Washington State changed the man holding the play sheet, but not the outcome.
Kirby Moore took playcalling duties away from offensive coordinator Matt Miller early in the week, yet the Cougars still found a way to unravel in the second half and dropped a 17-16 decision to Utah State on Friday night. The offense again went flat after halftime for the third straight game, producing only 64 yards, zero points and two fumbles as WSU fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Pac-12 play.
The late mistake that really buried the Cougars came from a familiar area of the field. Midway through the fourth quarter, tight end Jack Pedersen caught a short pass over the middle on third down, then coughed it up. Utah State took over at the WSU 19 and needed just three plays to punch in a three-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Caden Pinnick remained the choice under center, with Julian Dugger appearing for one play early in the game. Moore had left the door open Monday to a change, but he stuck with Pinnick, hoping a small spark might follow.
It never really did. Pinnick finished 23 of 36 for 156 yards with no touchdowns, and his third-quarter fumble was another costly swing in momentum.
WSU tried to push the ball downfield at times, but most of the passing game still lived on short sideline throws and screens.
The numbers told the same story on discipline. Washington State was flagged 13 times for 113 yards, and several of those penalties erased chunk gains. That kind of self-inflicted damage kept the Cougars stuck in neutral after halftime.
On defense, linebacker Keith Brown and defensive end Linus Zunk paced the team with six tackles apiece.
There was at least one bright spot for WSU in the kicking game. Jack Stevens, who entered the Arizona game having made only one of his first five field-goal attempts, has quietly turned into a reliable piece for an offense that has struggled to finish drives. He made both tries last week against Fresno State, then went 3-for-3 in the first half Friday, including a 50-yarder that barely tucked inside the right upright and matched his career high.
The officials also left their mark on the night. A questionable holding call on Nick Bakken wiped out a red-zone chance in the first half, and a missed offsides on third down came shortly before Pinnick’s deep shot to the end zone fell incomplete. Then early in the third quarter, Utah State’s Eli Wood appeared to juggle his 27-yard touchdown catch in the front corner of the end zone, but the play was not reviewed and the score stood.
Washington State now gets an extra day to reset before heading to Corvallis next week to meet Oregon State, which is rolling under first-year coach JaMarcus Shephard. If the Beavers handle San Diego State on Saturday, the Cougars should be looking at double-digit underdog status.
Oregon State’s true freshman receiver Jesse Legree enters that matchup ranked second nationally in receiving yards with 741 and first in receiving touchdowns. WSU has not won in Corvallis since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
In Other News...
Washington State Let Another Winnable Game Slip Away
Washington State had plenty of chances to turn a messy, turnover-filled afternoon into a much-needed win, but the Cougars could not make enough of their breaks count against Utah State. Jack Stevens provided two field goals, Leo Pulalsi added a touchdown run, and for stretches it looked like the game might tilt the Cougars way as both teams worked through penalties, stalled drives and defensive stops.
Instead, the kind of game Washington State had to close out slipped away in a hurry, leaving the Cougars with another frustrating result in a season already full of them. Utah States late push kept the pressure on throughout the finish, and the loss dropped Washington State deeper into the Pac-12 standings with more questions than answers about how this team is going to finish. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Felt How Costly A Few Missed Stops Became
Missed tackles and missed chances are the kind of small defensive errors that can tilt a game in a hurry, and Washington State had to live with that reality after a late stretch turned costly. Utah State linebacker Asher Cunningham was all over the field, piling up a career-high 17 tackles while flashing the kind of disruption that can change a games rhythm, and the Cougars were left chasing the kind of stops that never quite arrived when they needed them most.
There were bright spots up front for Washington State, including nose tackle Jirah Leaupepetele, who logged two solo stops and his first full sack of the season. He also made a critical late-game tackle as the Cougars tried to steady things defensively, but the bigger issue was the sequence of plays they could not finish cleanly enough to keep the pressure from spilling into the final outcome. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State's Offensive Progress Came With One Frustrating Catch
Washington State showed enough on offense in the first half to suggest Kirby Moores influence is taking hold, but the Cougars could not turn that early progress into a road win at Maverik Stadium. Utah State slipped past WSU 17-16 after capitalizing on second-half mistakes, and the Cougars were left to sort through a game that mixed promising structure with the kind of self-inflicted issues that can erase it fast.
The frustrating part was how quickly the momentum flipped once the offense lost its rhythm. A turnover helped set up the Aggies go-ahead touchdown, and Washington States second-half problems were compounded by penalties that kept drives from settling in. For a team trying to build confidence in a new offensive approach, the encouraging stretches were real, but so was the cost of the breakdowns. [Read more 🡒]