Washington State’s 2026 roster doesn’t come with a traditional depth chart this week, but the numbers still tell a pretty revealing story. The biggest takeaway: there’s turnover, just not nearly as much as there was a year ago.
The Cougars have 50 new faces on the 2026 roster. That’s still a lot, but it’s a noticeable drop from the 75 Jimmy Rogers and his staff brought in for the 2025 season. Continuity remains a relative term in Pullman, yet this group is at least carrying a little more of last year’s foundation.
A few of the other roster markers stand out. WSU has 41 players who transferred from a 4-year school, including 29 who are new arrivals from 4-year programs.
The Cougars also returned 21 players who earned a varsity letter in 2025. On top of that, 14 players on the roster came from Power-5 schools this past offseason.
The offense is where the continuity really shows. WSU brings back four starters, and all four are on that side of the ball: wide receiver Tony Freeman, right tackle Jonny Lester, left tackle Ashton Tripp and running back Kirby Vorhees.
There’s also a strong academic note tucked into the roster. Seven Cougars will play this season after already graduating from college.
That group includes LB Keith Brown, TE Hudson Cedarland, LB Gavin Fugate and OT Jonny Lester, all of whom earned degrees of their own. Brown finished in Social Sciences, Cedarland in Management, Fugate in Sports Management and Lester in Biology.
The rest of that group includes DT Damarjhe Lewis, who earned a degree in Consumer Science from Purdue, TE Jack Pedersen, who graduated with a degree in Political Science from UCLA, and DE Linus Zunk, who majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt.
There’s no shortage of familiar names and cross-traffic between Washington State and Washington, either. WSU head man Kirby Moore worked as a graduate assistant at UW in 2015 and 2016, while tight ends coach Derham Cato coached tight ends for the Huskies in 2020 and 2021. OT Maximus McCree also spent 2024 and 2025 at UW.
The other side has its share of Cougar ties as well. UW AD Pat Chun was at WSU from 2018-24 before heading to Montlake. Linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah played at WSU from 2022 through 2024, linebackers coach Brian Odom served as a defensive quality control coach at WSU in 2015 and 2016, and John Richardson coached the Cougars’ cornerbacks in 2020 and part of 2021.
As for what WSU is chasing on the field, the program is still looking for its first road win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 19 Wisconsin 17-14 in 2022.
The Cougars also haven’t opened a season with a ranked road win since 1994, when they beat No. 21 Illinois in Chicago.
They did it before that in 1977, when they stunned No. 15 Nebraska.
Last season, Washington State came close twice on the road against ranked teams and walked away empty-handed both times, falling to No. 18 Virginia 22-20 and No.
4 Ole Miss 24-21. The Cougars also lost on the road to No.
25 Boise State in 2024 and dropped the Holiday Bowl to No. 21 Syracuse later that year.
The last time WSU knocked off a ranked team came in September 2023, when it beat No. 23 Oregon State 38-35 in Pullman.
In Other News...
Washington State Just Got A Rare College GameDay Honor
College GameDay marked its 500th on-the-road episode during the 2026 season opener with a familiar piece of Washington State history front and center. Host Rece Davis used the milestone broadcast to unveil the College GameDay Hall of Fan, and the first induction went to Ol' Crimson, the Cougars flag that has become one of the show's most recognizable traditions.
For Washington State fans, it was the kind of nod that carries real meaning because Ol' Crimson's run has stretched across more than two decades and well over 300 episodes. The flag has turned up in all sorts of places over the years, and its long journey eventually included a 2018 stop on the Washington State campus, making this latest honor feel like a full-circle moment for a program that has long claimed the flag as its own. [Read more 🡒]
Apple Cup Tradition Just Took A Hit WSU Fans Will Notice
The Apple Cup carried a different feel this year, and Washington State fans noticed it before the second half even got underway. The Cougars band did not take part in the halftime show, breaking a long-standing tradition that has been part of the rivalrys rhythm for years. Washington State officials said the change came down to logistical and experiential concerns, while both schools have been dealing with the practical realities of moving a full band to a road game in an increasingly expensive college sports landscape.
Washington pointed to Big Ten conference rules and cost considerations as part of the explanation, underscoring how much even a classic rivalry has to bend to modern travel and budget constraints. Both schools have acknowledged the financial and operational strain around band travel and placement at games, but the absence of Washington States band was still a noticeable shift for a matchup built on pageantry as much as points. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Apple Cup Upset Hopes Rest On One Tough Balancing Act
Washington State heads into the Apple Cup needing more than just emotion and rivalry energy to make this thing interesting. The Cougars have to find a way to bother Demond Williams Jr. enough to keep Washington from settling in, and that starts with a defensive front that has to make life difficult across the line of scrimmage. At the same time, WSU cannot let this turn into a one-sided pressure game on its own quarterback, because the Cougars will need enough of a running presence to keep the offense balanced and give Caden Pinnick some room to operate.
Pinnicks assignment is just as tricky in a setting that rarely forgives hesitation. Washingtons defense brings enough strength to make the Cougars work for every clean look, and the atmosphere at Husky Stadium adds another layer for a quarterback still trying to settle in. For WSU, the formula is simple to describe and hard to pull off: create enough disruption on one side, avoid getting overwhelmed on the other, and hope the game stays close long enough for the upset talk to feel real. [Read more 🡒]