PULLMAN - Washington State’s season has turned into a grind, but the Cougars keep finding reasons to show up and keep swinging.
The record says 1-7. The outside noise says plenty more.
WSU still hasn’t picked up its first FBS win, and after a loss to Boise State over the weekend, the criticism around the program has only grown louder. Yet inside the locker room, the message stays pretty simple: keep playing for each other, keep playing for the seniors, and keep building toward whatever comes next.
Trey Leckner has become one of the clearest examples of that mindset. The tight end said he used to take criticism hard when he was younger, back in high school at Glacier Peak in Snohomish. That’s changed over time, and he credits the path that brought him here.
He redshirted as a true freshman in 2023, started to emerge late the next season, and then won a starting job in 2025. He missed the first four games this year, his redshirt junior season, but when he’s been on the field, he’s looked like the same downfield threat that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place.
Against Boise State, he came through with a key fourth-down catch in WSU’s 31-10 loss. In four games this season, he has 12 receptions for 98 yards, including an 18-yard catch.
“I think just getting older and being in the locker room,” Leckner said earlier this week, “being around a lot of really good players, obviously through 2023 and on. Just picking their brain and having good mentors, whether it’s players or coaches. Just being around it for so long.”
That experience matters now more than ever for a team that has been through plenty this fall. Head coach Kirby Moore and the Cougars rolled past FCS Duquesne in mid-September, but since then they’ve dropped five straight.
WSU has also tried changing play-callers and quarterbacks. The offense has shown some improvement since Moore moved Caden Pinnick to Owen Eshelman at quarterback, but it still hasn’t translated into a win in the two games since the switch.
The one constant has been the public scrutiny. Because WSU carries a high-profile label, even in its new era in the reimagined Pac-12, the Cougars hear about every stumble. Players can sign up for the spotlight, especially in the NIL era, but that doesn’t make the criticism any easier to ignore.
So with a road trip to San Diego State up next, the obvious question is what keeps the group going when the season isn’t producing many rewards.
For Leckner, it comes down to the guys in the room.
“Regardless (of) what the prize is or whatever that we’re playing for, I want to win. I know all the guys in the locker room want to win, and the coaches want to win,” Leckner said.
“So I think just the will to win. I think we have all the seniors, all the seniors that are still playing.
We wanna send them out on a good note, and we wanna build momentum going into next year.”
WSU has 14 seniors on the roster, and several of them have been major contributors: linebacker Keith Brown, offensive linemen Jonny Lester and Jaylin Caldwell, receivers Daniel Blood and Darrius Clemons, defensive end Linus Zunk, defensive tackles Paul Hutson III and Damarjhe Lewis, tight end Jack Pedersen, and cornerbacks Khamari Terrell and Jalil Tucker.
That senior class is part of the reason the message from Monday’s media session was so consistent. Leckner, defensive end Matyus McLain and nickelback Jamarey Smith all said they’re pushing through the stretch run with those older players in mind. Brown, in particular, has become a focal point for that effort as he works through his sixth and final season of college football.
He has played 482 snaps this year, which ranks 12th in the country among linebackers and third in the Pac-12. He’s also been all over the field in WSU’s last two games, with 15 tackles against Oregon State and nine against Boise State.
“Playing for the guys, playing for the seniors,” McLain said. “This is their last four games ever, could be ever.
Playing for guys like Linus, Keith Brown. Gotta keep playing for those guys, and then just the guys in the locker room.
You just gotta keep playing for everybody around you.”
The bowl picture isn’t completely shut, even if it’s far-fetched. If WSU were to win out and finish 5-7, the Cougars could still sneak in if there aren’t enough 6-6 teams to fill bowl slots. They’d also need to satisfy Academic Progress Rate requirements, and even then, the program would still have to decide whether that path makes sense.
For now, though, the focus is much simpler: WSU has to beat an FBS opponent first. San Diego State awaits next, and the Cougars are underdogs again.
“No offense to you guys, but you guys, the media people aren’t in our corner like our coaches are, and like we are for each other,” McLain said. “So really leaning on the brotherhood and the people in this building for the support that you need throughout that is really what it is.”
Smith said the same thing in his own way.
“I kinda block it out,” Smith said. “I worry about just what we have going on in the building and preparing week-by-week.
Things that happened last week, to me, don’t really matter now. We’re on to San Diego State, bigger and better things.
So just trying to prepare for that and dominate each and every week.”
In Other News...
Washington States Road Test May Come Down To A Few Game Breakers
Washington State heads into its road trip to San Diego State with a pretty simple checklist: steal a possession, hit on a couple of explosives and keep the Aztecs from turning the game into a grind. The Cougars have leaned on playmakers in all three phases, with defensive back Jamarey Smith, wideout Brandan Ganashamoorthy and kicker Jack Stevens all in the mix as the kind of players who can tilt a tight game one snap at a time.
The matchup also brings a few specific pressure points into focus, starting with what San Diego State quarterback Stone Saunders has been doing lately and how the Cougars plan to force him into trouble. On special teams, Jaylon Hawkins is the return threat Washington State has to account for, which makes the hidden yardage battle just as important as anything the offense does. If the Cougars can make one or two game-breaking plays, the rest of the afternoon gets a lot more manageable. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State's New Pac-12 Push Hinges On Who Defines This Roster
David Riley has already been laying the groundwork for Washington States 2026-27 roster, sorting through the transfer portal and his wider contacts as the Cougars prepare for an important third season under him. With the reshaped Pac-12 changing the stakes around every program, WSUs early look at the team is less about finished products than about projection, with a tiered rundown of who should be in line for regular minutes and what each piece might mean once the season opener against Davidson arrives.
What stands out in that kind of preview is how much of the Cougars identity still depends on a handful of players settling into clear jobs. There are newcomers expected to claim major responsibilities alongside returning pieces, and the balance Riley strikes there will shape both the early rotation and the longer-term ceiling. For Washington State, the real question is not just who made the roster, but which players end up defining it when the games begin to count. [Read more 🡒]
Jimmy Rogers Is Testing Cougs Patience With His WSU Exit Explanation
Jimmy Rogers short run at Washington State is already getting a second look, and not just because it ended after 11 months. The former Cougars head coach recently revisited his exit, saying the job he stepped into was not the same one he believed he was being hired for, while also pointing to the upheaval around the athletics department during his time in Pullman.
The backdrop makes the story even harder to separate from the timing of his departure. Washington State has gone through significant leadership changes, with athletic director Anne McCoy fired and president Kirk Schulz retiring, and Rogers has now moved on to Iowa State after previously leading South Dakota State. What still hangs over the Cougars is the part of the story Rogers did not fully spell out, especially given the broader questions about how much of his decision was tied to what he believed was ahead when he took the job. [Read more 🡒]