- Big Tripp, Big Job: Wazzu's O-Line Tries to Find Its Feet
PULLMAN – Ashton Tripp is a man of few words, a giant Washington State offensive lineman whose height belies his desire to chat. He’s been around the Cougars’ program for more than three years now, and in his second year starting at left tackle, he’s never been long on words.
So it follows that Tripp, a 6-foot-7 product of Kennewick, has been succinct in summarizing his WSU offense’s struggles so far.
“After watching the tape, I mean, it’s disappointing for sure,” Tripp said on Monday. “We gotta play 11 as one. I know it’s cliche, but that’s just how it’s gotta be. Here and there, it’s always one guy off, so we just gotta click.”
Much has been made of WSU’s offensive woes, the struggles from quarterback Caden Pinnick that have played an outsize role in his team’s 1-4 start to the season, especially his offense’s output of 11.8 points per game – No. 130 nationally. Headed into a Friday night matchup with Utah State, an evening kickoff in Logan, coach Kirby Moore is taking over playcalling duties to try and revive a moribund outfit.
Pinnick has shouldered much of the blame, and plenty has been deserved. He’s thrown an interception in all five games, and he’s lost six total turnovers, accounting for the majority of the Cougs’ nine total turnovers. On Monday, Moore seemed to indicate that he is open to making a change at that position, perhaps moving toward redshirt sophomore Julian Dugger or redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman.
“Everyone’s gonna get reps,” Moore said. “I think that’s the most important thing. Everyone’s gotta make the reps count. We’ll see where it’s at on Friday, and we’ll play ball.”
On the topic of WSU’s scuffling offense, here is a subplot that has gone a little understated: How has the Cougars’ offensive line played? Tripp has acquitted himself well, but things haven’t gone as smoothly on other parts of their front five, leading coaches to make a few personnel changes after WSU’s road loss to Kansas State last month.
In the three games since, coaches have rolled with this group: Tripp at left tackle, Jonny Lester at left guard, Noah Dunham at center, Nick Bakken at right guard and Jaylin Caldwell at right tackle. At the beginning of the season, Lester was playing right tackle, but after the K-State game, left guard Kyle Martin was benched, prompting Lester to move to left guard – where he started last season – and pulling Caldwell off the bench to play right tackle.
Could WSU make changes to that group? Moore has said that everything with the Cougars’ offense is up for reevaluation, which could open up the door for veteran tackle Maximus McCree, whose transfer was hailed as a key acquisition for WSU back in January. A former starter at Washington, he has yet to play a snap at WSU.
As currently constructed, how has WSU’s offensive line fared? In WSU’s 26-6 loss to Fresno State last weekend, Pinnick took five sacks, giving him 18 on the season, which ranks No. 129 of 138 FBS teams nationally. But interestingly, Pro Football Focus only dinged the Cougars’ offensive line for three of those, indicating that Pinnick was responsible for the other two. That would add up to the eye test, which has affirmed that Pinnick’s pocket presence ranks highly on his list of problems.
In fact, here’s a key trend to consider: PFF has a stat called QB-fault pressures, which are basically what they sound like. In simplest terms, these are sacks that PFF determines were the QB’s fault rather than the offensive line’s – he ran himself into pressure, held onto the ball too long, something of that sort.
Pinnick ranks first nationally with 10 QB-fault sacks.
That goes a long way in explaining some patterns, like his inability to make timely decisions and find the right balance of staying in the pocket too long and bailing too quickly. But to a certain degree, it absolves the Cougars’ offensive line of blame, revealing Pinnick to be more of a culprit for his own sacks than the men charged with protecting him.
But the Cougars’ front five haven’t been perfect, either. Dunham has been the least responsible for QB pressures, according to PFF, only 9% of the pressures Pinnick has faced coming from his assignments. That lines up with his season as a whole, earning the offensive line’s top pass-blocking grade (65.9) and only six pressures total.
Most of the pressure Pinnick has faced has come from the right side, with Bakken and Caldwell sharing about 22% each of pressures. Lester has the same rate, while the lowest belongs to Tripp, at just 17%.
What about run-blocking? Another reason the Cougars are struggling on offense is their lack of a credible running game. In the second half against Fresno State, tailbacks Maxwell Woods, Kirby Vorhees and Leo Pulalasi combined for just five carries. This week, Moore emphasized the need to incorporate them more into the Cougs’ offense.
The highest-graded run-blocker on the WSU offensive line is Lester, who has earned a grade of 74.6, well above average. Next is Caldwell at 61.1, while Bakken is at 60.1, Dunham is at 55.3 and Tripp checks in at the lowest grade with 51.6. It’s important to note that Lester, Dunham and Tripp were all recruited to play in a much different offense, much closer to the Air Raid of old than the approach these current Cougs are taking.
“It’s just all about us. I just keep coming back to it,” Tripp said. “We gotta just keep doing more. We gotta keep working, keep doing extra stuff, get the guys together, and we gotta start clicking.”
- Kirby Vorhees banged up for Fresno; Trey Leckner likely good to go
PULLMAN – Washington State might not be at full strength at the running back spot on Saturday.
That’s according to the first Pac-12 availability report, which listed tailback Kirby Vorhees as questionable, casting doubt on whether he’ll be able to play in WSU’s conference opener at home against Fresno State , set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. on USA Network.
Vorhees is dealing with an upper-body injury he sustained during practice this week, WSU coach Kirby Moore said, adding that Vorhees is “a little dinged up, but he’s done a good job getting back into practice. So we’re just working through that.”
Also on the availability report is the news that tight end Trey Leckner is probable, which would mark his season debut. He’s been out most of the year, missing all of spring ball and fall camp with a foot injury, which he reaggravated over the summer. It’s big news for the Cougars (1-3) and their offense, which has yet to find its footing against FBS competition.
A redshirt junior from Snohomish, Leckner started nine of 13 games last season, catching 24 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns, which tied for the third-most by a tight end in WSU single-season history. In 2024, he played in 12 games (two as a starter), reeling in three passes for 56 yards and one score.
Moore described Vorhees and Leckner as “gametime decisions,” as he did with cornerback Jalil Tucker, who started the Sept. 6 Apple Cup but has been out since with an injury he sustained in that game.
In other news from the availability report, linebacker Nylan Brown is expected to miss “a significant amount of time” with a foot injury, Moore said. That happened during WSU’s loss to Arizona last weekend, Moore said, when Brown played 12 snaps of special teams before going down with his injury.
Brown’s injury could end his season, Moore said, but he indicated that “we’re determining that right now.”
Brown has taken a reserve role at linebacker, where the team’s top options have emerged in starters Keith Brown and DJ Warner, plus key backup Isaiah Hung. Redshirt sophomore Gage Jones could see an expanded role as well, Moore said. Nylan Brown has played only 22 snaps of defense this season.
The rest of WSU’s availability report looks like this: Linebacker Jack Ellison is doubtful and safety Kyle Peterson is out, as are defensive ends Malachi Wrice and Mike Hughes. Wrice and Hughes’ absences could loom the largest for WSU, which has relied on starting pass rushers Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk for heavy snap counts – 184 each through four games.
The Cougars’ other options at defensive end include redshirt sophomore Ben Beatty, a key backup, as well as redshirt sophomore Fernando Lecuona Jr., who is light on experience.
In four games, Vorhees has totaled 36 carries for 210 yards and two touchdowns, the majority of that production coming from his 109-yard outing against FCS Duquesne, scoring a touchdown in that game. Most recently, in WSU’s loss to Arizona last weekend, Vorhees posted 39 yards on nine carries.
If Vorhees can’t play Saturday, expect more carries to go to WSU running back Maxwell Woods, who has looked sharp to open the season. He’s picked up 173 yards on 28 carries, a large majority of those numbers also coming in his team’s win over Duquesne, but he has looked shifty and elusive, no matter the opponent.
Fellow running back Leo Pulalasi could also play a key role if Vorhees can’t go, though Pulalasi hasn’t seen the same playing time that Woods has.
The rebuilt Pac-12 is in its first season of rolling out its availability report, following suit with the Power Four leagues of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
- Trey Leckner's return is suddenly a Saturday question for Cougs
PULLMAN – Washington State tight end Trey Leckner is on track to return earlier than anybody quite expected.
That’s the word from coach Kirby Moore, who said Monday that Leckner will be a game-time decision Saturday evening against Fresno State, adding that he “will be back full -go this week in practice.”
A likely starter if he were healthy, Leckner suffered a foot injury over the summer. At the beginning of the season, Moore said Leckner was expected to miss the first half of the season, which would have put his return a few more weeks away. But it appears Leckner has made quicker progress than anticipated.
Whenever he returns, Leckner figures to provide a nice boost to the Cougars’ offense, which is still finding its footing amid the team’s 1-3 start to the season. Leckner is the team’s best pass-catching tight end, which could help unlock a WSU offense that has lost seven total turnovers.
In Leckner’s absence, WSU’s starting tight end has been UCLA transfer Jack Pedersen, who has caught five passes for 20 yards and one touchdown, which came against FCS Duquesne.
“We wanna be able to utilize both those guys. Obviously, try and get our best players on the field on offense,” Moore said. “That’ll probably be determined how (Leckner) looks today, Tuesday, Wednesday with the big work days. But I think he’s really progressed from the previous week, last week, and so he’s definitely shown that in the past, and we’re excited to get him out there.”
A redshirt junior from Snohomish, Leckner started nine of 13 games last season, catching 24 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns, which tied for the third-most by a tight end in WSU single-season history. In 2024, he played in 12 games (two as a starter), reeling in three passes for 56 yards and one score.
Tucker remains questionable
Starting cornerback Jalil Tucker remains “game-to-game, day-to-day,” Moore said. Tucker has now missed three straight games after sustaining an injury in the Sept. 6 Apple Cup. A transfer from Oregon State, Tucker dressed and warmed up for each of the Cougars’ past two games, but he hasn’t been able to play.
In Tucker’s absence, WSU has tried a couple different approaches. Against Kansas State, the Cougars went with redshirt senior Kai Rapolla, who had a forgettable game, missing two tackles and allowing three catches on four targets. Against Duquesne and Arizona, they moved nickelback Jamarey Smith to cornerback and brought safety Jackquintin Bal off the bench, the latter of which turned out to be a great decision from WSU – Bal returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.
If Tucker can’t play Saturday against Fresno State, look for coaches to go with the same approach. They might even give more snaps to Bal, who played a career-high 67 snaps last weekend against Arizona, earning an expanded role in defensive coordinator Trent Bray’s unit. He also recorded nine tackles against Arizona, tops on the team and also Bal’s career-best.
“Just doing my 1/11th, trying to be myself and just try to be the best person I can be in my position,” Bal said after the Arizona game, “no matter if it’s boundary safety, field safety, just doing my part.”
Extra points• Moore seemed to stand by his decision to let 40 seconds tick off the clock at the end of Saturday’s first half against Arizona, when the Cougars had first-and-10 from the Wildcats’ 12-yard line. WSU got a field goal, but Moore explained that he didn’t want to give the ball back to Arizona QB Noah Fifita and his explosive offense.
“Whether we scored or we kicked a field goal too early, giving the ball back to that quarterback,” Moore said, “I did not think was in our best interest before the half.”
• How can the Cougars generate more explosive plays, which Moore has often expressed a need for, when those are the times QB Caden Pinnick has lost turnovers? Moore said this: “It’s definitely a balance. It’s dialogue during the week. If something’s there, if it’s not there, self-preservation, making sure we’re playing the next play. Every play has a life of its own, and we had some of that come up on Saturday.”
