Brent Brennan and Arizona are headed back to Pullman for a matchup that looks familiar on the surface, but doesn’t carry the same feel once you dig into Washington State’s roster and staff. The Wildcats visit the Cougars on Saturday in what’s now a non-conference game, with Arizona trying to grab its first road win of the season after last week’s 42-17 win over Northern Illinois.
Washington State is 1-2 and coming off a 48-7 win over Duquesne, but this is not the same Cougars group Arizona has seen in recent years. Kirby Moore is the first-time head coach, and the staff includes new coordinators Trent Bray and Matt Miller. The roster has been turned over too, with new faces like quarterback Caden Pinnick, receivers Darrius Clemons and Daniel Blood, tight end Jack Pedersen, safety Jaylen Thomas, linebacker DJ Warner, and EDGE rusher Linus Zunk.
There are still some familiar building blocks. Washington State kept its offensive line intact and returns running backs Kirby Vorhees and Maxwell Woods, but the early results show a team still sorting itself out after losses at UW and Kansas State before the blowout of Duquesne.
The Cougars are also trying to help rebuild the Pac-12 from the ground up, with Oregon State looking solid and Boise State, San Diego State, and Colorado State also productive in the league’s first year. Pullman should have extra energy for a chance to knock off a former Pac-12 member, and Arizona needs to be ready for that.
Pinnick has been the face of the offense so far, and his production tells the story. The transfer from FCS UC Davis has leaned on his legs more than his arm, posting 42 completions for 403 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions, while also taking seven sacks through Washington State’s first three games. The Cougars are averaging 134.3 passing yards per game, which ranks 132nd out of 138 FBS programs, and Pinnick’s 42 completions rank 98th among all quarterbacks.
The run game has been a different story. Pinnick has added 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and he’s one of three Washington State ball carriers with more than 150 rushing yards this season. That makes Arizona’s run defense a major piece of the puzzle in Pullman, maybe more so than the pass defense.
The series history tilts toward Arizona overall, with the Wildcats holding a 28-19 edge dating back to 1963 and a 21-13 record from the Pac-12 years. But the recent stretch has been tougher. Arizona is just 2-5 against Washington State since 2015, including a 1-2 mark at home and three straight losses in Pullman before the Wildcats rolled to a 44-6 road win in 2023 in Fisch’s final season in Tucson.
That backdrop matters because Pullman has not been an easy place for Arizona to navigate, and this year’s Washington State team may be rebuilding, but it still has enough to make life tricky. Brennan’s group can’t afford to treat this like a routine stop.
Special teams also deserves attention after Washington State turned Week 3 into a highlight reel. In the fourth quarter against Duquesne, Jaylen Thomas returned a punt 47 yards for a touchdown to make it 41-7 with 5:32 left, then Tank Hawkins followed with a 65-yard punt return just over two minutes later. It was an unusual burst that helped seal Moore’s first win.
Arizona has to clean that up. The opponent is different, but the warning is real: one or two explosive special teams plays can swing the whole feel of the game, especially when the crowd gets rolling. Washington State also has a kicking issue, with Jack Stevens missing a 30-yard field goal and an extra point last week.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 PM PT on Saturday, Sep. 26, in Pullman, and the game will air on CBS.
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