Latest / The Heisman Hopefuls Podcast / WSU QB John Mateer

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WSU QB John Mateer · The Heisman Hopefuls Podcast

0:34
SPEAKER_01: In the winning win, here's your host, Chris Houston.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Happy Halloween, everyone.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another edition of the official Heisman Trophy Podcast.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Hope you and your family are having a great time trick-or-treating.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: You know, my favorite part of this show is being able to find players out there who aren't talked about, but who are really talented.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: There's just so many great players out there who don't get the credit they deserve, and one of those players is the featured guest on this week's show.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: Of course, I'm talking about Washington State quarterback John Matteer, who just might be the best quarterback in the country that you haven't seen or heard of, but I can promise you one thing, you will see and hear from him very soon.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Now you're probably thinking, okay, Chris, what has this guy done so far?
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Well, he's fifth in the nation in total offense, 2,153 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, six interceptions, 575 rushing yards, along with 10 touchdowns.
1:23
SPEAKER_01: His 28 total touchdowns are second in the country.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: And he's led the Cougars to a 7-1 record and a number 22 ranking in the latest AP poll.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: And it's starting to sound like a little bit of a broken record, a quarterback from Texas who can both run and pass.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: Seems like they're everywhere, right?
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And we certainly like him on this show.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: We were also fortunate to be able to talk to Washington State head coach Jake Dickert, who will shed some more light on the talents of his budding star quarterback.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: And then later on, by popular demand, we are going to replay a segment from a previous episode that catalogs and dramatizes Billy Cannon's 1959 Halloween run that helped him win the Heisman Trophy that year.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: We thought it was very appropriate considering it is Halloween week.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: So let's get things kicked off.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: John Matteer, quarterback Washington State, welcome to the official Heisman Trophy podcast.
2:12
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
2:13
SPEAKER_02: Pleasure to be here.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Congrats on the Cougars getting to 7-1, being ranked 22nd in both polls thanks to a comeback victory on the road over San Diego State.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: When your team was down 12 early in the fourth quarter, what was going through your mind and what did you tell your teammates?
2:28
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think it was beneficial that happened to us earlier in the season against San Jose.
2:33
SPEAKER_02: We were down by two scores, started the fourth quarter, and we proved ourselves then that we could come back and do hard things.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: And in my head, it was really like, all right, well, we don't have a choice now.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: We have to go score, you know?
2:45
SPEAKER_02: And then we ended up doing it.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Just everybody believed, though, you know, like sure there was some stunned looks, like we didn't want to be down and that we didn't think we were going to be down, but we believed.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: And after we got that first score, the momentum just flipped and it was ours.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: Does it happen sometimes like on teams where we're like you are down and you can get that little gnawing bit of doubt, like, oh my gosh, you know, everything we worked for could could go away?
3:08
SPEAKER_01: Is it feeling your back up against the wall that really you think helps get you through those kind of situations?
3:14
SPEAKER_02: Um not the negative feeling of, oh my gosh, this could ruin everything we've done.
3:19
SPEAKER_02: This could, but I think the positive of like, all right, well, we don't have a choice because of all the things we want to um things we want to do and how much we want to succeed, just the motivation to really get it done, and that like, all right, well, if we want to do this, we better pull it out, you know, we we better figure it out.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: One of the keys to the comeback was a play in which you looked like you were about to get sacked.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: You got out of it, ran for something like 18 yards or so.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Tell me about that play.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Like, what was the what was the play call?
3:46
SPEAKER_01: And then uh how did you improvise yourself out of that?
3:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we had a little dual read or full progressional read, started right to left, but actually, I said it in my post-game interview, right before the snap, I looked down at the ball and there's grass on top of the ball.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
4:01
SPEAKER_02: Because the field, you know, the conditions were so so.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I catch the ball and the grass just hits my face.
4:07
SPEAKER_02: So if you see on film, I kind of like I like kind of twick twitch my neck, but yeah, you know, just because I'm trying to get out of my face, so I'm just sitting in the pocket, like trying to find my eyes again, like get them in the right spot.
4:18
SPEAKER_02: And I get pressure off the left, and I kind of just reacted, spun out of it, and then I was able to get out.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: There was a couple earlier in the game where I thought I was gonna be able to get out just like that.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: I just didn't I wasn't able to.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: Um but I in that moment I luckily I got out of that one and ran a little bit.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: So that was a good one.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: Has that ever happened to you before where like a piece of grass or a chunk of the turf comes in your face like that?
4:41
SPEAKER_02: No, never.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: I've never.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: I've played on turf most of my life, and yeah that field was, you know, whatever.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, if it ever happens again, you'll be ready, right?
4:50
SPEAKER_02: Right, right, right.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Teachable moment.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: And then you caught the two-point conversion to put the Koogs up three.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: How many times have you run that play in practice?
4:58
SPEAKER_01: And was it pretty exciting to have your number called?
5:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was it was fun.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: I actually knew whatever two-point conversion when we were gonna run the two-point conversion, that was gonna be the play.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: Just because of the look they had given all year had been cover zero when they had two-point defense.
5:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I knew we were gonna run that.
5:14
SPEAKER_02: We ran it since fall camp.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: You know, we just haven't called it.
5:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I almost slipped, and it was a wild play.
5:21
SPEAKER_02: Chris didn't the ball, he was bouncing around, and I was like, oh, yeah.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: It's like he drew it up, right?
5:25
SPEAKER_02: Right, exactly.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: It worked out, it was fun.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: And after that, I stood in the back of the end zone and just smiled, and everybody was in a good mood after that.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a really uh great situation there.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: Now you're heading into a bye week.
5:38
SPEAKER_01: What is Coach Dickert telling you guys as you prepare for Utah State?
5:42
SPEAKER_02: We sent out the text earlier.
5:43
SPEAKER_02: He said this is a great opportunity to rest and recover and then get ahead on school.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: Apparently, it's a big academic meeting with all the coaches and the so I better get on my school.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: And I'm just kidding.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: It's good.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: What are you studying?
5:56
SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm currently in finance.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Um getting into it really going into the spring.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna get tough, you know.
6:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think I can do it.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna do any like uh internships or anything like that?
6:08
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I'll I'll be able to.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: Um maybe I will if there's something here in Pullman during the summer I'll be able to do.
6:14
SPEAKER_02: Haven't really looked into it yet, but there might be something in the spring I'll look into.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: You were a prolific player coming out of Little Elm, Texas.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: You also played baseball, but what drew you to playing quarterback?
6:27
SPEAKER_02: I think being young, you know, like my dad taught me how to throw.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: We'd throw the ball every day, whatever ball it was, football or baseball, just across the street, back and forth every day.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: And being in Texas, playing quarterback is a kid's dream.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, I always wanted to play quarterback from my high school.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: I always wanted to be a big name.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: I always looked up to all the other quarterbacks that played, and and I think I got the opportunity as a freshman to play on varsity in front of the big lights and all the, I don't want to say attention, but like all the people that just love the game of football and Friday Night Lights so big and the competition, the levels.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: I loved it, you know, and I love baseball too, don't get it wrong.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to play both in in college, like Kyler Murray, but didn't get that opportunity, which is okay.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, but quarterback is just I love it because I can yeah, I get the ball every play, you know, and I can change the game, and I love that, and I can help guys out, and the the leadership aspect is some I enjoy too.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, one of the things I noticed looking at your high school tape, a lot of the stuff you're doing you did back then is starting to kind of come out again, you know, just the improvisation.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: I saw a play where you did a jump pass.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: I was talking to Coach Dickett about it, but you know, I was telling him, you know, most jump passes are like you know, from the five and from the four, but you you did it from the 20-yard line.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, this is is this just like uh when the when when you gotta do what you gotta do kind of situation?
7:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no doubt.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: Uh whatever it takes to win is like what I like to tell myself.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: But early in my high school career, if you watch all my highlights from or all the tape, I was not this athletic.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: Like I was not a runner, I was not, I couldn't do it.
8:04
SPEAKER_02: But then going into um it was COVID when I just they canceled school, right?
8:09
SPEAKER_02: But I was I was running and lifting all the time, and I was like, I want to get athletic, I need to be athletic.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: So after that, like junior year you see it a little bit and then senior year, you really see it.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: And then I jumped her.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: I I had never practiced that.
8:20
SPEAKER_02: Like baseball, yes, but with the football alive, sprinting left.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: I can't wait for that to come out on this level because Dicker probably yelled at me.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: Oh, he'll yell at me if that doesn't work.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Were were your parents pretty athletic too?
8:32
SPEAKER_01: Are you just kind of taking after them?
8:34
SPEAKER_02: Yes, are they?
8:35
SPEAKER_02: Well, they were both swimmers.
8:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, okay.
8:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
8:38
SPEAKER_02: Swim in college.
8:39
SPEAKER_02: So are you good swimmers?
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Are you good swimming yourself?
8:43
SPEAKER_02: I'm probably above average, but I'm nothing.
8:46
SPEAKER_02: I never did it uh competitively.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: So you so you had this routine to to increase your athleticism.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: I saw you know that uh you have a 600-pound squat.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: That seems you know seems to have been a uh a rumor that that I I thought I saw you deny, but then Coach Dickard said it's true.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like you didn't you know you didn't skip leg day, whatever the case.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: No, sir, that is not true.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna try to say that's true.
9:13
SPEAKER_02: It is around 440, um, which is good, but it's not 600.
9:17
SPEAKER_02: That's a that's kind of funny that that is out there.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: It kind of I think we should keep it going, make you like a Paul Bunyan type.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: Just lie to everybody.
9:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm cool with that, you know.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's true, true-ish.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh tell me about the recruiting process.
9:30
SPEAKER_01: You originally were a Central Arkansas commit, and then Washington State uh swooped in.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: From your perspective, I already heard uh the coach's perspective, from your perspective, you're sitting there uh going thinking you're going to Central Arkansas, and then Washington State comes down.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: What was that whole process like?
9:47
SPEAKER_02: It was really stressful, actually, because like I, as a you know, as a high school kid, or you're like, oh, I'm the best thing ever, you know, confident in this and that, right?
9:56
SPEAKER_02: And I don't want to say I was too much like that, but there was a little part of that in me, right?
9:59
SPEAKER_02: Where I was like, there's no way I should only be getting FCS offers, this and that, right?
10:03
SPEAKER_02: During my senior year, I was really frustrated.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, central the guys in central Arkansas, they really love me, they supported me.
10:10
SPEAKER_02: They still text me um to this day, just doing support, nothing that's cool, nothing bad, but yeah.
10:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, but so I committed there and they were gonna let me play both uh football and baseball.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, okay, this would be cool.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: And then that offseason in Mexico State offered me, and then Coach Morris, who had already offered me the carnet word, re-offered me here.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: And just by the way, that he went from FCS to a Power Five school and re-offered me when he could have, you know, went out and got other kids because of the name of the school.
10:38
SPEAKER_02: It meant a lot to me.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: And I knew this is where I wanted to go right when he called me and gave me the offer.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just I'm glad it happened this way.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: And of course, Cam Ward was originally at Incarnate Word, a fellow Texan.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh when he came up, were were you like, hey, you know, uh welcome, fellow Texan, and and uh let me show you where the Dairy Queen is.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: Right.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: Now he so he got here before me.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh, he did?
11:02
SPEAKER_01: I thought he was I thought he was after you.
11:05
SPEAKER_02: No, he got here.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: It was like right when Coach Morris came up here.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: He came in probably two weeks later, and I came in the summer.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Okay, what did you learn anything from watching him?
11:16
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: I think the biggest thing I learned is just keeping his composure in every situation and then giving it everything he had, right?
11:23
SPEAKER_02: You know, you'll see clips of him being in the pocket and just getting out, however, just because he refuses to go down.
11:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean that his the way he prepares and attacks every day, like a true professional.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh learn those things.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: You guys are actually pretty similar players, you know, physically, the way you play.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: Um it's almost like it was a seamless transition from him to you, in a way.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I hope so.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: He's really good.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: So if you say that about me, I'll take that as a compliment.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: What was it like going from Texas up to the Palooza?
11:52
SPEAKER_01: Was it a tough adjustment for you?
11:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was different.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: It's really just the weather.
11:56
SPEAKER_02: You never experienced this, and it's for six months out of the year, it's just cold, you know, you gotta layer up.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: But I think the family atmosphere here and the team and the coaches really made it easier.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't too hard on me.
12:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, just because of friends I gain and the team that we have.
12:15
SPEAKER_02: And football is what you do up here, right?
12:17
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing else to do.
12:18
SPEAKER_02: So you do football all the time, and that's what I that's what I did at home anyway.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: Right.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: All I did was sports, right?
12:23
SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't that hard of a transition just to keep the main thing the main thing.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: You can work on your wet ball throwing now, huh?
12:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, gosh.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh you had a battle in training camp for the quarterback position.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: What did you do in the offseason this year to prepare?
12:37
SPEAKER_02: I think it's the same thing as always.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: You know, I took it took it another level, another step because I knew I'd, you know, have to perform in this position that I'm in right now.
12:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think just sticking to the process that the strength strength coaches gave us here, like they're amazing, truly.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: I believe that.
12:53
SPEAKER_02: Um doing stuff when I go home on my own.
12:55
SPEAKER_02: I got two quarterback trainers I go to.
12:57
SPEAKER_02: Um they're both really good.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: They they do different things, which helps me.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: Um just keeping keeping my foot on a gas pedal, you know, never letting up and you know, getting my body right, my mind right.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Uh, my coaches do a great job teaching me.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: And yeah.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: Your production's been outstanding so far.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: 2,100 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, another 575 yards rushing with uh 10 touchdowns.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Are you surprised at this level of production that you've been able to come up with in your first year as a starter?
13:28
SPEAKER_02: Uh I don't know if surprise is the right word.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, I go into it pretty confidently.
13:33
SPEAKER_02: Um it's encouraging that this is what I can do in the first year, I'd say in the first uh eight games or whatever.
13:41
SPEAKER_02: Um I didn't really put a number on it of where I'd be at this time.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: I kind of just said, I'm gonna go play as hard as I can and see what happens.
13:48
SPEAKER_02: Um it's turned out pretty well, I'd say.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: Um one thing a coach did tell me, which really encouraged me, is he said the thing that you'll probably have to deal with the most uh after your first couple games is how you're gonna deal with the success you're gonna have.
14:04
SPEAKER_02: That meant the world to me because one, it means he obviously believes in me a lot, and two, he believes in what I can do.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: Um and that's what a lot of these people believed in me, and that's what kept me going.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, now that you've had the success, what's he telling you?
14:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh get better every game, get better every game, and there's always something to improve and keep playing hard.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: Now it's really take care of your body, you know, get your mind right for the next game, the next week.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: And um, we work on that great.
14:30
SPEAKER_02: And he all the coaches, um, they all explain it to me really well.
14:33
SPEAKER_02: And a coach Kuzieski is really the the main one I work with one-on-one.
14:36
SPEAKER_02: He's a quarterback's coach.
14:38
SPEAKER_02: He's a great, great dude, great coach.
14:40
SPEAKER_02: Him and Buck really get me going on the game plan and and what we're doing.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: And it's really encouraging because I know every situation we're gonna get in, I know exactly what to do.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: It seems like a lot of quarterback coaches are into really into technic being a technician or a technique.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and and you kind of have a little bit of an unorthodox delivery, you know.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: You're you're not you you'll sidearm it and go at different release points.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they try to are they trying to work with you to to change that, or are are is their attitude more like, hey, you just be you?
15:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, they work with Cam before me, so you gotta you gotta think, you know, like you're not gonna try to change the way Cam throws.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: And I wouldn't say we're exactly like I he can do it from any angle.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah um, but I do it a little from the side too, like him.
15:25
SPEAKER_02: And it's really the feet, they're huge on the feet and the footwork, and because most every play has a certain footwork you need to take.
15:34
SPEAKER_02: Um but the upper body know that they don't really mess with it.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: Um if we'll look because they know me enough.
15:40
SPEAKER_02: I've been here, we've been together since last spring.
15:42
SPEAKER_02: When something's off, they can see why it's off, right?
15:45
SPEAKER_02: Right, but we're not sitting there and practice like, oh, this you gotta lean, you gotta do that on that stuff.
15:49
SPEAKER_02: That's what I do at home with my other quarterback coaches.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: Seems like you have a great chemistry with Kyle Williams, who seems like he's been playing college football forever.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh what did you do the offseason to get on the same page with him and the rest of your receivers?
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Just throwing constantly.
16:03
SPEAKER_02: Um the first time we threw was first week we got here, we had shoveled snow out of the off the practice field.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: And we had no indoor, now we have one, luckily, but shovel snow and throwing.
16:14
SPEAKER_02: We've been throwing once a week, twice a week, or whenever we can since then and the summer is three times a week.
16:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, just investing the time that you need and sitting in film rooms talking and doing whatever it takes.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: Looking at the bigger picture, who are some of your bigger influences growing up, both in football and in life?
16:34
SPEAKER_02: Football is definitely Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, Tom Brady, just the way he was able to win um and do things, just nobody's done.
16:43
SPEAKER_02: And then Aaron Rodgers with the the talent and the way he throws.
16:46
SPEAKER_02: And you see, you see me throw sometimes my my left foot comes off the ground.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: There's a little pop-pop step.
16:52
SPEAKER_02: That's what he made.
16:53
SPEAKER_02: He made that famous.
16:54
SPEAKER_02: You know, I love I love the way he throws.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: I studied the way he throws when I was younger, I still do.
16:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then my mom and my dad, like just the way they work so hard to get me and my sister in the right position, and how they've brought me through life and teach me morals and values that I need to go with forever.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: Can't can't have a Heisman podcast without asking you about some Heisman winners.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Are there any past winners that you grew up watching that you uh really enjoyed?
17:20
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, the the back-to-back, you know, like they were just incredible.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: The way one of my one of my best friends is Baker Baker fanatic.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: He goes crazy about Baker Mayfield, right?
17:34
SPEAKER_02: And so he'd always show me the highlights and this every week.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: And and I his attitude is he just he'll do whatever he wants because he's so good, you know, and you know, take that with a grain of salt, you know.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: But and then Kyler Murray's just the way to out athlete everybody on the field was just incredible.
17:51
SPEAKER_02: And then I wasn't old enough for the Tim Tebow and Cam Newton, right?
17:56
SPEAKER_02: But with those guys to those highlights go.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: Seems like Texas is just you know, especially lately, a hotbed for quarterback talent.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Even on this show, this show this year.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: I think I feel like every week we're talking to someone who went to high school in Texas.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh why how why does it why are there so many great quarterbacks coming out of Texas, I should say?
18:16
SPEAKER_02: Well, first of all, Texas football is the best football, right?
18:18
SPEAKER_02: You know, California can say whatever they want, but Texas football is the best.
18:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think it's just the the abundance of talent and the competition, right?
18:28
SPEAKER_02: If you want to play quarterback, even in high school, you have to be a lot better than a lot of other kids, and you have to work harder than a lot of other kids.
18:34
SPEAKER_02: And I think the knowledge of some some QB trainers, you know, not all of them are good, but the good ones, um, they know what they're talking about and they they invest the time in their in the kids, and and it costs a lot of money sometimes, but yeah, people are willing to do it because football is so big and Texas football matters so much.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: And then just it's just Texas football, it doesn't get any better.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, now that you've seen what you can do, you're up to a great start.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: What are your goals the rest of the way, both for yourself and for your team?
19:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I set goals at the start of the year, right?
19:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, stats, whatever, but I think just winning these games, right?
19:10
SPEAKER_02: Just that's all that matters going 4-0 for these guys, for these seniors, and then seeing where we land and 1-0 every week.
19:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm going as hard as I can, getting as good as I can, improving every week is the biggest thing.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, John Matteer, thanks for coming on the official Heisman Trophy podcast.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: We appreciate taking the time.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh get some rest during this off week, and good luck against Utah State and the rest of the way.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: The Heisman is handed out every December, but the history of the trophy lives year-round at Heisman.com.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: Home to the most iconic trophy in sports, Heisman.com tells the stories of all 88 of our winners and features news, bios, and statistics on all your favorite Heisman heroes.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: Heisman.com also highlights our Heisman humanitarians, the many charities supported by the Heisman Trust, and so much more.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: Make Heisman.com your first stop for all things Heisman.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: This is Archie Griffin, 1974, 1975's Heisman Trophy winner, and you're listening to the official Heisman podcast.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: Washington State Coach Jake Dickert is in his fourth season up in the Palooze.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: His Cougars are 7-1 and ranked 22nd in the nation.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: And in large part, that's because Coach Dickert has been able to find some really good quarterbacks lately.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: Last season it was Cam Ward.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: This season it's John Mateer, and we caught up with him last week, took some time out of his busy schedule to chat with us.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Hey coach, congrats on another hot start to the season.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: How's the team been looking in practice so far this week?
20:47
SPEAKER_03: Well, I appreciate you having me on.
20:49
SPEAKER_03: Everything's been really good.
20:50
SPEAKER_03: We got a really competitive group, and I really felt that all the way back to January.
20:54
SPEAKER_03: You know, a chip on the shoulder from last season and not achieving our goals of getting to a bowl game.
20:59
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, obviously our quarterback has led us, you know, through a really, really hot start, and it's been fun to see this group really come together.
21:06
SPEAKER_03: And the best part is I think our best is still out there, and we're searching for it every week.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: John Matir has been outstanding for you so far, like you said, currently fifth in the country in total offense, doing it both through the air and on the ground.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: He didn't grab a hold of the job until well in the training camp, though, based on what you'd seen of him.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: Are you surprised by his production so far this year?
21:27
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, surprise isn't the right word.
21:28
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think we've always felt really confident in John's skill sets, but most importantly, it's his competitive nature and his leadership ability.
21:36
SPEAKER_03: Uh, we were never willing to go into the transfer portal and say, hey, come in here and start, because we were extremely confident in what John's skill set was, and we knew it was going to be vitally different than Cam Ward.
21:48
SPEAKER_03: And I thought it was gonna be unique, but very challenging.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: I come from a uh defensive background.
21:53
SPEAKER_03: So anytime you get a quarterback that can really be, you know, a three tool player and he can run it, he can.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Throw it and he can beat you, you know, kind of with his mind and doing different things that way.
22:04
SPEAKER_03: I think it's been really impressive.
22:05
SPEAKER_03: But he still is only seven games in.
22:07
SPEAKER_03: So where the ceiling is for John, I think nobody knows, and he's willing to put the work in to go get it.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's very exciting to see his development.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: He's from Little Elm, Texas, just outside of Dallas.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: Wasn't really heavily recruited, and in fact, was committed to Central Arkansas at one point.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: How did you end up finding him and what was the determining factor for you guys in offering him a scholarship?
22:28
SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, it is a unique recruiting story.
22:30
SPEAKER_03: When I got the job, you know, late into that 22 season, uh, we had a committed quarterback.
22:36
SPEAKER_03: And when I brought in the new staff, we just felt it wasn't right for, you know, kind of our modern day air rate of what we wanted to do.
22:43
SPEAKER_03: Uh the first signing day came and went, and then, you know, we kind of started really looking for quarterbacks out there, and John's name really rose to the top of the list.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: Uh, Eric Morris was our offensive coordinator uh at that point, went down and worked him out.
22:56
SPEAKER_03: And Rob Schlager, our general manager, really put in a lot of time and then he put the talent, uh, with the competitive nature, and then getting to know John really through a quick recruiting process.
23:07
SPEAKER_03: He just felt like he loved ball.
23:09
SPEAKER_03: And the more guys that we get at Washington State that just purely love football and and are in it for the right reasons, it just led down this really great uh path.
23:18
SPEAKER_03: And from day one, when John was here, it's just been impressive.
23:21
SPEAKER_03: He earned the backup job that year and he learned for a couple of years, and now he's ready to take that mantle.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: He seems like he's kind of out of central casting for like those Texas high school quarterbacks, too.
23:32
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: You know.
23:33
SPEAKER_03: And he is like his his legs are like this, you know, the stories of him squatting 600 pounds is real.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: And uh really was a baseball guy to start.
23:41
SPEAKER_03: You know, that's what we loved about how fast he can get the ball out of his hand.
23:45
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, but the quarterbacking thing wasn't on a great team, but you could just see his competitive nature as you watch those game films of you know, he was finishing with the ball, he wasn't running out of bounds, he took a lot of ownership and everything that he does.
23:58
SPEAKER_03: So it's been great to kind of work hand in hand with John and utilize all his skill sets.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's some guys you only need to see a play or two to figure out they're pretty good.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: For me, I was watching his highlights from his senior year, and he had that jump pass where he was rolling to his left that he threw for a touchdown.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Now, most jump passes tend to be close to the goal line, but he threw it from like the 20-yard line.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: Did you guys see that play and go wow too?
24:20
SPEAKER_03: Oh, we did.
24:21
SPEAKER_03: There's a bunch of things that we're like, he's just got such a blended skill set.
24:26
SPEAKER_03: And one thing I talk to our quarterbacks about all the time is you're the greatest decision maker on game day, not me.
24:32
SPEAKER_03: And you got the keys of the car.
24:34
SPEAKER_03: And the only thing I ask you to do is make the most aggressive, confident decision you can.
24:39
SPEAKER_03: We're not gonna make John into a pocket passer.
24:42
SPEAKER_03: We're not gonna make John just into a runner, we're gonna let him do what he feels natural to him, and those that's one of those plays.
24:48
SPEAKER_03: Actually, this summer on Twitter with his trainer, his they were working like jump passes across the middle.
24:54
SPEAKER_03: That's when I was like, yeah, let's let's stop that.
24:56
SPEAKER_03: Let's just let's just work through the pocket stuff.
24:58
SPEAKER_03: But uh he's crafty, he's creative, and he loves playing ball.
25:02
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes those plays happen naturally for John.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and he's kind of got different release points and he does some unorthodox stuff.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's pretty interesting stuff.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: I've seen some comparisons between John and another player, the great Johnny Manzel.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: You know, like Johnny football, he's able to hurt you with his feet in his arm.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: Maybe he's not as shifty.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: But what more does your guy need to work on to get to that level, do you think?
25:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I comp him a little bit more to Bo Nicks.
25:26
SPEAKER_03: That uh that big lower half and Bo Nicks evolved as a player.
25:32
SPEAKER_03: You know, when he was at Auburn, it was run first, kind of scramble out of there, not trust your um you know, your your progression passing.
25:40
SPEAKER_03: That's what I think it would be.
25:41
SPEAKER_03: When one of your greatest strengths is running and escaping, uh sometimes you overutilize that.
25:48
SPEAKER_03: And it's just getting him and his progression when he sees pressure or blitzes to stay in there and deliver it, and you can't escape every time.
25:56
SPEAKER_03: And I know there's a confidence to it.
25:57
SPEAKER_03: So we're working on that.
25:59
SPEAKER_03: But I meant what I said earlier.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: I've always believed quarterbacking, my number one job is to never put any shred of doubt in your mind.
26:07
SPEAKER_03: And it is just play fast, play aggressive, and I believe in the choices that you're making out there because I see the preparation.
26:14
SPEAKER_03: So uh through film study, he's getting better, he's seeing some of his weaknesses, uh, but just staying true to his progressions when we're getting pressured, I think, is the number one thing right now he wants to get better at.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: All right.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, I was curious just how the transition has been for the program during this time of conference realignment, all the chaos.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: What's your strategy moving forward to attract more players like John Mateer to the program?
26:38
SPEAKER_03: I think it is, it's just the end of the day taking one day at a time.
26:40
SPEAKER_03: I mean, since I've been here as the head coach, we haven't had a really calm day.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: We're finally getting there as far as the new Pac-12 is being formed, and it's still finding the right people to get on the bus with us.
26:52
SPEAKER_03: There's tons of talent out there.
26:54
SPEAKER_03: We're just on a constant quest to find the right guys, and John embodies that.
26:58
SPEAKER_03: You know, not highly recruited, chip on the shoulder, wants to prove people wrong.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: And I think when we assemble, you know, 105 guys, you know, in the new era of college football that have that and carry that with them, we're gonna continue to be really successful here at Washington State.
27:13
SPEAKER_03: So But you gotta embrace it.
27:15
SPEAKER_03: You gotta embrace what our town is, you gotta embrace the small community, you gotta embrace the wheat fields, uh, you gotta love that stuff.
27:22
SPEAKER_03: Because what I've found over time, being here now for five years, is that also breeds a great connection with our team.
27:28
SPEAKER_03: We're all we got and we're all we need, and we're we're damn proud of that.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Coach, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on the official Heisman Trophy podcast.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: Good luck the rest of the season, and uh look forward to seeing you guys play next Saturday.
27:40
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
27:41
SPEAKER_03: John Matir is the real deal and go kooks.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: Now we're excited to share with you another Heisman spotlight, featuring one of the most famous plays in the trophy's history.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: This is not only a famous moment in Heisman lore, it's one of the most famous moments for the entire state of Louisiana.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: We're talking a play that has achieved full-on mythological status.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't guessed yet, we're referring to the Halloween run, 1959 Heisman winner on LSU great Billy Cannon's earth-shattering, 89-yard, fourth quarter punt return for a touchdown that gave the number one Tigers a 7-3 win over number three Mississippi on Halloween night in 1959.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: Kids growing up in Baton Rouge were raised on similar Halloween traditions as the rest of us.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: You dress up in your favorite costumes, you load up on your neighbors' candy, and you keep your eyes peeled for ghouls and ghosts.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: But down in Baton Rouge and in the constellation of small towns that surround it, Halloween also means the local TV stations always run a special segment, and you do an annual salute to the Halloween run.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: Where I grew up, we always watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on Halloween.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: But I think down on the Bayou, they watched the Halloween run first, then Charlie Brown.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Now let's set this up a bit.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: LSU under Coach Paul Dietzel was on a bit of a heater, having won its first national title in 1958 with a perfect 11-0 season, capped with a sugar bowl win over Clemson that marked just the second time in the decade that the Tigers had won more than five games.
29:24
SPEAKER_01: The Tigers opened the 1959 season ranked first and won their first six games while allowing just two field goals in 24 quarters.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Cannon played running back for the Tigers, but he also starred on defense.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: LSU entered the Magnolia Bowl, that's the rivalry game with Ole Miss that dates back to 1894, riding an 18-game winning streak.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: Dan Bornet is the school's decades-long public address announcer for Tigers football and basketball.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: He grew up in nearby Thibodeau, Louisiana, about an hour south of Baton Rouge, and he knows the rivalry between LSU and Ole Miss quite well.
29:56
SPEAKER_10: You have to put the LSU Ole Miss rivalry into perspective here.
30:00
SPEAKER_10: Lots of people uh look at the LSU Alabama rivalry as one that's uh a top drawer, but uh in the 50s and sixties uh it was LSU against Ole Miss.
30:11
SPEAKER_10: That was the great uh competitive rivalry.
30:14
SPEAKER_10: But coming uh out of the 1958 season now, uh when LSU won its first national championship, the LSU Ole Miss game was in a tremendous setup in 1958.
30:27
SPEAKER_10: LSU was uh number one at the time six and oh.
30:32
SPEAKER_10: And Ole Miss came to Baton Rouge number six also six and oh.
30:37
SPEAKER_10: And LSU beat Ole Miss 14 to nothing in the championship season.
30:43
SPEAKER_10: Fast forward to 1959, which is when uh Billy made the uh the famous run, uh Ole Miss, because of a quirk in scheduling, uh came back to Baton Rouge to play in 1959.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: As for the Rebels, well they were smack in the middle of the greatest stretch of football in program history.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: And that is not up for debate.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: Between 1957 and 1962, they finished with 10 wins three times and had nine wins the other three seasons.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: The 1960 Rebels team won a share of the national title, and had it not been for Billy Cannon, they might have won it in 1959, too.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: In fact, had it not been for Cannon, Mississippi might have had its first 11-win season, something the Rebels still haven't attained.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: And while LSU entered the game with a stout defense that had given up just six points, well, Ole Miss had only allowed seven.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: Now meet Smiley Anders.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: Like Dan Bornet, he grew up knee deep in the LSU Ole Miss rivalry.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: He and Cannon went to local Estruma High, and though they weren't in the same class, he remembers Cannon as a youth.
31:55
SPEAKER_04: He was just kind of a playful kind of guy.
31:58
SPEAKER_04: Uh he came from a kind of a rough area of town.
32:02
SPEAKER_04: You know, a lot of really you know foo halls and bars, really squeezy bars and guys from the Exxon with dock, you know, over there at the Exxon docks.
32:15
SPEAKER_04: And they wind up on this little strip there, looking for bars and food shooting and whatever else sailors look for when they're ashore.
32:26
SPEAKER_04: And so it was pretty pretty rough.
32:28
SPEAKER_04: He was uh funny kid and smart.
32:32
SPEAKER_04: I sat behind him in America's history class.
32:36
SPEAKER_04: And I confess to looking on his paper once in a while.
32:39
SPEAKER_04: But I think you're really right.
32:41
SPEAKER_01: While Anders went on to journalism school, Cannon blossomed into a six foot-one, two hundred and fifteen-pound athlete with an emphasis on athlete, since not only was he one of the best football players in the country, but also a track and field standout who set state records by shot putting over 56 feet and running the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: Naturally, he earned a scholarship to LSU.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: Now back to Halloween, 1959, which was a dark and stormy night.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, the almanac will tell you the thunderstorms had drifted out of Baton Rouge well before the 8 p.m.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: kickoff, but the night air was still thick and sticky and the turf was soggy.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: Bornet grew up on nights like these.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: He was twelve when the two teams met.
33:25
SPEAKER_10: I've been going to LSU football games uh since I was around eight years old, and that was uh in 1954.
33:33
SPEAKER_10: Okay.
33:34
SPEAKER_10: So uh I've been in and out of that stadium uh for a long, long time.
33:38
SPEAKER_10: And um uh I sat in it when the games were at eight o'clock, when uh the lights weren't quite as uh bright as they are now in the stadium because there was no TV uh telecast at that time, and uh when the the the fog would kind of drift in over the stadium about uh the start of the third quarter, and it it had this ethereal effect.
33:58
SPEAKER_10: It was like you're in a different world.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: No, he wasn't at the game.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh it was Halloween after all, and he was at a party where all the kids were listening to the game.
34:07
SPEAKER_10: I didn't go to the Halloween night game.
34:09
SPEAKER_10: I heard the game on radio.
34:11
SPEAKER_10: I was twelve years old.
34:12
SPEAKER_10: Uh and um I recall vividly listening to the entire game.
34:17
SPEAKER_10: We had a friend who had a uh Halloween party that night, because it was Halloween night and it was a Saturday, and everyone went to the party, but nobody partied.
34:27
SPEAKER_10: I mean, we were twelve years old, and everybody at that party sat around a radio and listened to that game.
34:45
SPEAKER_10: Just one game a week.
34:46
SPEAKER_10: Now you have fifty.
34:48
SPEAKER_10: Okay.
34:48
SPEAKER_10: Uh and so it it it was the thing.
34:52
SPEAKER_10: And and and uh my little South Louisiana Louisiana town was a hundred percent LSU uh when we weren't playing Tulane.
35:00
SPEAKER_10: When we played Tulane, the the the you know the the uh uh population of 14,000 people was pretty well split.
35:07
SPEAKER_10: But boy, when we were playing Ole Miss, it was LSU all the way.
35:10
SPEAKER_10: And we listened to that game and it was as if we were in a trance because uh all of us were sort of placing ourselves in that stadium.
35:18
SPEAKER_10: That stadium's at 68,000 people, okay.
35:22
SPEAKER_10: And uh having gone to that stadium uh so many years before and sitting in it, you could just view yourself in it.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: The recorded crowd that night, on homecoming no less, was sixty-seven thousand three hundred and twenty-seven.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: And for most of the night they watched a defensive struggle with far more punts than points.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: Initially, Cannon looked more likely to be the GOAT than the hero.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: He fumbled twice in the first quarter, the second of which led to a short rebel field goal for a three-nothing lead, a three-point lead that looked like it may hold up.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: LSU wound up fumbling three times in the first half and could barely move the ball, but entered the third quarter still down just a field goal.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: A cannon interception early in the third quarter gave the Tigers their best field position of the night.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: But field goal kicker Wendell Harris missed a 37 yard try.
36:11
SPEAKER_01: LSU spent much of the third quarter in Mississippi Territory, but one drive ended on a failed fourth down run, and another was stopped on a fake punt.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: The Rebels, under their longtime coach John Vott, used their punter Jake Gibbs, who doubled as their quarterback, as a weapon, often punting on first down just to flip the field and pin LSU deep.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: It worked early in the game, and they stuck to the playbook into the fourth quarter.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: Cannon returned an early fourth quarter punt twenty yards, but the subsequent drive stalled.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: But when the Tigers sacked Gibbs for a ten yard loss that landed him back in Old Miss Territory, Vaught directed Gibbs to punt away.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Dietzel instructed Cannon not to field it deep, certainly not if it was near the ten, but Cannon got a clean bounce at the eleven yard line and took off.
36:56
SPEAKER_01: Cue history.
36:57
SPEAKER_01: Here's the famous call by LSU play by play announcer JC Pollitz, who only announced Tiger football for two seasons.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: But hey, timing is everything.
37:54
SPEAKER_04: And then he started running and I didn't see, you know, it was just a damn missing, I never see, I've never seen a miss how hell the team.
38:03
SPEAKER_04: They were really good.
38:04
SPEAKER_04: But these guys were hitting me, so I hit a brick wall.
38:07
SPEAKER_04: They were literally just bouncing off.
38:10
SPEAKER_04: He was just determined, my God, he was gonna make the goal.
38:14
SPEAKER_04: He was a fast summer, he was bow ragged.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: In all, eight rebel players got their hands or other body parts on Cannon, but none could slow him down as he raced down the right side of the field into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: As you heard from Politz's call, it sent the crowd into a frenzy.
38:31
SPEAKER_10: The film of it is fun because uh running along the sidelines with him is a referee.
38:36
SPEAKER_10: And uh you have to figure that referee was probably doing about a four or three, forty, you know.
38:43
SPEAKER_10: Uh McCann was uh uh he was an SEC champion sprinter.
38:48
SPEAKER_10: Uh as well as a uh a field guy.
38:52
SPEAKER_10: So he was a champion both track and field and uh and football.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: Rebels All-American Marvin Terrell was on the field that play and described his memories of it in a 2018 interview.
39:02
SPEAKER_09: Cannon wasn't supposed to catch that ball.
39:04
unknown: He was supposed to, you know, just let it hit hit on that wet turn, but it bounced right through him.
39:09
SPEAKER_09: He couldn't get out of the way, so he grabbed it and took off down the sidelines, and though about several of us that missed him on the sidelines.
39:17
SPEAKER_09: And I was the last one chasing him.
39:20
SPEAKER_09: I I couldn't catch him, of course, because you know he was probably the fastest guy on the field.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: In an interview that Gibbs gave a number of years ago, the Rebels' quarterback and punter thought Cannon would fair catch the punt.
39:31
SPEAKER_07: They had a rule that do not fill the ball within the 15-yard line.
39:36
SPEAKER_07: And when the ball hit on the 11, he was on the sidelines hollering, no, no, no.
39:42
SPEAKER_07: Then when Cannon broke one tackle, broke two tackles, broke three or four tackles, he was saying, Go, go, go.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: Cannon's punt return had all the trappings of a game winner, but there was still some 10 minutes to go in the game, and suddenly Ole Miss found a way to move the ball.
39:56
SPEAKER_10: So it was everybody was of course went crazy, but then we started biting our nails because uh into the fourth quarter, Ole Miss started driving.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: On the Rebels' final drive, they converted five first downs and reached the seven-yard line of LSU with about 90 seconds to play.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: Three runs netted five yards, leaving a fourth and goal from the two.
40:16
SPEAKER_01: On fourth down, Ole Miss backup quarterback Doug Elmore tested the left side of the line, but was first met by Warren Rabb.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: And as he tried to squirt free, Cannon came up to finish off the tackle and the game.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: Later in his life, Cannon was asked about that final defensive stop.
40:34
SPEAKER_08: Well, you know, back then we would get into a gap eight, and then Howard move up in the middle linebacker.
40:42
SPEAKER_08: Now we have the best linebacker in football playing defense.
41:06
SPEAKER_08: We were together last night.
41:08
SPEAKER_08: GJ Ribbs.
41:09
SPEAKER_08: He told me, he said, you know, it's been 55 years, you finally gave me credit for the title.
41:15
SPEAKER_04: If I hadn't stopped, of course, we're running everything we just it would have been a nice ride, but it wouldn't have been like a legend as it is now.
41:24
SPEAKER_01: And let's give Dan Bornet the closing comments and where he puts the Halloween run in the history of LSU football.
41:31
SPEAKER_10: I think it's absolutely without question uh the first thing that comes to people's minds who have a history of LSU football embedded in them.
41:43
SPEAKER_10: Uh there have been great runs, there have been great seasons, there have been great athletes.
41:47
SPEAKER_10: Uh but for the old timers who've been around long, that run tops everything.
41:54
SPEAKER_10: Uh because it was uh it was it was not only uh the run that scored the touchdown that won the game, but it was an incredibly uh noteworthy individual effort.
42:09
SPEAKER_10: Uh they were block that was blocking, of course.
42:12
SPEAKER_10: But to break seven tackles and to score um that's special.
42:18
SPEAKER_10: There haven't been many uh many plays in L2 history that would uh that would reach that pinnacle.
42:26
SPEAKER_10: And in my book, it's still number one.
42:28
SPEAKER_10: Where else could you could you point to one play uh where a player ran uh for a tiger touchdown, a tiger victory, and the Heisman Trophy, all in uh 89 yards.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, that'll do it for this week's episode.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: Thanks to Washington State for setting up John Mateer and Coach Jake Dickert.
42:49
SPEAKER_01: Thank you to LSU for helping set up all the people we needed to talk to to do the Billy Cannon feature.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: Next week, BYU quarterback Jake Ratzleff and George Rogers, 1980 Heisman winner from South Carolina.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: The official Heisman Trophy podcast streams every Wednesday during the college football season and is hosted, co-produced, edited, and engineered by Chris Houston.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: Paul Goldberg is the executive producer and editor.
43:12
SPEAKER_01: Special shout out to Isaac Lohencron, and big thanks to the Heisman Trophy Trust and its executive director, Rob Whalen, and Associate Director Tim Henning.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: The official Heisman Trophy Podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcast.
43:25
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43:30
SPEAKER_01: Just go to Heisman Trophy.