- Boise State comes to Pullman for the first time since 2017
Greg Woods
gregw@spokesman.com
PULLMAN — Here is a first look at Washington State’s home game against No. 21 Boise State on Saturday afternoon.
What is it?
Still looking for its first FBS win of the season, WSU (1-6, 0-3) returns home for the first time in three weeks to host No. 21 Boise State (5-1, 2-0), which was idle last week. It’s the Cougars’ and Broncos’ first time meeting in Pullman since 2017, when the late Tyler Hilinski came off the bench to lead WSU to a triple-overtime win.
It’s a full-circle moment for WSU coach Kirby Moore, who played for the Broncos from 2009-2013, which is also when he met quarterbacks coach Matt Miller and formed many of the connections that he uses today.
Where is it?
Gesa Field in Pullman.
When is it?
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
Where can I watch it?
USA Network will broadcast the game.
Who is favored?
WSU opened as a 14-point underdog.
How did the Cougars fare last week?
In a 48-30 loss to Oregon State, WSU redshirt freshman quarterback Owen Eshelman got his first start, completing 32 of 49 passes for 289 yards, two touchdowns and one late interception in garbage time. He also racked up 136 rushing yards on 15 carries, sparking the Cougs’ offense to its most points against an FBS opponent all season, making coaches look wise for starting him and benching previous QB Caden Pinnick.
The Cougars’ offense looked much improved, at least in the passing game, but it wasn’t enough to upset the Beavers and their prolific offense. OSU QB Braden Atkinson piled up 347 passing yards and three touchdowns, including a 90-yard strike to freshman Jesse Legree and an 88-yard completion to receiver AJ Newberry, both of which came after the Cougars elected to punt on fourth-and-short near midfield — making Moore pay for his conservative approach.
After those plays, WSU couldn’t climb out of an early hole, trailing 17-0 before the visitors got on the scoreboard with a short field goal from kicker Jack Stevens. The Cougars pulled to within three scores on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Eshelman to receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who finished with career-highs in both receptions and receiving yards, but it was too little too late for Washington State.
“I would just say we lost there,” WSU cornerback Khamari Terrell said. “It wasn’t really we got beaten there. Just a little technical, little details. The look that we got and that they scored on, we’ve got multiple times in practice, just doing the little details. And the technique part, just staying on top and just executing there.”
Eshelman may have looked sharp on the ground, but it was another slow day for the WSU running back trio of Maxwell Woods, Kirby Vorhees and Leo Pulalasi, who combined for just 26 rushing yards on 13 carries. Against FBS opponents this year, they are averaging only 52 yards per game, a far cry from the elite trio they were projected to be headed into the season.
“The tailbacks need to be able to run the ball better, but that starts up front,” Moore said on Monday. “We gotta block better, and we gotta have our hands inside. We gotta win our one-on-one matchups. We gotta put the ball in the corner in the safeties, and then from a running back standpoint, we gotta make people miss as well. So it’s a combination of things there, but we gotta do a much better job.”
Scouting Boise State…
Under head coach Spencer Danielson and veteran quarterback Maddux Madsen, the Broncos have followed a season-opening loss to Oregon with five straight wins, most recently a 38-31 win over Fresno State on Oct. 10. That has landed Boise State squarely in the discussion for the College Football Playoff.
The strength of the Broncos’ team is their rushing attack, which is averaging 235 yards per game, ninth nationally and second in the Pac-12. Running back Dylan Riley ranks second in the country with 139 yards per game, totaling six touchdowns on the ground, and fellow tailback Sire Gaines has provided an additional three scores and 354 yards. Those two have spearheaded the Broncos’ offense all season.
In his third season as BSU’s full-time starting QB, Madsen has taken phenomenal care of the ball, throwing zero interceptions and 13 touchdowns. He’s completed 110 of 166 passes (66%) for 1,296 yards. He’s also only taken five sacks, an impressive feat from the Broncos’ offensive line, which has only been responsible for three sacks according to Pro Football Focus.
The Broncos’ ground game has become so dangerous in part because their running backs are hard to bring down. Riley has forced 28 missed tackles, according to PFF, which is second in the Pac-12. Gaines isn’t far behind, with 18. Combined with Madsen’s ability to avoid turnovers — BSU has lost only three turnovers, tied for second-fewest nationally — and you get a machine of an offense.
“They’ve got a really good front,” Moore said. “They have a good scheme. They’ve got good backs. They put the ball in the corner, and a lot of times the back makes the corner miss, whether it’s a move or he breaks a tackle, and both those guys, Sire Gaines as well. They both do a really good job with the ball in their hand.”
What happened last time?
In a 2024 matchup in Boise, former Bronco running back Ashton Jeanty ran ragged over the Cougars, piling up 259 yards and four touchdowns, boosting his Heisman Trophy case. The Cougars were within one score early in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos ran away with three straight touchdowns.
- The Ball is the Boss: Moore's First Pac-12 Test is About Holdin' On
PULLMAN — This week, as Washington State prepares to host its first Pac-12 game in nearly three years, the Cougars’ new head coach has to toe a tightrope like he’s walking over the Grand Canyon.
Kirby Moore has to find the right balance between these two ideas. One: Emphasize to quarterback Caden Pinnick, who has lost five turnovers in his first four games, the importance of holding onto the ball this weekend. Two: Don’t psyche him out and cause him to become gunshy.
That’s because when WSU and Fresno State kick off, set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the USA Network, the Cougars won’t just be trying to earn their first FBS win of the season. They’ll be taking on a Bulldog (3-1) team that has blossomed into one of the country’s best at generating turnovers, earning a plus-7 turnover margin, good for the sixth-best mark in the country.
That could be bad news for WSU, which is on the other end of that spectrum, checking in at No. 119 nationally with a turnover margin of minus-4. Moore’s team has committed seven turnovers in its 1-3 start to the season. That’s where Saturday’s game could turn: Can the Cougars avoid turnovers against a Bulldog team that could pounce on one of the hosts’ biggest weaknesses?
Which is where the balance Moore has to find comes in.
“I think it’s just trusting the play-the-play, and each play has life of its own,” said Moore, whose first FBS coaching job came at Fresno State, where he worked as receivers coach and offensive coordinator from 2017-22. “Obviously, we want to create explosive plays, and then with that, the defense has a say in the fight. So there’s times where, shoot, if they’ve got a good call or they execute a little bit better than us, it’s OK at times, whether it’s taking a sack or throwing the ball away. Obviously, we’ve gotta have great ball security by the runners as well. So all those things you talk about. There was some instances of it on Saturday, and we gotta learn from it and carry it over this week.”
WSU’s offense, which is still looking to find its footing against FBS competition, might not be at full strength Saturday evening. Running back Kirby Vorhees, who has started two games, will be a gametime decision thanks to an upper-body injury he sustained during practice this week. If Vorhees can’t play, it would deal a costly blow to the Cougs’ ground game, which has yet to hit 100 yards from running backs against FBS teams this fall.
There’s also good news for WSU on that front. Tight end Trey Leckner, who missed all of spring practices and fall camp with a foot injury, could make his season debut. He’s listed as probable on the Pac-12 availability report, and Moore also described him as a gametime decision. That would provide a nice boost for the Cougars, who would get their best pass-catching tight end back in the fold, which could unlock part of their offense that they have yet to get to.
That comes at a key time for WSU, whose season might not hinge on this home contest against Fresno State, but it might come close. The Cougars might be 1-3 on the year, but none of those games have counted against their standings in the Pac-12, meaning they could still get a headstart in conference play with a win. But if not, they would be staring at a 1-4 start to the season, putting their bowl streak — they’ve earned bowl eligibility in 10 of the last 11 full seasons — in serious jeopardy.
Besides, WSU has two road games coming up next, at Utah State and at Oregon State. However the Cougars fare here on Saturday evening, they have a tougher stretch on the horizon.
So how can the Cougars get Pac-12 play, which they haven’t participated in since knocking off Colorado in November 2023, started on the right note? They will have to take care of the ball. That starts with Pinnick, who threw an interception and lost a fumble in a loss to Arizona last week. He also threw another near-interception, which he avoided because the Wildcat defender bobbled it on his way out of bounds.
Pinnick will have to keep a close eye on Fresno State cornerback Simeon Harris, who already has three interceptions this season, underscoring why he earned some preseason votes for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He’ll also have to avoid putting the ball on the floor against Fresno State, which has also forced and recovered three fumbles.
“It’s definitely a balance,” Moore said earlier in the week. “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.”
On defense, WSU defensive coordinator Trent Bray’s unit will lead the way in trying to slow down Fresno State quarterback Jayden Mandal, who has completed 64% of his passes for six touchdowns against just one interception. Leading his club to wins over Sacramento State, San Jose State and Rice, Mandal and the Bulldogs have averaged nearly 38 points per game in their victories.
Running back Rayshon Luke, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, has looked just as dangerous. In Fresno State’s win over Rice last weekend, he piled up 167 rushing yards and a score on just 11 carries, highlighting the efficiency with which he’s operated.
“They’re a good football team,” Moore said. “I think you look at the number of wins they had last season, the tradition there. Those guys are going to come in expecting to win, and it’s shown up on offense, defense, the complementary football, special teams. They do it a very high level. John Baxter (special teams coach) does a really good job, so it’s gonna be a great challenge for us on Saturday night.”
- 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.”
