Washington State came out flying against Arizona, and for a while at Gesa Field it looked like the Cougars had rediscovered something real on offense. Then the game settled into a familiar and frustrating script: a hot opening, a long drought, and a defense left to absorb too much punishment.
WSU grabbed a 14-point lead in the first quarter after a sharp first possession and a pick-six, but Arizona chipped away and eventually took control with a 34-24 win on Saturday in Pullman. The Wildcats scored on their final four drives, and the Cougars simply couldn’t keep pace once their offense went cold.
That opening drive was as clean as WSU has looked against an FBS opponent this season. The Cougars marched 71 yards in 10 plays, with Caden Pinnick finishing it himself on an 11-yard keeper. The passing game had rhythm, the sideline throws were crisp, and the tempo was humming.
After that, though, the offense vanished for long stretches.
Washington State’s first five possessions of the second half produced just 22 net yards on 20 plays. The Cougars punted four times in that span, and Pinnick also coughed up a fumble on a sack. By then, Arizona had started to squeeze the life out of the game and steadily build its lead.
WSU didn’t find the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter, when Pinnick uncorked a 46-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-10 to Branden Ganashamoorthy. That score pulled the Cougars within 31-24 and briefly gave them a pulse after the game had looked out of reach.
Even then, the numbers told the story of how hard the climb had become. Before WSU’s final two possessions, it had barely cracked 200 total yards.
The run game never got traction, finishing at 3.1 yards per carry on 30 attempts. Arizona’s pressure ramped up as the game wore on, and Pinnick was under heat far too often.
Whatever spark the Cougars found on that opening march didn’t last beyond the first series, and that’s the problem they’re still trying to solve.
There was plenty for the defense to do early, and at times it responded well. Arizona was handed short fields on its first two second-half possessions - once after poor punt return coverage set the Wildcats up at the WSU 33, and again after Pinnick’s fumble at his own 32.
Neither turned into points. Washington State forced a three-and-out on the first series, then watched Arizona miss a 42-yard field goal.
On the next drive, Damarjhe Lewis blocked a 43-yard attempt after the Cougar defense held up again in the open field.
That unit also accounted for seven of WSU’s 17 first-half points when Jackquintin Bal picked off a pass and took it back for a touchdown. For much of the afternoon, the defense kept the Cougars within striking distance while the offense stalled around it.
Eventually, though, the strain showed. As the fourth quarter neared, Washington State’s defense was running out of answers and running out of gas.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita started finding openings, and the Wildcats put up 20 points over their final four possessions. WSU did get one last stop on Arizona’s final drive, stuffing three straight runs to force a 51-yard field goal try, but the kick went through and wiped out any chance of a tying march.
There were still some clear positives on that side of the ball. Washington State held Arizona below 3 yards per carry through three quarters before the Wildcats piled up 93 rushing yards in the fourth.
Fifita, one of the nation’s top passers, was disrupted on six of Arizona’s 12 possessions and finished with a season-low 61% completion rate. The Cougars also registered three sacks.
But the big plays hurt. Fifita and Tre Spivey connected for four passes of 18 yards or more before halftime, and Spivey had a career day in the first half alone with 125 yards and two touchdowns.
When WSU tried to tighten things up around him, Fifita went deep to Caleb Smith for gains of 41 and 38 yards. The secondary had its share of communication breakdowns, and Arizona made them pay.
It’s hard to know how many more chances Washington State will get to bring old Pac-12 names like Arizona to Pullman in nonconference play now that the Cougars are effectively part of the Group of Six. But if they can line these games up, they probably should.
Matchups like this matter. They give WSU a stage to show it can still go toe-to-toe with programs from the Big 12 and the Pac-12 legacy group, and this one had the feel of a real throwback game - entertaining, competitive, and just enough “Pac-12 After Dark” energy to remind people what these meetings used to be. Thankfully, it didn’t start at 8 p.m.
For Washington State, Arizona was one of the three most anticipated games on the schedule, right there with the Apple Cup and the Oct. 24 home date against Boise State.
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For Washington State, the game also sets up a few individual matchups that could shape the afternoon. Fresno State receiver Josiah Freeman has been one of the names to track, while cornerback Simeon Harris will be part of the Cougars' effort to keep the Bulldogs from finding easy answers outside. Early conference games can punish a team that assumes the record tells the whole story, and this is the sort of home opener in league play that can reveal whether Washington State is ready to handle the details that matter. [Read more 🡒]