play after play," said UW coach Jedd Fisch, who watched that WSU game on TV at home after beating Eastern Michigan earlier in the day.

Mateer certainly tuns the 116th Apple Cup into a far more interesting match-up on Saturday when these two teams meet at the Seattle Seahawks' Lumen Field downtown as state rivals but no longer fellow Pac-12 members.

In his season opener, he threw for 352 yards and 5 scores in WSU's 70-30 victory over Portland State, then shifted gears and turned in runs of 10 (twice), 15, 23, 32 and 68 yards against the Red Raiders in a Week 2 match-up of former Mike Leach teams. He got shoved out of bounds at the Texas Tech 1 on his longest run.

"I don't like it when people tackle me," the folksy and confident Mateer told the media afterward. "I don't think people can tackle me. So I try to run through them, stiff-arm them, trying to make them miss."

He presents the first big test for a Husky defense coming together under the direction of Steve Belichick, the first-year defensive coordinator and dutiful son of NFL coaching icon Bill Belichick.

"When you look at the amount of points they were able to put up over two weeks, this guy is very productive, very good," Fisch said, noting WSU scored 100 in six quarters alone. "You've got to decide different ways you're going to defend those types of quarterbacks."

Before WSU, Mateer was Texas bred, playing for 6A Little Elm High School in a community by the same name of 45,000 that sits 30 miles north of Dallas up the six-lane El Dorado Parkway, and aptly fits the profile of Texas schoolboy football.

While setting school passing records, he was lightly recruited. Mateer committed to FCS Central Arkansas, largely because he wasn't a big enough winner to draw someone else's attention until the Cougars intervened. He played for 2-8, 2-8 and 5-5 Little Elm teams as the full-time starter. As a senior, he typically lost games by 63-43, 71-29 and 48-44, and won them by 59-56, 66-11 and 63-20.

The Cam Ward connection played a big part in bringing him to WSU.

John Mateer is WSU's dual-threat quarterback entering the Apple Cup. / James Snook-Imagn Images

In 2022, Eric Morris stepped down as the Incarnate Word coach in San Antonio to become the WSU offensive coordinator, with Ward changing schools in the same manner. Morris found this quarterback in the Houston suburbs and gave him his only scholarship offer at any level, and for two seasons they shared in plenty of success at the FCS school.

Morris, now the North Texas coach, also brought Mateer with him to WSU that season, providing Little Elm's finest with his only Power 5 football offer.

Mateer is all that remains of that particular Texas infusion of coaching and quarterbacking talent, but he seems to be comfortable enough to make the 2024 Cougars highly competitive and the Apple Cup overly intriguing.

“It was random, crazy how it happened," Mateer said of coming to WSU. "I'm truly blessed to be in this position and it should be a lot of fun.”

Someone make sure to ask the Huskies later whether the Apple Cup was fun or not.

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