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The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
3 lingering thoughts from WSU's road loss to Utah State | Rewind
- Story byThe Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
- 3 lingering thoughts from WSU's road loss to Utah State | Rewind
Oct. 10—PULLMAN — In his first 10 months on the job, Washington State coach Kirby Moore has made at least one thing crystal clear.
In public settings, he doesn't want to single out his quarterback.
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As the Cougars' slow start to the season continues, reaching 1-5 after a surprising road loss to Utah State Friday night, Moore has demonstrated that he doesn't want to talk about quarterback Caden Pinnick in specifics. When given the opportunity, he turns his answer into a referendum on his entire offense, addressing systemic issues rather than individuals.
Here's a sample: In his postgame news conference on Friday, he was asked about his concern level with Pinnick, who has now lost seven turnovers and doesn't look comfortable letting it fly in the pocket.
"Well, my concern level with the offense is we're not scoring enough points," said Moore, who called plays for the first time in Friday's game, taking over those duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller. "Yes, there's a quarterback piece of that. There's an offensive line piece of that. There's a skill piece of that. There's running backs. Making sure we're seeing it how we saw it in practice. So all of that, we gotta work like heck to score more points."
Moore was not wrong at all. The Cougars committed 13 penalties for 113 yards. Outside of running back Leo Pulalasi's 54-yard touchdown sprint in the second quarter, they generated only 23 rushing yards on 18 carries from their running back trio. And thanks to left tackle Ashton Tripp's ankle injury in the first quarter, things got even shakier up front in WSU's pre-snap operations.
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But as WSU prepares for its next game, a road test against surging Oregon State next weekend, the questions are only going to grow louder around Pinnick.
Here are three thoughts from WSU's loss to Utah State.
1. Coaches may not have any choice but to move away from Pinnick
At this point, Moore and Miller may not have much choice but to pivot away from Pinnick and start a new quarterback against Oregon State, whether it's redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman or redshirt sophomore Julian Dugger.
In Friday's game, Pinnick completed 23 of 36 passes ... for just 156 yards. He did not complete a single pass further than 9 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus, highlighting one of his main weaknesses: He either can't or won't stretch the field vertically. The only times he looked further downfield included when Utah State had jumped offsides, offering a free play, and one key miss (more on that in a moment).
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That paves the way for the stat that paints this picture best: Pinnick is now one of just two quarterbacks in the country to attempt at least 150 passes and total less than 1,000 yards. The other is Middle Tennessee's Roman Gagliano. In other words, Pinnick is having little trouble completing passes, but never further than about 9 yards, which has hampered the Cougars' offense in huge ways.
Pinnick did look sharper in the first half, though. He played his game, completing short routes and letting his playmakers do their thing, including a nice juke and run from tight end Trey Leckner in his second game back from injury. He made shrewd reads, including when to bail from the pocket and run upfield, doing so for a couple first downs.
But in the second half, Pinnick was simply missing throws. His biggest miss came in the third frame, when he dropped back and spotted a wide open Pulalasi, who had nothing but green grass ahead of him. But Pinnick couldn't deliver an accurate throw and it fell incomplete.
How can the Cougars solve that problem? Pinnick has provided a six-game sample of his abilities, so there may not be a way other than making a change at quarterback. On Friday, they did give one snap to Dugger, who carved out a 5-yard gain, underscoring his strengths on the ground. But to unlock a more compelling passing attack, they might consider Eshelman, whose arm talent could do just that.
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"There (were) plays for Julian," Moore said. "Obviously, Owen had more reps in practice this week. The first half, I thought Caden did a nice job of moving the ball. We just didn't finish there in the red zone."
Would either of those quarterbacks perform meaningfully better? It's impossible to know, but it's becoming clear that the Cougars' offense might not be able to improve as currently constructed.
2. The Cougars have to be better in their pre-snap operation
To Moore's point, WSU's offensive issues were hardly limited to just the quarterback. Ten of the Cougars' 13 penalties came on offense, including five holding penalties, several of which wiped out key plays.
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But WSU's pre-snap penalties were killer, too. The Cougs were whistled for three false starts and one delay of game penalty, which came in the second quarter, right after the Aggies were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Pinnick and the WSU offense were coming off a dead ball, a penalty situation. And the Cougs couldn't get their play off in time.
For WSU, it didn't help that in the first quarter, left tackle Ashton Tripp went down with what Moore called a "pretty good ankle sprain." He was out for the rest of the game, so in came Washington transfer Maximus McCree, whose lack of playing time seemed curious earlier in the season. He acquitted himself well as a blocker, but he was also dinged for two false start penalties, the first of which led to a field goal from Jack Stevens and the second of which later resulted in a punt.
Earlier in the game, after Pinnick took a late-hit penalty as he slid to the ground, the Cougars had more pre-snap chaos. With about five seconds on the play clock, Pinnick tried to change the play, leading three receivers to move around. That happened far too late in the play clock, forcing WSU to burn a timeout.
3. Jack Stevens is fully back
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It's officially safe to say: Jack Stevens is still the same guy who delivered an incredible 2025 campaign. He has now connected on six straight field goals, including three in Friday's game, his longest a 50-yarder — the second straight game he's connected from 50 yards, tying his career-long.
Stevens, who has put his 1-for-5 start in the past to deliver a 7-for-12 mark on the year, is back as a real weapon for this WSU offense. Things weren't always his fault earlier in the year — he had two field goals blocked, one of which was a product of a missed block on the offensive line — but he did look shaky.
Now he looks consistent and confident, two of the best traits a kicker can possess. In a WSU offense that is still scuffling, averaging just 12.6 points per game, Stevens could play a key role if the Cougars can find a way to turn things around.
