- Three Quarterbacks Walk Into a Palouse Fall: Who Gets the Nod
PULLMAN — Since last winter, change has swept across Washington State’s program like a strong Palouse breeze, uprooting everyone from the head coach to assistants to players and other staffers. The Cougars hired replacements for everyone, ushering in a new era, now guided by head man Kirby Moore and his group of assistants.
Still, for the second straight year, this has stayed the same at WSU: The Cougars have something of a QB quandary early in the season.
A year ago, former coach Jimmy Rogers decided to bench Jaxon Potter for Zevi Eckhaus after three games. This fall, Moore has to decide what to do with quarterback Caden Pinnick, whose struggles have keyed his team’s slow 1-4 start: Stick with him for the team’s next game, a road contest against Utah State on Friday evening, or go with Julian Dugger or Owen Eshelman instead.
It’s a critical decision for WSU, whose sputtering offense ranks among the nation’s worst. The Cougars’ 11.8 points per game ranks No. 130 nationwide, their 27% third-down success rate is No. 133 and their 287 yards per game checks in at No. 133, all only a few spots up from last in the country. To get the most out of this season, the Cougs must make the right call at quarterback.
“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.”
“It really starts with the operational piece from an offensive standpoint,” Moore also said of his QB evaluations this week, “whether it’s a protection check, whether it’s something with a motion. Obviously the defense is game-planning just as much as us, so there’s times where, yes, there’s a first read in a progression, but there’s times where we gotta check the ball down. We can’t make a bad play worse. So that’s the big emphasis. It’s gotta start in practice. We’ll go through that process. That’ll determine what happens on Friday.”
Moore would always have had a say in this decision, but he will be more hands-on now, announcing Monday that he is taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller. An offensive-minded coach, Moore called plays from 2023-25 at Missouri, where he worked as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. He also worked the same role at Fresno State in 2022.
Fun fact about that season: The Bulldogs started 1-4, then rallied to make a bowl game, where they met… the Cougars. A key reason why Fresno State turned things around centered on the return of quarterback Jake Haener, whose talent helped the Bulldogs finish the regular season with eight straight wins.
Does WSU have a quarterback like that waiting in the wings? We’ll have to wait until Friday evening to find out. It’s possible Pinnick returns, but it’s also possible that Moore and Miller pivot to Dugger or Eshelman. Each QB is vastly different, so here’s an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each, plus why coaches might look their way.
Let’s start with the Cougars’ current QB1.
Caden Pinnick
Strengths: Short and intermediate throws, elusiveness, experience with the current roster, full season of FCS ball prior, play action throws, QB keepers
Weaknesses: Deep throws, pocket presence, decision-making, accuracy on longer passes to the sidelines, turnovers
Why coaches would stick with him: In simplest terms, Pinnick knows WSU’s offense best. He’s played five games with the team. He knows the playbook. He has rapport with everyone around him, from the offensive line to tight ends to receivers. If the Cougars value experience, which they clearly did when they decided to pursue Pinnick out of the transfer portal thanks to his standout year at FCS UC Davis, he’s still their man.
If Pinnick does start Friday’s game, it will likely be because coaches believe in his ability to correct his mistakes which he has done at times. He kept things clean in the second half of WSU’s win over FCS Duquesne last month, abstaining from the longer pass that resulted in an interception in the first half, and he looked sharp in the first half of the Cougars’ next game, a home loss to Arizona. When he’s been under control and decisive, Pinnick has been the best version of himself.
Why coaches would move away from him: Pinnick hasn’t exactly proven he can keep improving in a consistent way. He’s thrown an interception in all five games, and he’s lost six total turnovers, including a fumble against Arizona. He’s often put his offense in even tougher positions, whether because of bad decision-making or because he’s taking sacks — 18 of them so far, which ranks No. 129 of 138 FBS teams nationally.
Coaches might also consider Pinnick’s confidence level, and whether that would lend itself to winning a road game. Based on some of his pocket presence, bailing too early at times and sticking in there too long at others, he’s looked a bit uneven. That has compounded problems for an offense already mired in enough of them.
Owen Eshelman, redshirt freshman
Strengths: Arm talent, athleticism, ability to push the ball downfield
Weaknesses: Inexperience, hasn’t played with starters during season
Why coaches would go with him: Eshelman’s top strengths are exactly what WSU’s offense has been missing: An ability to stretch the field vertically and open up the deep passing game. His arm is not only wicked, but it’s also credible, which could force defenses to respect the Cougars’ deep passing game. That could open up their offense in a way it hasn’t yet, especially for their trio of running backs, who got just five carries in the second half against Fresno State.
Eshelman is also pretty athletic, showing off his ability to scramble during several fall camp practices in August. As a senior at Norman North High in Oklahoma, he tallied 1,312 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground.
It’s possible Eshelman could play with youthful energy too, spraying the ball over the field since he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. That could be useful in a tough spot.
Why coaches would stay away from him: Eshelman has not played a single snap of college football yet. He’s only in his second year at the college level, and while he did get plenty of reps with first-teamers during fall camp, he has no experience in game settings.
That’s a tough spot to put a redshirt freshman in: Jumping into action mid-season, on the road at night, tasked with taking down the Pac-12’s fourth-best defense. It’s also a lot of pressure to put on a 19-year-old: Hey, we know you’ve never played a snap of college football, but now it’s your job to revive a moribund offense. Good luck.
That could make things even worse for a struggling offense, and it could put even more pressure on this WSU defense, which has had to play heavy snaps in large part thanks to the offense’s woes.
Julian Dugger, redshirt sophomore
Strengths: Athleticism, running ability, experience
Weaknesses: Throwing accuracy, pocket presence and awareness
Why coaches would go with him: If WSU coaches decide they need a jolt of energy and athleticism at the QB spot, Dugger should be their guy. He’s one of the best athletes on the team, and certainly the best athlete in the QB room, a quick-twitch lefty who always poses a threat to scramble from the pocket and make a defender — or three — miss.
Dugger also has more experience than Eshelman. He started his career at Pittsburgh, when he started a bowl game, completing 7 of 13 passes for 72 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in that 2024 game. And in WSU’s bowl game win last year, Dugger came off the bench to complete 2 of 3 passes for 39 yards, plus a long 32-yard touchdown rush, showing off the speed and elusiveness that makes him so dangerous.
Widely regarded as a pure runner early in his WSU tenure, Dugger also showed some improved throwing accuracy during fall camp, using his lefty approach to connect with all kinds of targets. He was hardly perfect, and he missed several throws. But he looked better than he did in 2025.
Why coaches would stay away from him: Dugger would have to prove to Utah State’s defense that he can hurt them with his arm, which is not exactly a promising place for the Cougars’ offense to start from. He’s best as a runner, and while he has looked better throwing the ball, he doesn’t have a credible resume doing so in game settings.
For his career, Dugger has completed 9 of 19 passes for 111 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Perhaps even more problematic, one of the biggest flaws in Dugger’s game is his pocket presence. In fall camp, he took several sacks because he wasn’t aware of blitzers, and in a game setting, that could open up the door for more turnovers. He didn’t always look comfortable in the pocket.
Which is one of the bigger problems Pinnick is facing. Would the Cougars want to roll out a QB with similar issues as the guy they’ve started for five straight games? Dugger has a wealth of athleticism, which could spark this offense, but because of Dugger’s pocket presence difficulties, coaches would be rolling the dice in the same ways they have been with Pinnick.
- Who starts at QB for WSU could decide the Utah State game
LOGAN, Utah – When Friday night arrives at Maverik Stadium, Washington State players will gather in a tunnel, prepared to head out onto the field, ready to take on Utah State. The Cougars will go through all the same routines, the same rhythms, the same stretches and warmups and jumping jacks that they always do.
Then, when gametime gets closer, they’ll move over to their sideline and get ready for kickoff. Music will blare. Fans will clamor. The visitors will steel themselves to try and end a two-game losing skid.
That’s about where things will begin to look different for WSU.
Washington State is changing up a lot ahead of this game against Utah State, set for 6 p.m. Friday evening on the CW, and all eyes will be on its offense. Thanks to a lowly first five games on offense, head coach Kirby Moore is taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller. Moore will have a playsheet in his hand the entire time.
Will Moore make a change at quarterback? Will he pivot away from starter Caden Pinnick, who has lost six total turnovers, and start Owen Eshelman or Julian Dugger? One of those three quarterbacks will jog out onto the field for the Cougars’ first snaps of offense. How much will Moore’s oversight help the team turn things around, help WSU (1-4, 0-1 Pac-12) win what profiles as the most winnable game on its schedule the rest of the season?
To avoid letting Moore’s debut season slip away, the Cougars will have to take down the Aggies, who are also 1-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play. In coach Bronco Mendenhall’s second season, Utah State has looked even worse than WSU on offense, throwing a nation-worst 10 interceptions between quarterbacks Grady Brosterhous and McCae Hillstead. The Aggies’ offense is averaging just 13.3 points per game, a couple ticks better than the Cougs’ 11.8, the latter of which ranks nine spots up from last in the country.
That’s a key reason why on Monday Moore seemed to indicate he’s open to moving away from Pinnick, who has looked anything but sturdy in the pocket for the Cougars. He ranks first in the country with 10 QB-fault sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, which has spawned all kinds of other problems. This fall, WSU has a turnover margin of minus-5, which is No. 122 nationally.
“It really starts with the operational piece from an offensive standpoint,” Moore also said of his QB evaluations this week, “whether it’s a protection check, whether it’s something with a motion. Obviously the defense is game-planning just as much as us, so there’s times where, yes, there’s a first read in a progression, but there’s times where we gotta check the ball down. We can’t make a bad play worse. So that’s the big emphasis. It’s gotta start in practice. We’ll go through that process. That’ll determine what happens on Friday.”
Will this be the week WSU changes its QB? It might stand to reason that since the Cougars are changing one big thing about their offense, their playcaller, they could get a better read on Pinnick. But if Pinnick looks the same, still looks turnover-prone with Moore calling plays, perhaps the Cougs would feel more comfortable pivoting away from him at that point.
Regardless of which quarterback Moore and Miller decide on – Dugger has played sparingly in his one-plus seasons with WSU, while Eshelman has yet to take the field in any meaningful capacity – the Cougars get the challenge of facing an Aggie defense that ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing 25 points per game. In their one win of the season, they held Troy to just 10 points.
Which QB is best suited to take on that defense? It might depend on what the Cougars want at the position. If they feel most comfortable with the experience of Pinnick, who started all last season at FCS UC Davis, they might stick with him. If they want to stretch the field, they might go with Eshelman, who might have the best arm on the team. Or if they want a jolt of athleticism and playmaking on the ground, they might pivot to Dugger.
Either way, a lot rides on this game for WSU. If the Cougars can find a way to eke out a win, they could save their season and make bowl eligibility look somewhat possible. That would extend their bowl streak, which stands at 10 of the last 11 full seasons. If not, they’ll fall to 1-5, continuing the program’s worst start since 2010. At that point, bowl eligibility would be the least of the concerns for the Cougs, who would have to find something to salvage from a lost season.
Check out the next couple games on WSU’s schedule: Next weekend, it’s a road game against Oregon State, which has won three straight. Then the Cougars will host No. 23 Boise State, the Pac-12’s best team.
In that way, coaches would do well to make the right call at quarterback – but it will be interesting to see if they make any other personnel changes. After a loss last weekend to Fresno State, in which his team failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second time this season, Moore indicated that everything would be up for reevaluation with WSU’s offense. Could that extend beyond the quarterback position? Will it include the QB to begin with?
“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.”
The good news for WSU: The Cougars’ defense figures to feast on this Aggie offense, which has yet to find its footing. Brosterhous and Hillstead have taken a combined 17 sacks, which could mean a big day for WSU pass rushers like Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain, the latter of whom pocketed a half-sack and two tackles for loss last week against Fresno State. Look for the Cougs’ defense, which has played heroically the past several games, to defang a moribund Aggie offense.
But will that be enough to help WSU win its first game in Pac-12 play? That much might depend on who the Cougars roll out at quarterback.
“I think the best thing about football is that you watch the film, you put the game to bed, and then you have a new opportunity that week in order to move on,” tight end Jack Pedersen said. “At least from my point of view, that’s the biggest thing for me. Let’s get the next week going. Obviously, what happened, happened. Let’s get ready to go play Utah State. It’s gonna be a great opponent, and I think we’re all looking forward to it.”
- Moore takes over WSU playcalls, promises QB competition this week
PULLMAN – Washington State coach Kirby Moore will be calling the shots on offense moving forward.
Moore is taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller, Moore said Monday afternoon, making a big change as the Cougars’ offense struggles.
“I can’t wait to go to practice today,” said Moore, who called plays from 2023-25 at Missouri, where he worked as offensive coordinator. “Just look forward to, naturally, I’m gonna be on the offensive side the whole time. But with that, just working with our guys. They’re working their tail off, and we’re gonna put the best plan moving forward for Friday.”
It’s the first significant change Moore has made to remedy his team’s offense, which went without a touchdown in a 26-6 loss to Fresno State on Saturday evening. That was the second time the Cougars’ offense didn’t score a touchdown this season, a key reason why WSU (1-4) has started so slowly in Moore’s debut year, its offense ranking No. 133 of 138 FBS teams with just 247 yards per game.
The Cougars’ 19 points per game ranks No. 120 in the country. In four games against FBS competition this season, they have scored just three offensive touchdowns. They have eight total, which ranks No. 133 nationally, four spots up from last.
Miller, who Moore confirmed is still part of the WSU program, last worked at Boise State, where he served as wide receivers coach from 2020-24 and co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach in 2025. But Miller wasn’t calling plays for the Broncos last fall.
WSU has now lost nine turnovers on the season, including six from quarterback Caden Pinnick, who threw his fifth interception of the season in Saturday’s game. But it’s unclear which QB will take the field for WSU’s next game on Friday, a road test against Utah State: Pinnick, redshirt sophomore Julian Dugger or redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman.
Does that mean the Cougars’ QB situation is an open competition this week?
“Everyone’s gonna get reps,” Kirby 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.”
Moore did not rule out the possibility of playing multiple quarterbacks, saying that “is probably still to be determined.”
“It really starts with the operational piece from an offensive standpoint,” Moore said of his QB evaluations this week, “whether it’s a protection check, whether it’s something with a motion. Obviously the defense is game-planning just as much as us, so there’s times where, yes, there’s a first read in a progression, but there’s times where we gotta check the ball down. We can’t make a bad play worse. So that’s the big emphasis. It’s gotta start in practice. We’ll go through that process. That’ll determine what happens on Friday.”
Dugger, who started his career at Pittsburgh, has seen little playing time at WSU since arriving ahead of the 2025 season. He completed 2 of 6 passes in short stints last fall, but he got more run in WSU’s Potato Bowl win over Utah State last winter, at one point breaking free for a 32-yard touchdown run.
Coming out of fall camp, Dugger seemed to be the team’s No. 2 quarterback, using a combination of athleticism and improved throwing to make a strong impression.
In his second year at the college level, Eshelman has yet to see the field at WSU. He seemed to be the Cougars’ No. 3 quarterback out of fall camp, though it’s important to note that on WSU’s depth charts throughout the season, an “OR” designation has separated Dugger and Eshelman.
Moore also added that Miller will be “super involved in what we’re doing on offense,” Moore said. “We’ll have a ton of dialogue. This whole thing’s still gotta be super collaborative.”
The last time Miller called plays was in 2019, his final season at FCS Montana State, where he worked as offensive coordinator and receivers coach from 2018-19. He took over playcalling duties late in the 2018 season and in the 2019 season, which followed his 2016-17 stretch, when he worked as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
Moore and Miller first connected as players at Boise State, where they overlapped from 2010-13.
“I think everyone on our staff is pouring into their players,” Moore said, “and Caden, rightfully, yeah, there will be even more dialogue with Matt and focusing on those guys. We’ve got a number of other guys who work with the quarterbacks and the receivers, and we gotta throw the ball better to be successful.”
Under Miller and Moore’s watch, the Cougars’ offense has floundered. For the first time since 2008, WSU has gone two games in one season without an offensive touchdown, which underscores the way many of the Cougars’ problems have run together. They’re averaging 2.8 yards per rush, which ranks No. 128 nationally, and they lost another turnover on Saturday on a snap mishap between Pinnick and center Noah Dunham.
In Saturday’s game, WSU running backs Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi combined for 45 yards on 12 carries. In the second half, those numbers dropped significantly: Those three combined for just 13 yards on five carries. As a team, the Cougars posted negative-4 rushing yards in the second half.
In other news, WSU defensive ends Malachi Wrice and Mike Hughes are now considered “day-to-day” with injuries, Moore said. Wrice has missed the past three games, while Hughes hasn’t played since the Sept. 6 Apple Cup.
When healthy, those two have provided important depth behind defensive end starters Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain, the latter of whom turned in his best game of the season on Saturday against Fresno State, finishing with a half-sack and two tackles for loss.
