- Moore puts it plain after Cougs let early lead slip in Pullman
PULLMAN – Not 10 seconds had passed after Kirby Moore sat down at the podium, ready to discuss his Washington State team’s 34-24 loss to Arizona on Saturday evening, when he summed things up pretty succinctly.
“This should hurt,” Moore said.
That it did for the Cougars, who took an early two-score lead only for it to evaporate in the second half, when the Wildcats outpaced the hosts to the tune of 20-7. Quarterback Caden Pinnick played an OK game, but he also lost two more turnovers, giving him five on the season. And if it weren’t for an Arizona defender falling down in the fourth quarter, WSU would have netted just one offensive touchdown, which came on its opening series.
Here are five thoughts on this WSU loss, which dropped the group to 1-3 to open Moore’s debut season.
1. DE Linus Zunk turns in sharp game
It had been a quiet two games for Vanderbilt transfer Linus Zunk, one half of the pass rush duo that figured to take WSU’s defense from staunch to scary. After turning in four pressures in the season-opening Apple Cup, Zunk went on to have a muted impact in the Cougars’ next three games, posting zero pressures against Kansas State and two against FCS Duquesne.
That changed on Saturday, when Zunk registered his first sack in a WSU uniform, finishing with two pressures total, according to Pro Football Focus. That may sound like a relatively unremarkable day, but think back to WSU safety Jackquintin Bal’s pick-six in the first quarter. Part of the reason Arizona QB Noah Fifita threw such an errant pass, it seemed, was because Zunk produced enough penetration to get a hand in Fifita’s face at the last second.
For the season, Zunk now has eight QB pressures, tied with his pass-rushing partner, Matyus McLain, for the team lead. Zunk has also earned a PFF defensive grade of 70.5, which ranks second among all Cougars playing meaningful snap counts. That’s just about what WSU was looking for from Zunk when coaches recruited him out of the transfer portal.
2. WSU must improve end-of-half operations
For the second straight week, WSU coaches bungled an end-of-half opportunity, missing out on a chance to score a touchdown before halftime. In Saturday’s game, a bevy of things went the Cougars’ way: A late-hit penalty on Arizona, then a pass-interference penalty on Arizona and, three plays later, another 15-yard penalty against the Wildcats. Also sandwiched in there, Pinnick got away with a bad decision to loft the ball downfield – more on that later – because an Arizona defender bobbled an easy interception on his way out of bounds.
That set WSU up with this dream scenario: first-and-10 from the Arizona 12, the game clock at 1:18, which is tons of time. But after running their first play, a QB keeper for Pinnick, they let the clock run down, all the way from 1:15 to 33 seconds, before calling a timeout.
The reasoning remains unclear. The Cougars could have done all kinds of things with that time: run another play, called a quick timeout, you name it. Instead, they cost themselves 40 seconds doing nothing. They paid for it. One play later, Pinnick was sacked, and then on a screen play on third-and-12, Pinnick’s pass was wide of receiver Tank Hawkins Jr., forcing him to retreat and take a loss.
WSU did get points out of that drive, a field goal from struggling kicker Jack Stevens, but the Cougars certainly left something to be desired. To their credit, they did make an effort to move the ball down the field in this 2-minute situation, which they didn’t attempt last week against one of the FCS ranks’ worst defenses.
But considering the array of plays that went WSU’s way in this situation, it stands to reason the Cougars could have gotten a lot more out of that spot.
3. Cougars must clean up their special teams unit as a whole
In this game, Stevens will get dinged for a missed field goal, his fifth in four games. He has been far from perfect, but this one wasn’t his fault. On the play, offensive lineman Jaylin Caldwell failed to really block anyone, letting Arizona defender Tre Smith come through mostly unblocked and get a hand on the ball, knocking it away.
That sowed another seed of doubt in this WSU special teams unit, even with Stevens back improving, which seems to be the case after he nailed a 33-yard field goal later in the game.
In the third quarter, after another forgettable series on offense, WSU punted it back to Arizona. Wildcat receiver Caleb Smith fielded it at his own 30, darted around defenders and scampered upfield, all the way to the Cougars 31, where he was dragged down. It was a 39-yard return, setting up the Wildcats deep in Cougar territory.
It’s not the first time that’s happened to WSU’s punt coverage team. In a road game against Kansas State earlier this month, the Cougars gave up a 62-yard return, which the purple Wildcats turned into a touchdown two plays later. WSU special teams coordinator Derek Sage, who also coaches receivers, hasn’t been able to get much consistency out of that group early in the season.
The only bright spot on WSU’s special teams group has been punter Max Dean, who battled migraines in Saturday’s game to record five punts for 200 total yards, an average of 40 yards. He’s now averaging 45.2 yards per punt, which ranks No. 14 in the country.
4. Pinnick played a solid short game, but he’s shown weaknesses trying to extend plays
In Saturday’s game, Pinnick was at his best completing passes of short-to-intermediate length, tracking with patterns that have surfaced so far this fall. On passes between zero and 9 yards, Pinnick completed 18 of 21 throws, which is an elite percentage of 85%. Credit WSU coaches for putting him in those situations to make his best throws.
But Pinnick now has five turnovers, and many have come when he’s tried to extend plays and do more. Early against Arizona, Pinnick scrambled out of the pocket and flung a pass downfield, where it was easily intercepted by a Wildcat defender. He might not have seen the double coverage in the sun.
Then, in the third quarter, he was facing heavy pressure when he tried to get the ball out. He tried to do so too late, and he lost the ball as he was throwing it, resulting in another turnover for WSU, which has committed seven total this fall. Toss in another iffy decision from Pinnick, on that near-interception in the second frame, and it could have grown to eight.
“We’re all in this together,” Moore said. “So it starts with me, obviously the offensive staff. Just having that dialogue with him, whether it’s in practice on the headset, reminders, making sure he knows exactly the stipulations, or even there on the third down. We ran the quarterback, he slides. That’s an unfortunate one. It’s a QB designed run, and so we got to make sure he’s on the same page with that.”
5. WSU must get more from its running backs
Here are the numbers from Cougar running backs against FBS competition: 50 carries for 169 yards, which comes out to 3.38 yards per carry. Tailbacks Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi were seen as a formidable trio headed into this season, but with the exception of a brilliant day against FCS Duquesne last weekend, they haven’t generated the production to match.
Things figure to get a little easier for WSU next week, when Fresno State comes to town, kicking off Pac-12 play. Those are the games in which we can begin to judge this WSU team in earnest. But against FBS teams, the Cougars’ ground game hasn’t been compelling just yet.
- Another Late Night Letdown as Cougs Can't Finish the Job at Gesa
PULLMAN — Linebacker Keith Brown lowered his head and raised his fist, another third-down stop firmly in his Washington State team’s grasp. It was getting late in Saturday night’s affair, a legacy Pac-12 matchup between WSU and Arizona at Gesa Field, and the Cougars had just forced their guests into a short field goal. Music blared. Fans bellowed.
Could the Cougs’ offense, now down seven points, take advantage?
WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick and his unit certainly made things interesting, scoring on a long touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough for the Cougars to avoid a 34-24 loss to the Wildcats, who iced this win with a long field goal with about two minutes to play.
All things considered, it was the best effort of the season for WSU, which concludes nonconference play with the 1-3 record it was expected to, but Arizona won the second half, 20-7. Pinnick completed 24 of 41 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and one interception for WSU, which scored twice outside of its opening series, a field goal from kicker Jack Stevens and a touchdown pass from Pinnick to receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who took advantage of an Arizona defender who had fallen down.
Pinnick also lost a fumble, giving him five turnovers in his first four games at WSU. The Cougars have now lost seven total turnovers this fall, a key reason behind many of the struggles of offensive coordinator Matt Miller’s unit.
The Cougars, who managed 154 total yards in the second half, still had a chance in the fourth quarter. At one point, Arizona scored on three straight drives to take a 31-17 advantage, seemingly putting the game away. But about halfway through the frame, Pinnick dropped back and spotted Ganashamoorthy, who sprung open thanks to a stumble from his defender. The Cougs drew within seven with seven minutes to play.
But with a chance to get a stop and give their offense the ball back, the Cougars’ defense couldn’t push the Wildcats out of field goal range for kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, who nailed one from 51 yards. That gave Arizona the final margin with a shade under two minutes to play.
All told, the Cougars were undone by their offense’s inability to adjust to the Wildcats’ pass rush. For the game, Pinnick took three sacks, giving him 10 on the season. WSU also managed just 94 rushing yards, and if you pare that down to production from running backs, the number drops to 59. In the end, the Cougars ran out of answers on that side of the ball.
WSU looked sharp to open the game, capping a flawless opening drive with an 11-yard touchdown rush from Pinnick, who looked to be in control of his offense. Then moments later, transfer safety Jackquintin Ball jumped in front of a pass from Arizona QB Noah Fifita and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown, giving his team a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. Gesa Field roared its approval.
From there, though, WSU couldn’t generate the same level of production. Fifita — who completed 22 of 36 passes for 297 yards, four touchdowns and the one interception — easily led the Wildcats to back-to-back touchdown drives to tie the game back up at 14-14. His favorite target was receiver Tre Spivey, who hauled in both of those scoring passes en route to a big night: Seven catches for 129 yards and the two scores.
It was a forgettable night for the Cougars’ secondary, which was gashed for seven passes of 15-plus yards, including a 44-yard completion and a 41-yarder. WSU safety Jaylen Thomas has blossomed into one of his group’s best players, but chalk this one up as a learning moment for the redshirt sophomore.
In this one, WSU kicker Jack Stevens made his first field goal since the Sept. 6 Apple Cup, cashing in from 33 yards. But thanks to shoddy blocking on his first attempt, he missed one earlier, making him 2-for-7 on the year.
WSU returns to action next Saturday for the beginning of Pac-12 play, hosting Fresno State. It’ll be the teams’ first meeting in Pullman since 1994.
BOX SCORE
First quarter
9:57 - WSU 7, ARIZ 0: Caden Pinnick keeps the ball and rushes for an 11-yard touchdown.
Pinnick totaled 51 passing yards on the Cougars’ opening drive.
2:57 - WSU 7, ARIZ 0: Pinnick is flushed out of the pocket and is intercepted by Cam Chapa on an attempt deep down the field.
2:05 - WSU 14, ARIZ 0: Cougars take the ball right back as Jackquintin Bal intercepts Noah Fifita and runs 25 yards for a touchdown.
0:08 - WSU 14, ARIZ 7: Tre Spivey lunges for the end zone to complete a 28-yard touchdown reception.
Spivey had a 44-yard reception earlier in the drive and is up to 103 yards.
Second quarter
7:42 - WSU 14, ARIZ 14: Fifita finds Spivey for a 4-yard touchdown to even the game after the PAT.
Spivey now has six catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
3:36 - WSU 14, ARIZ 14: Jack Stevens’ 39-yard field goal attempt is blocked.
Arizona takes over at its own 21.
0:22 - WSU 17, ARIZ 14: Stevens makes a 33-yard field goal to give Washington State the lead right before halftime.
Halftime
Washington State, playing as underdogs, holds a 17-14 lead over visiting Arizona.
The Cougars built a 14-0 lead behind a rushing touchdown from Pinnick and an interception returned for a touchdown.
The Wildcats rallied to tie the game due in large part to the performance of Tre Spivey. The Arizona wide receiver has 125 yards and two touchdowns so far.
Jack Stevens shook off a blocked field goal earlier in the half to make a 33-yarder, giving WSU the lead back.
Third quarter
8:16 - WSU 17, ARIZ 14: Pinnick fumbles while being sacked and the Wildcats recover at the Cougars’ 32.
6:09 - WSU 17, ARIZ 14: Arizona kicker Michael Medina has a 43-yard field goal attempt blocked by Damarjhe Lewis.
4:02 - ARIZ 21, WSU 17: Arizona grabs its first lead of the game when Fifita finds Caleb Smith for a 38-yard touchdown.
Fourth quarter
12:49 - ARIZ 24, WSU 17: Medina makes a 27-yard field goal to extend Arizona’s lead.
9:07 - ARIZ 31, WSU 17: Isaiah Mizell comes down with an 11-yard touchdown reception.
Fifita is up to 288 yards and four touchdown passes.
7:15 - ARIZ 31, WSU 24: Pinnick burns Arizona’s blitz and finds Branden Ganashamoorthy wide open for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
1:57 - ARIZ 34, WSU 24: Medina makes a 51-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a two-possession lead.
Pregame
Washington State will engage in some nostalgia this weekend, hosting fellow Pac-12 legacy program Arizona.
Senior quarterback Noah Fifita and the Wildcats are 2-1 this season. Arizona has comfortable wins against Northern Arizona (35-7) and Northern Illinois (42-17), but lost an early-season test against ninth-ranked BYU (28-17).
The Cougars (1-2) are fresh off their first win of the season, a second-half domination of Duquesne 48-7. They will try to carry that momentum into a primetime game against Arizona, the Cougars’ final tuneup before Pac-12 Conference play starts on Oct. 3.
For Washington State to find success, quarterback Caden Pinnick will have to execute against Arizona, especially from play-action. Paul Hutson and the rest of Washington State’s defense will try to slow down Fifita and the rest of Arizona’s offense.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. on CBS.
Series history
Washington State is 19-28 all-time against Arizona. The Wildcats won the last matchup 44-6 in Pullman on Oct. 14, 2023.
Notable stat
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita has faced pressure in the pocket on 23% of plays. Fifita has completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards and one interception in pressure situations so far this season.
Game preview
More on the Cougs
- Moore's offense showed some pulse, but the Cougs still left plays on the field
PULLMAN – The beginning of this Washington State season, the gauntlet the Cougars would see to open the Kirby Moore era, was always going to be difficult to parse. They faced three Power 4 teams in their first four games. Two were on the road. One came on a short week.
The Cougars were expected to come away from that stretch with one win and three losses. Thanks to a 34-24 setback to Arizona here on Saturday evening, WSU has fulfilled that much, which is not an indictment on these Cougars. But it does bring up the question that may define the rest of this season.
How many of the problems WSU’s offense is facing are a product of the stiff competition, and how many are the product of self-inflicted wounds that the Cougars would commit against the Pac-12 foes coming up?
We won’t know that much until conference play arrives when WSU hosts Fresno State next weekend, but the early returns on the Cougars’ offense are far from encouraging. Think about this stat, which is now official after Saturday’s game: In three games against FBS competition, WSU has produced three offensive touchdowns and committed six turnovers. The Cougars have lost seven total.
Moore’s team was expected to lose the games it has. It’s the way the Cougs’ offense is costing the team, though, that raises cause for concern.
“We gotta make sure we have a plan that everyone’s on the same page,” Moore said, “going from the half to the third quarter, especially in a tight game like that where our defense is battling, and we gotta find more ways to create explosive plays. We had them in the first quarter, in the first half, and had opportunities there to score even more. And then in the second half, we didn’t. So we gotta look at the film and see where we went wrong.”
In this one, WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick completed 24 of 41 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which came in the first quarter. If an Arizona defender hadn’t bobbled the ball later in the first half, Pinnick would have thrown two. Those were two costly decisions. Consider the other turnover Pinnick lost, a fumble that happened because he tried to throw the ball while being dragged down, and you start to see some of the poor decision-making that has led to Pinnick’s total turnover number this fall: four.
The reason that trend looms large for WSU: Pinnick is committing turnovers because of listless decisions, not because Power 4 athletes are making spectacular plays. Remember his interception last week against FCS Duquesne, when he threw into what became triple coverage downfield? Those are the kinds of poor decisions that have created such a gaping hole in the Cougars’ offense.
It would be one thing if Pinnick was playing a solid brand of football and a freak Power 4 defender, the kind that Arizona and Kansas State can afford, used his strength to jar the ball loose. That would be forgivable. But that’s not what’s happening. It may be Pinnick’s first season of FBS ball, but he has been too slow to differentiate a good decision from a bad one, especially when he’s looking to stretch the field vertically.
That raises a fair question: How can WSU coaches help Pinnick avoid those kinds of turnovers? How can they help Pinnick make better decisions, like in the third quarter, when he slid and gave himself up one yard short of a first down?
“We’re all in this together,” Moore said. “So it starts with me, obviously the offensive staff. Just having that dialogue with him, whether it’s in practice on the headset, reminders, making sure he knows exactly the stipulations, or even there on the third down. We ran the quarterback, he slides. That’s an unfortunate one. It’s a QB-designed run, and so we got to make sure he’s on the same page with that.”
The other problem the Cougars are facing is consistency. Their first drive in Saturday’s game, an 11-play, 71-yard scoring series, was nearly flawless. It ended when Pinnick took a QB keeper 11 yards into the end zone, following a string of perfect blocks, capping a perfect series. If that’s the way the Cougs were going to play in this one, well, the Wildcats should have been on their heels.
But WSU’s offense hardly looked the same after that. In the third quarter, the Cougs put up these numbers: 3 points, 149 total yards, 44 rushing yards, two three-and-outs, four punts and three sacks taken, giving Pinnick 10 sacks taken on the season. That opened the door for Arizona to turn a three-point deficit into a four-point lead, adding two more scoring drives in the fourth frame.
The Cougs can rebound from this. They showed what their offense can look like on that first series, and by showing an increased willingness to take shorter throws, Pinnick looks more than capable of making adjustments. But the biggest one he’ll have to make to avoid meeting the same fate against Pac-12 teams is more about trimming things out of his game.
He’ll have to make better decisions, better calls on when to try to stretch the ball down the field and when to be OK with checking it down. Fresno State’s defense figures to give him more opportunities to show that kind of acumen. But it’s on Pinnick, Moore and offensive coordinator Matt Miller to put themselves in a position where those changes don’t become just possible, they become probable.
“Give Arizona credit; they have a unique scheme,” Moore said. “So there was different variations of zone, whether it was inside, outside. Obviously, the quarterback pin-pull there we scored on in the first quarter. So there were some ID things there. Give them a ton of credit with how fast and hard those guys played. But we gotta have an answer as well with protecting the quarterback and having some more opportunities in the pass game.”
