- Cougs turn to Owen Eshelman at QB, Pinnick benched for Oregon State
PULLMAN – Six games into the season, Washington State is making a change at quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman will start WSU’s road game at Oregon State on Saturday, coach Kirby Moore said on Monday, replacing starter Caden Pinnick.
It’s a major shakeup for the Cougars’ offense, which has scored just four touchdowns in five FBS games this season, ranking as one of the country’s worst offenses in several categories. A transfer from UC Davis, Pinnick has thrown just three touchdowns against five interceptions, including just one FBS touchdown pass. He has lost seven total turnovers, including a fumble in a Friday road loss to Utah State.
“Caden understands that this is a team-first decision, and it’s about what’s doing best for the team moving into the second half of the season,” said Moore, who added that he made the decision on Saturday and informed each player on Monday morning. “Owen has been right there pushing the quarterback room for the past 10 months and has prepared like the starter, and done everything we’ve asked of him.”
A native of Norman, Oklahoma, Eshelman’s only college experience came earlier this season, playing two snaps in the final moments of a blowout win over FCS Duquesne. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds, Eshelman redshirted his true freshman season last fall. Now as a starter, he figures to provide the Cougars with a sharper passing attack and even some more mobility, which he showed during fall camp practices back in August.
A class of 2025 prospect out of Norman North High School, Eshelman played three seasons as the team’s starter, totaling 6,666 yards of total offense and 79 touchdowns in that span. As a senior, he threw for 2,507 yards and 29 touchdowns, plus 1,312 rushing yards and 19 scores on the ground, earning all-conference honors.
Eshelman, who also started three seasons on the basketball team, originally committed to FCS South Dakota State before flipping to WSU, following former coach Jimmy Rogers in that transition.
“There’s definitely some similarities in terms of playmaking ability,” Moore said, comparing the two QBs’ playstyles. “I think the big thing is we gotta continue to work on accuracy with the football, and when something’s there, we gotta take advantage of it and be more efficient on first and second down. Had opportunities there to drive in the red zone and didn’t take advantage of it, and then on third down, we gotta make sure we we do a good job of taking care of the football. And sometimes it’s OK to punt. We’ve had some turnovers in those situations the last few games that have put our defense in bad positions.”
The move was necessary for WSU (1-5, 0-2 Pac-12), whose offense had almost no life under Pinnick. In Friday’s game, Pinnick completed 23 of 36 passes for just 156 yards. He did not complete a single pass further than nine yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus, highlighting one of his main weaknesses: He either can’t or won’t stretch the field vertically.
Underscoring that reality is this statistic: Pinnick is one of three QBs in the country to attempt at least 150 passes and total less than 1,000 yards, which illustrates how little he was willing to move the ball downfield.
After six games, WSU’s offense has scored just 12.6 points per game, which ranks No. 133 of 138 FBS teams in the country. The Cougars are producing 236 yards per game, one spot up from dead last, and their 8.5 yards per completion also ranks one place better than last in the nation.
“Owen does a great job in the meeting room. He really does,” Moore said. “He’s a student of the game. He’s worked like heck throughout this offseason. He’s gonna continue to tackle that, and that’s gonna translate to the practice field throughout this week with more reps and more on his plate. Naturally, that’s play-to-play. Sometimes there’s checks with plays. Sometimes we’re calling and hauling. Sometimes there could be protection checks that are on the quarterback. But we feel very confident about Owen making all those decisions.”
Can Eshelman turn around WSU’s moribund offense on Saturday against Oregon State, which boasts the country’s best offense? The Cougars can probably count on better accuracy – in Friday’s game, Pinnick missed a wide open Leo Pulalasi, who could have scored on the play – and improved pocket presence. Pinnick has taken 11 QB-fault sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, tied for the most nationally.
Moore, who called plays for the first time in Friday’s game, might get better QB play this time around. Whether it leads to the Cougars’ first FBS win remains to be seen, but the program was due for a change.
“I think there’s not a lot of guys that could do what he does and he’s a very mentally strong person,” Norman North High coach Justin Jones told Sports Illustrated back in 2023. “He’s an ultimate competitor and I think him playing multiple sports and being an exceptional basketball player as well, he brings that to the game and gets some tough runs. … He takes a lick a lot and he just has a growth mindset and doesn’t worry about the previous play. Moves on to the next one and that’s why he’s having some success right now.”
Extra points
• Left tackle Ashton Tripp is day-to-day with an ankle injury he sustained against Utah State, Moore said. If Tripp can’t play against Oregon State, the Cougars will turn to Washington transfer Maximus McCree, who filled in when Tripp went down
• Safety Kyle Peterson and defensive ends Malachi Wrice and Michael Hughes will return to practice this week and will be game-time decisions against Oregon State, Moore said. Wrice has missed the past four games, Hughes has been out since the Apple Cup and Peterson has missed the past two contests
- Eshelman and WSU need the offense to show up if they want to beat Oregon State
PORTLAND – When he thinks back, Keith Brown can still remember the first time he started a game at the college level. This was five years ago, Washington State’s veteran linebacker recalls, back when he was playing for Oregon and the Ducks walked into Columbus to take on a top-five Ohio State club.
A true freshman, Brown made two tackles in that game, helping his Ducks upset the third-ranked Buckeyes.
“You’re just kinda excited when it happens,” Brown said earlier this week. “At least for me, when it happened for me, I felt like I was so prepared for the game that I wasn’t nervous. Owen’s a true competitor. He’s very locked in, so I’m sure it’s the same for him.”
That would be redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman, who is taking over at quarterback for WSU, which is set to take on Oregon State at 3 p.m. Saturday on USA Network in Corvallis, where the Beavers opened as 17.5-point favorites. It’ll be the first start for Eshelman, who is taking over for signal-caller Caden Pinnick, whose struggles in the passing game contributed in a big way to the Cougars’ floundering offense.
To help WSU (1-5, 0-2 Pac-12) earn its first FBS win of the year and end a three-game slide, Eshelman and the Cougars’ offense will have to be much better than they have been all year. The Cougs are averaging just 12.6 points per game, which is just seven spots up from last in the country, and their minus-6 turnover margin ranks No. 129, meaning only four other teams in the nation have a worse mark.
Those are all key reasons why WSU coach Kirby Moore decided to bench Pinnick and pivot to Eshelman, who has played just two snaps in his college career, which came in garbage time against FCS Duquesne earlier this season. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds, Eshelman’s best qualities center around his live arm and sharp accuracy, which could unlock a gear that WSU has yet to find in its offense.
A former three-star product of Norman North High in Oklahoma, Eshelman takes over at a tough spot for WSU. Off to their worst six-game start since 2010, the Cougars need a string of wins to save their bowl streak, which stands at 10 times in the last 11 full seasons. Moore has already made a couple changes to turn around this offense, including taking over playcalling duties ahead of his team’s previous game, a road loss to Utah State last weekend.
The only problem for the Cougars: They’re taking on a Beaver team that ranks among the hottest in the country. Thanks in large part to quarterback Braden Atkinson and freshman wideout Jesse Legree, Oregon State (4-2, 2-0) ranks fifth nationwide with 522 yards per game of total offense, coming off a 66-14 home dismantling of San Diego State. In short: The Beavs’ offense is electric, and the Cougs’ defense will get perhaps its tallest task of the season.
“He’s a really good player,” Moore said of Legree, who leads the country with 12 receiving touchdowns, including three apiece in his last two outings. “You see him with the ball in space, obviously taking the top off a number of times as well. I think it’s about playing team defense. Obviously, communication is gonna be really important: Where he’s at, whether he’s in the slot, whether he’s outside, left, right. The pass rush has to help out the coverage. The coverage has gotta help out the pass rush. I think Coach (Trent) Bray is doing a good job right now with our guys, making sure they’re all on the same page.”
It’s also a homecoming for Bray, an Oregon State alum who coached 11 years at his alma mater, including the full 2024 season and part of the 2025 campaign before being fired amid the Beavers’ 0-7 start to the season. In fact, the OSU connections on this WSU team number far more: Receiver Darrius Clemons and cornerback Jalil Tucker each transferred from Oregon State, true freshman Lance McGee was committed there before flipping to the Cougars and chief of staff Dan Van De Riet worked with the Beavers’ program in different capacities for 20 years.
Plus, this year, WSU and OSU won’t just be playing for bragging rights. The schools will also be playing for a new trophy, a new rivalry rock, which has yet to be named. The trophy isn’t official – it’s more of a fan and alumni-sponsored push than a school-sanctioned tradition – and the winner won’t hoist it at midfield like other trophies. But it does add a layer of intrigue to the WSU and OSU series, which will play installment No. 112 on Saturday afternoon.
“Hey,” Brown said earlier this week, “let’s go win the rock.”
To do that, the Cougars will have to find a way to slow down Atkinson and the Beavers’ offense, which nobody outside two Power 4 opponents have done so far. Atkinson, who ranks first nationwide with 376 passing yards per game, has tossed 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He’s thrown seven of his scores on deep passes, according to Pro Football Focus, highlighting the way he’s able to stretch the field.
It’s not exactly promising news for this WSU defense, which has played exceptionally well all season and kept the team in games, a remarkable feat in the face of the Cougs’ scuffling offense. But if the Cougars have shown one weakness on defense, it’s that they’re susceptible to allowing explosive plays, like a long touchdown pass against Utah State last weekend and a 75-yard touchdown rush against Kansas State last month.
Even if Bray and the Washington State defense can produce a few key stops, there’s also the matter of Eshelman and the WSU offense. Can the Cougs score enough to keep pace? In his first real college action, can Eshelman get it going through the air? Even if he throws an interception, though, his offense might be better for the bold approach. With Pinnick at the controls, WSU’s offense never looked capable of stretching the field.
Eshelman might have that capability. But it’s still a challenge for WSU, on both sides of the ball.
“There’s definitely some similarities in terms of playmaking ability,” Moore said, comparing Eshelman and Pinnick’s styles. “I think the big thing is we gotta continue to work on accuracy with the football, and when something’s there, we gotta take advantage of it and be more efficient on first and second down. Had opportunities there to drive in the red zone and didn’t take advantage of it, and then on third down, we gotta make sure we do a good job of taking care of the football. And sometimes it’s OK to punt. We’ve had some turnovers in those situations the last few games that have put our defense in bad positions.”
- Eshelman finds the end zone, but Beavers build a big lead
Key moments
Eshelman throws first career touchdown
2nd, 1:53 - OSU 27, WSU 10: Owen Eshelman finds Branden Ganashamoorthy open for a 40-yard touchdown.
Beavs score long TD
2nd, 3:59 - OSU 27, WSU 3: AJ Newberry takes a screen 88 yards for a touchdown.
Newberry is up to 159 scrimmage yards.
Beavers tack on another field goal
2nd, 7:38 - OSU 20, WSU 3: Ojeda adds a 46-yard field goal for Oregon State.
Cougars settle for field goal
2nd, 11:12 - OSU 17, WSU 3: Jack Stevens makes a 19-yard field goal after Washington State’s offense stalls near the goal line.
Beavers add on
1st, 1:23 - OSU 17, WSU 0: Caleb Ojeda makes a 48-yard field goal to extend Oregon State’s lead.
Legree makes his presence felt
1st, 4:46 - OSU 14, WSU 0: Star freshman receiver Jesse Legree explodes for a 90-yard touchdown reception.
Oregon State on the board first
1st, 7:13 - OSU 7, WSU 0: Jake Reichle dives into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. After a three-and-out on its first possession, Oregon State marches down the field for an 11-play scoring drive.
Pregame
With its season spiraling, Washington State football turns to redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman to replace Caden Pinnick at quarterback.
Eshelman and the Cougars (1-5) travel to face fellow Pac-12 Conference holdover Oregon State (4-2) on the road.
Both teams are on opposite trajectories.
Washington State is still in search of its first FBS and conference win of the season. Meanwhile, after putting a scare into Houston and Texas Tech, Oregon State has won four games in a row and is tied with Boise State for first in the conference.
The Cougars’ defense, though stout, will have its work cut out for it against star freshman receiver Jesse Legree.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. on USA Network.
Series history
Washington State holds a 58-49-3 advantage against Oregon State. The Pac-12 holdovers played twice last season, with the home team winning both matchups. The Beavers held on 10-7 at Reser Stadium on Nov. 1, 2025, before the Cougars won 32-8 four weeks later.
Notable stat
Oregon State freshman Jesse Legree has been held under 100 receiving yards zero times this season.
Game preview
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