How did WSU players respond to Jake Dickert saying it’s time to ‘open up competition?’

PULLMAN – During the past three weeks, David Gusta noticed some of his Washington State teammates relaxing.

The Cougars’ starting interior defensive lineman said he felt some teammates grew complacent, as if they had their jobs locked up.

“That’s something that we can’t have,” Gusta said, “especially going against a team like Oregon.”

That’s why Gusta felt the whole team needed to hear what head coach Jake Dickert said on Saturday, moments after the Cougars dropped a 44-6 game to Arizona: “I think you open up competition at every level.”

Is Washington State, Dickert wondered aloud, maximizing its talent at every spot? At quarterback? At receiver, at offensive line?

After back-to-back losses to unranked foes – and headed into Saturday’s road game at No. 9 Oregon – the Cougars needed to ensure they were playing the right guys, the players who give them the best chances to win.

On Monday, Dickert clarified his words. He said he didn’t mean every player’s job is in jeopardy. He wasn’t trying to call them out in a malicious way.

He may not have intended to do so, but Dickert did something else: He fired up some of his guys.

“I think it’s something that we definitely needed,” Gusta said. “I was saying that we lost that competition aspect, that basically people feel so comfortable in their positions that everybody gets relaxed. … People need to fight for their spots and to be able to just get better.”

The main reason WSU has dropped games to UCLA and Arizona seems to be that defenses realize they can rush three and drop eight as long as the Cougars run the ball. That way, defenses can cover WSU’s receivers, giving quarterback Cam Ward no way to duplicate the Cougars’ passing game during a 4-0 start.

Ward is seeing a different defensive scheme than earlier in the season. He has thrown three interceptions in the past two games, prompting WSU’s defense to take the field much more often than coaches would prefer.

In their loss to UCLA, the Cougars’ defense played 98 snaps. In their loss to Arizona, they played 81. That’s a lot to ask of any defense. It showed on Saturday, when WSU yielded 44 points Arizona, which hadn’t eclipsed that mark in four seasons.

Every part of WSU’s team is affected by the offense’s running game struggles. The Cougars figure to face that issue every game until they prove they can run the ball with credibility.

Whether the Cougars turn things around, some players took Dickert’s comments to heart.

“Since we got here at the start of the season, and this year in January, we knew what type of team we needed to be to win,” defensive back Jackson Lataimua said. “Definitely have the competitive edge in everything we do. So you guys hear guys like RJ (Stone) – he’ll talk all practice about, if he sees you slouching, he’ll definitely get on you and make sure like, ‘Hey, you can’t be looking like that during a game or even during practice.’

“There’s certain people we try and compete with – who can, not really watch the most film, but, ‘Who wants to be great?’ And that’s the biggest question we’re forced to ask ourselves every day.”

WSU will need to be great to take down Oregon this weekend.

“It is, ‘Hey, if you are underperforming and more importantly, not giving the effort required to be a Coug, man, you better strap your helmet up and you better attack everyday like it’s your last,’ ” Dickert said. “I think that’s an important piece of it. … And competition brings out the best in everybody.”