You hate to get too excited over a player with just two career starts under his belt. But it's hard to ignore what WSU's Andy Mattingly is starting to do at WSU. Mattingly, a true sophomore, got his first start at outside linebacker vs. ASU two games ago, and thus far has made a tremendous impact as a starter. Mattingly totaled four sacks, five tackles for loss among 17 total stops in his first start vs. ASU, a game where WSU's defense played one of it's best games of the season. They hung tough for four quarters before falling to the unbeaten Sun Devils on a missed field goal in the waning moments. The following week, WSU was flat-out embarrassed by Oregon, but you can't lay the blame at Mattingly's feet for that one. He held his own, with two more sacks. That makes six sacks in just a two-game span as a starter, an impressive total that is one of the best two-game totals in recent WSU history. He's already tied for third in the conference with the six sacks, just one-and-a-half behind conference leader Nick Reed of Oregon. And his nine tackles for loss this year is already good for second in the Pac-10.
This week, Mattingly has caught the eye of the local scribes, as he's been featured in several stories, including Cougfan.com, the Seattle Times, and a detailed background story in the Tacoma News Tribune. The News Tribune story went into his training with older brother Chris, a specialist in hand-to-hand combat in the US Army. Andy spent a couple of weeks in 2006 at Fort Benning, GA, learning jujitsu from Chris. The training appears to be paying off on the football field:
"When you're battling with offensive linemen and trying to get in there, the quick hands help get them off you," Andy said. "And it also helps in the aggressiveness and toughness aspect when you're getting hit in the face and stuff."
Mattingly says his ultimate career goal is to be on a SWAT team, but at the rate he's going, by the time he's a senior the NFL could come calling. He's a big kid, at 6-4, 235, and despite his large frame, was so athletic in high school that he played safety. The top recruit for WSU's 2006 class, he's regarded as an excellent player in space and has very good instincts for being so inexperienced. He was on special teams as a true frosh last year as the Cougar coaches allowed him to get his feet wet, and he continues to get better with each week this season.
Mattingly's presence also appears to be swaying Bill Doba and his approach to the defense. WSU started out the first five games as a true 4-3 defense, but with the defense struggling so much this year with so much inexperience, the linebackers are at least one area that has some talent. The Oregon game saw WSU switch up to more of a 3-4 look, getting linebackers Cory Evans, Mattingly, Greg Trent and Kendrick Dunn all on the field at the same time. Doba has mentioned this week that there could be some more changes defensively, so the 3-4 is likely to be in the mix.
One thing is crystal clear - the WSU defense has been run over through most of the season, on pace for one of the worst years, statistically, in recent WSU history. The defense needs a leader to get them going in the right direction. There are still five games left this year, plenty of football left to be played. In a defense desperately seeking a playmaker, Mattingly could be the rising star to lead them out of the doldrums.
