Cougar football
Cougar football at Wazzu is a file of 56 stories. The newest of them: “The offense is MIA and Pullman is letting the Cougs hear it”, “Boo birds hit Gesa Field as WSU offense goes quiet again”, and “Moore's homecoming was nice, but WSU's offense is now the problem”. The boo birds hit Gesa Field early Saturday night, and honestly? The boo birds don't usually show up early at Gesa Field. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Cougar football story on Wazzu, newest first.
The offense is MIA and Pullman is letting the Cougs hear it
The boo birds hit Gesa Field early Saturday night, and honestly? Fair. Three feeble drives to open the game. Three punts. A home crowd that drove hours, some from across the state, some from across the country, sat through it and let the Cougs hear it. That crowd is the hardiest bunch in college football. They don't deserve this. Here's the part that stings: this was supposed to be the payoff. When the Pac-12 collapsed and WSU got shoved into the wilderness, the silver lining was always the rebuild. A conference WSU and Oregon State built together. A level playing field. A chance to be a lead school instead of the smallest fish in the biggest pond. Saturday was the formal kickoff of that rebuilt Pac-12. The Cougars are now 0-1 in a conference they helped create. And they looked ready to settle into a familiar spot in the standings. Fresno State might be decent. They came in 3-1. But I can't sell that. This isn't Pat Hill's Fresno State. This is a team WSU was favored against, and the only offense the Cougars have is a kicker finally finding his range. Meanwhile, Oregon State looks great. Freshman receiver Jessee Legree has nine touchdowns, three times more than every WSU receiver combined. The Beavers are building something in Corvallis. What does Pullman have to offer? Playing time and fans who are almost hoarse from booing. There's no structural excuse for this. WSU made bowl games in both wilderness years.
Boo birds hit Gesa Field as WSU offense goes quiet again
The boo birds don't usually show up early at Gesa Field. Saturday night, they were out before halftime, and you couldn't blame them. Washington State just laid a 26-6 egg against Fresno State in the opener of the rebuilt Pac-12, and it wasn't the kind of loss you can shrug off. It was the kind where you start checking the record books to see if you've hit a new low. The Cougars managed 182 total yards. Six three-and-outs. Three-for-14 on third down. Two turnovers. Three offensive touchdowns in four games against FBS competition. That's not a slump, that's a pattern, and the crowd let Kirby Moore and everyone else hear it. Caden Pinnick threw for 152 yards and an interception, took seven sacks, and looked like a quarterback who couldn't find an answer no matter where he looked. The running backs combined for 45 yards. The receivers ran routes short of the sticks. It was the kind of offensive showing that makes you miss the Air Raid days, when at least the ball was in the air and something was happening. Credit the defense for keeping this close. They recovered a fumble, blocked a field goal, and held Fresno State to field goals for most of the night. Jack Stevens hit a career-long 50-yarder and looked like he's turning things around. But when your offense can't punch it in, that only gets you so far. Moore's homecoming was nice, but WSU's offense is now the problem.
Moore's homecoming was nice, but WSU's offense is now the problem
The boos at Gesa Field Saturday night weren't just about one bad game. They were about a promise that hasn't been kept. Kirby Moore came home in December under a gorgeous sky, waving from a Jeep Wagoneer, telling fans he was excited to build something. The offense was supposed to be the fun part. Instead, WSU just laid a 26-6 egg against Fresno State. No touchdowns. Eight turnovers on the season. Three offensive scores in four games against FBS competition. That's not a rebuild, that's a regression. Moore said the Cougs needed 27 points to win. They scored six. He also said the fans deserve better, and he's right. But "better" has to start with a hard look at the quarterback room. Caden Pinnick took five sacks, threw a pick, and wasn't ready for a snap. He wasn't made available to the media after the game, which is a bad look for a guy who talked about giving the program pride after an earlier loss. Coaches should have at least given Julian Dugger or Owen Eshelman a look in garbage time. Even if Moore sticks with Pinnick, that evaluation has to be real. The defense played well enough to win. The offensive line didn't. The running game didn't. And the passing game didn't stretch the field. This offense hasn't improved since fall camp, and that's the most frustrating part. There's still time to fix it, but it starts with honesty.
We Got Picks, You Got Questions, and the Ducks Still Have Problems
The Hotline went 6-5-1 last week and sits at 15-20-1 for the season, which means the picks are for entertainment purposes only. Unless they aren't. This week's slate features two former Pac-12 matchups in the late-afternoon window: Oregon at USC, and Arizona visiting Washington State on the Palouse. That feline affair serves multiple purposes. It gives the Cougars a home game against a power conference opponent their fans know, and it helps Arizona satisfy a Big 12 scheduling requirement. Because the series was agreed to before the Wildcats left the Pac-12, WSU still counts as a Power Four opponent. The line opened at Arizona -10, which initially felt high. But after looking at WSU's offense against Power Four teams like Washington and Kansas State, 17 total points, the spread makes sense. The Hotline picks Arizona. The bigger picture here is unsettling. Outside of UCLA-Cal, a future Arizona State-Stanford series, and the surviving Apple Cup and Civil War, former Pac-12 schools are not scheduling each other. The CFP could fix that by incentivizing quality nonconference games. Or NIL-driven neutral-site double-headers in Las Vegas could emerge. We aren't confident. Check out "Are blowouts getting worse? The Pac-12 mailbag crunches the numbers" for more on the state of the sport. Go Cougs.
Pinnick's five turnovers make Saturday a test of Cougar ball security
Caden Pinnick has given the ball away five times this season. Washington State as a team has turned it over seven times. That's a minus-4 turnover margin, good for No. 119 nationally. Fresno State, meanwhile, sits at plus-7, ranked No. 6. Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on USA, that math is the whole game. Pinnick is sharp when he keeps it short. He's completed 71 percent of his throws from zero to 19 yards. But on passes of 20-plus yards, he's hit just 2 of 13 with two picks. Fresno State corner Simeon Harris already has three interceptions. Pinnick does not need to test him deep. The Cougs can help their quarterback by running the ball. Kirby Vorhees is a game-time decision with an upper-body injury. If he can't go, Maxwell Woods gets the carries. Fresno State's defense is a better matchup for this WSU offense than some others have been. A credible ground game early would let Pinnick settle in instead of pressing. That pressing is where the trouble starts. The flip side: Fresno State knows what WSU gives up. The Cougar defense allows just 4.3 points per game in the first quarter. By the fourth, that number jumps to 11.3, ranking No. 123 nationally. That's a tired unit. Fresno can lean on long drives and let WSU's own mistakes do the rest. For a deeper look at how this math problem has been building, check out "Wazzu's Saturday math problem: Fresno takes the ball, Cougs give it back.
Second-half snaps tell the story of WSU's defensive breakdowns
Keith Brown had to ask the score at halftime. That tells you everything about how Saturday went for the Cougs' defense. The sixth-year linebacker wasn't being cute, WSU had just taken a three-point lead into the break, but Brown was so locked into his own series that he'd lost track of the game. You don't hear that kind of tunnel vision from guys on losing teams very often. But here's the thing: the defense is playing too much, and it's starting to show in the fourth quarter. The numbers are brutal. WSU's giving up 4.3 points in the first quarter, that's top-half of the country. By the fourth? They're allowing 11.3, which is 123rd nationally. That's not a coincidence. That's what happens when your offense keeps handing the ball back. Seven turnovers in four games, and your defenders are racking up 60, 70 snaps a night. Khamari Terrell played 72 against Arizona. Brown logged 69. Those dudes are gassed by the time the game matters. Kirby Moore says it's about complementary football, and he's right. The front can't rush if they're spent, and the back end can't cover if the rush never gets home. The solution isn't just playing more guys, they're thin at key spots, with injuries stacking up. It's about the offense holding onto the ball. That's the real fix, and it's a big reason Saturday's game against Fresno State feels like a fork in the road.
Your Pac-12 Picks Guy Is Back and He's Got the Cougs
The Hotline's picks guy is back, and he's got the Cougs covering. That's the headline from this week's betting column, and for a WSU team sitting at 1-3, it's the kind of news you text a friend before the line moves. The man went 10-3-1 last week and is now 25-23-2 for the season. He's picking Washington State to cover the 2-point spread against Fresno State on Saturday night, and he's doing it because he thinks the Cougs played well enough against Arizona to trust the home side. That's a specific vote of confidence, not a homer pick. The column digs into the larger story of the rebuilt Pac-12, too. The conference's first month produced a 19-12-1 record against the spread. Five teams, Oregon State, Boise State, Fresno State, Washington State, and Colorado State, are a combined 15-4-1. That's not nothing. The betting public hasn't caught up to Oregon State's improvement, and the Cougs are quietly covering. The picks guy notes that while this success won't sway the CFP selection committee, a Pac-12 champion with no more than two losses should be well-positioned for a bid. If you want the full picture on WSU's running back situation heading into Saturday, our story on Kirby Vorhees being banged up for Fresno is worth your time. The Cougs need ball security, and the picks guy thinks they've got enough to cover. Go Cougs.
The Coug who built the NBA Summer League from scratch
Albert Hall's day at NBA Summer League starts with a 6:30 a.m. wakeup and doesn't end until well past midnight. In between, he's handling medical emergencies, confiscating fake tickets, meeting with an NBA owner who wants court time for his kid, and schmoozing at the Palms without eating dinner. That's just night five. Hall, a Tacoma native and 1991 WSU Murrow grad, built this thing from scratch with Warren LeGarie. Twenty-two years ago, they had six teams, a box of fliers, and inflatable people in the stands to make it look full. Now it's the NBA's "31st franchise," drawing 156,000 fans and setting TV records. Hall's path from Pullman to Vegas is pure Coug. He took a casino job in Lake Tahoe for the skiing, then worked for the Sonics, where George Karl sent him to pick up a guy in a Hawaiian shirt. That guy was LeGarie. They've been partners ever since. Hall still gets back to Pullman for football games and has been helping new hoops coach David Riley connect with the NBA world. He even hosted a group of Coug fans in Vegas this summer, covering tickets and hotels in exchange for NIL support. That's the kind of loyalty you don't forget. If you want more on Riley's roster moves, check our story on Mohamed Sankhe. Go Cougs.
Cougs need to prove the offense can show up against FBS defenses
If the Cougs can't score against FBS defenses, Saturday in Tucson is going to feel a lot like the last two weeks. One offensive touchdown and four turnovers across two games against that level of competition. That's not going to cut it against Arizona, even if the Wildcats have been generous enough to force only one turnover all season. The good news: the offensive line that just ran for 300 yards against Duquesne is back intact. They don't need to duplicate that number, but they need to make Arizona respect the run. If they can't, it's going to be a long day for whoever is taking snaps. On the other side, the defense needs to get to Noah Fifita. He's completing 80 percent of his throws. That's not a typo. But he's also taken eight sacks, and when he's pressured, his numbers drop. Jaylen Thomas already has a pick-six this season. Another one would help. The problem is Arizona ranks 18th nationally in pass blocking, so Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk have their work cut out for them. The Cougs have talked about being more detail-oriented since Week 1. They'll need every bit of that attention to detail to pull the upset. If you want a look at how things went sideways last time these teams met, check out our story from that game: "Arizona lands a punch Wazzu never quite answers." Go Cougs.
DJ Warner's Arizona roots could fuel a Coug upset under the lights
DJ Warner grew up two hours from Arizona's campus, recruited by those coaches, and now he's suiting up for the other side. Saturday night under the lights in Pullman, he'll shake hands with old friends after the game. He'd prefer to do it with a win. That's the setup for a 4:30 p.m. CBS kickoff where Washington State is a 10½-point underdog against a Wildcats team that hung 42 on Northern Illinois. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita is completing 81 percent of his passes and set a program record for career touchdown throws last week. He's the real problem. But there's history here. WSU has won five of the last seven meetings, and Arizona hasn't left Pullman with a win since 2014. Trent Bray, WSU's defensive coordinator, goes way back with Arizona coach Brent Brennan from their Oregon State days. Brennan called Bray "Uncle Trent" to his kids. That friendship pauses for three hours Saturday. The Cougars need this one. A 1-3 start would put a decade-long bowl streak in real danger. The offense finally showed life against Duquesne, but as we wrote in "Cougs need to prove the offense can show up against FBS defenses," this is the real test. Jack Stevens is 1-for-5 on field goals. Kirby Moore is 1-2 as a head coach. Warner is home for a night. If the Cougs can slow Fifita and get a bounce from their kicker, they might just make those postgame handshakes a little sweeter. Go Cougs.
Paul Hutson III's draft dreams hang on his phone and in his locker
Paul Hutson III has a photo of the NFL draft stage saved on his phone. He also has a photo of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita as his lock screen wallpaper. That's the guy he's trying to get to this Saturday night under the lights at Gesa Field. P3, as his teammates call him, is a visual learner. So each week, he swaps out the last quarterback he chased for the next one he plans to hunt. It's a simple trick. It's also the kind of focused, slightly obsessive detail that makes you want to root for a guy who has bounced through six states and four schools to land here. His numbers won't jump off the page, four tackles through three games. But interior defensive linemen don't get paid in box scores. His Pro Football Focus grade (71.1) and run defense grade (78.7) lead the team among guys with enough snaps. He's undersized at 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds. He's also anchoring a defensive line that looks like WSU's best unit so far. The path here was a winding one. Campbell. Austin Peay. Marshall. Now Pullman, thanks to a text to childhood buddy Kaden Beatty. Hutson says he doesn't regret any of it. He says the younger version of himself would be proud. That feels honest. And if he gets to that draft stage he keeps looking at, a lot of Cougs will be proud too.
Moore puts it plain after Cougs let early lead slip in Pullman
Kirby Moore sat down at the podium Saturday night and didn't waste words. "This should hurt," he said. He was right. The Cougs took an early two-score lead against Arizona, then watched it disappear in the second half, losing 34-24. That's now 1-3 in Moore's debut season, and the problems are starting to stack up. Caden Pinnick played OK on short throws, 85% completion inside 9 yards, but he's up to five turnovers, and they keep coming when he tries to do too much. The running backs are averaging 3.38 yards per carry against FBS teams, which isn't going to scare anyone. Special teams gave up a 39-yard punt return and another missed field goal, even if that one wasn't the kicker's fault. And for the second straight week, the coaching staff botched an end-of-half situation, letting 40 seconds burn off the clock before calling a timeout. That's the kind of stuff that loses games you should win. There were bright spots. Linus Zunk finally got his first sack and is grading out well. Punter Max Dean is 14th in the country. But the Cougs need more than that. Next week Fresno State comes to town. That's the start of Pac-12 play, and it's where we start to find out what this team really is. If you want a deeper look at that matchup, check out our piece on Moore facing his old team as a new era begins. For now, this one should hurt. It did. Go Cougs.
Boise owns September, but the Cougs are still a question mark
Boise State owns September. That much is clear. The Broncos are sitting at 3-1, holding the inside track for that Group of Six playoff berth, and they've got the resume equity to survive a slip in conference play. They averaged 237 rushing yards per game this month. That's almost identical to their 2024 playoff run. You don't need a spreadsheet to see that. The Cougs? We're a question mark. 1-3, and we haven't faced a single Group of Six team yet. That changes Saturday against Fresno State, and frankly, we need the answer. The Hotline's hunch is that what we saw against Arizona will be substandard. I hope they're wrong, but I'm not betting against the data. The rest of the league is sorting itself out. Oregon State looks like a real contender. Fresno State finishes fast, which is a problem for us. San Diego State is a mess. Colorado State can't stop anybody. If you want to know where the Cougs are headed, keep an eye on Trey Leckner's return. That story is worth a read. But the bigger question is whether this team can hang with the rest of the conference. We'll find out Saturday. Go Cougs.
Jim Walden brought the Cougs to a bowl after 50 years: gone at 88
Jim Walden walked into Pullman in 1978 and told a program that hadn't seen a bowl game since 1931 to get ready. He delivered. The 1981 Holiday Bowl ended a 50-year drought, and he did it with a style that made him unforgettable long after the final whistle. Walden died Thursday in Coeur d'Alene at 88, and if you're a Coug of a certain age, you can probably still hear his voice, first from the sideline, then from the broadcast booth next to Bob Robertson for 11 seasons. He went 44-52-4 at WSU, which doesn't sound like much until you remember what he was working with. Two Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards. Apple Cup wins in 1982, 1983, and 1985, including a 21-20 snow game in Seattle where the Huskies were heavy favorites and Don James called himself a "2,000-word underdog" just to get a jab in. Walden coached Jack Thompson and Mark Rypien, Rueben Mayes and Keith Millard. He coached the kind of players who made Pullman matter. He left for Iowa State, came back to the Palouse to call games, and never stopped being a Coug. The athletic department called him a "great Coug who deeply loved Washington State." That's the truth. If you want to know what one coach can mean to a place that doesn't get many second chances, start with Jim Walden. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore Breaks Down Kansas State on This Week's Cougar Football Hour
Kirby Moore spent part of this week's Cougar Football Hour breaking down Kansas State on film, and if you've been paying attention, you already know that tape doesn't lie. Moore walked through what K-State does schematically, and it's the kind of breakdown that makes you appreciate how much goes into a Saturday you probably spent yelling at your TV. He didn't sugarcoat it. He didn't need to. The Wildcats are disciplined, they're physical, and they force you to earn every yard. That's the kind of opponent that tells you where your program really is. We also ran a piece on what the postgame tape revealed about Wazzu's fight, worth a read if you want the full picture of how the Cougs responded when things got tight. Moore's hour is a good companion to that. He's not selling hope. He's showing you the work. Pullman football doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from anyone outside the Palouse, so it matters that the guys in the room are honest about what they see. Moore is. The Cougs are still figuring out who they are, but the film room is where that happens. Go Cougs.
Moore's offense showed some pulse, but the Cougs still left plays on the field
Three offensive touchdowns in three games against FBS teams. Six turnovers. Seven total giveaways. That's not a Power 4 problem. That's a self-inflicted wound problem, and it's the story of this Cougar season so far. Kirby Moore's offense showed a pulse Saturday against Arizona, especially on that opening 11-play, 71-yard touchdown drive where Caden Pinnick looked like he knew what he was doing. The quarterback keeper, the blocks, the finish. That's the offense we were hoping to see. Then it vanished. The third quarter was brutal. Three points, two three-and-outs, four punts, three sacks. Arizona turned a three-point deficit into a four-point lead and never looked back. The defense held up its end. The offense didn't. Pinnick is making bad decisions, not just Power 4 athletes making great plays. The interception into triple coverage against Duquesne. The fumble while trying to throw while being dragged down. The slide a yard short of a first down. Those aren't talent gaps. Those are judgment gaps. Moore said it starts with him. That's the right answer. But the fix has to show up against Fresno State next week. If these problems are about competition, they'll ease up. If they're about Pinnick's decision-making, they won't. We've got more on Moore's postgame comments in "Moore puts it plain after Cougs let early lead slip in Pullman." Worth a read. For now, the Cougs are what we thought: 1-3, right on schedule. The question is whether they're better than the schedule. Go Cougs.
Moore faces his old team as a new Pac-12 era begins in Pullman
Wazzu's own Kirby Moore gets a chance to turn around a 1-3 start Saturday night, and the storylines are too good to ignore. He's facing Fresno State, the program that gave him his first FBS job as receivers coach and offensive coordinator from 2017-22. That's the kind of drama that makes a Palouse fall evening worth the walk to Gesa Field. The Cougs are coming off a loss to Arizona that had a few bright spots, safety Jackquintin Bal's pick-six, punter Max Dean averaging 40 yards despite migraines, but also a whole lot of slog. WSU put up zero points in the third quarter. Caden Pinnick took his 10th sack of the season. The offense has turned the ball over seven times now, which is 119th in the country. That's not a stat you text home about. Fresno State, meanwhile, is rolling. They're 3-1 with the Pac-12's best defense so far, allowing just 19 points a game. Cornerback Simeon Harris has three interceptions already. Moore knows the challenge: "That's gonna be really important, to make sure we take care of the football." He's not wrong. If you want to dig into how WSU's defensive snaps piled up in that Arizona loss, our piece on "Second-half snaps tell the story of WSU's defensive breakdowns" lays it out. Go Cougs.
The Ball is the Boss: Moore's First Pac-12 Test is About Holdin' On
Saturday night in Pullman, the Cougs finally get to play a game that counts in the Pac-12 standings. It's been nearly three years. Problem is, Fresno State is coming to town, and they take the ball away for a living. Plus-seven turnover margin. Sixth-best in the country. Meanwhile, Caden Pinnick has lost five turnovers in four games. That math doesn't add up. Kirby Moore is walking a tightrope. He has to tell his quarterback to protect the ball without making him afraid to throw it. That's a fine line, and Moore knows it. He's been saying all week that every play has a life of its own. That's coach-speak for "don't force it, but don't freeze up either." The ground game might not help. Kirby Vorhees is a gametime decision with an upper-body injury, and the running backs haven't cracked 100 yards against an FBS team all year. The good news? Trey Leckner could finally debut at tight end. That's a weapon they haven't had yet. Defensively, they have to slow down Jayden Mandal and Rayshon Luke, who just put up 167 yards on 11 carries. That's a problem. This game won't decide the season, but it'll tell you a lot. Lose, and you're staring at 1-4 with Utah State and Oregon State on the road. The bowl streak starts looking shaky. Win, and you're 1-0 in conference play with a pulse. If you want the deeper numbers, check out our piece on Pinnick's five turnovers.
Your diploma is still a Coug, even if you haven't set foot on campus since 2003
Your diploma is still a Coug, even if you haven't set foot on campus since 2003. The WSU Global Campus just got ranked among the top online programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, in multiple categories. That's not a surprise to anyone who's ever tried to finish a degree while working a full shift or raising kids. WSU built this thing for people who don't have the luxury of quitting life to go back to school. It's easy to forget that Pullman isn't the only place Cougs are made. Thousands of us earned the same degree from a kitchen table or a library computer. This ranking says the university hasn't forgotten you either. The same rigor, the same faculty, the same land-grant mission, just delivered to wherever you are. WSU has always been good at showing up where it matters. The same practical drive that put the Cosmic Crisp® in your grocery store and helped build Washington's wine industry is what makes the Global Campus work. It's not flashy. It's just effective. If you've been thinking about finishing what you started, or you know someone who should, this is your sign. The university earned the recognition. You earned the degree. Go Cougs.
For the Leaupepetele brothers, Sunday dinner looks a lot different now
Jirah Leaupepetele called his brother Jonah this week, not to talk trash for once, but to fish for intel. Jonah, Fresno State's starting right guard, wasn't giving anything up. Fair enough. The problem? Jonah's listed as questionable and isn't expected to play Saturday when the Cougs host the Bulldogs. So the first-ever on-field matchup between these two brothers will have to wait. That doesn't mean this weekend is meaningless. Far from it. Their parents, Tony and Rhonda, are driving up from Apple Valley with the other five kids and a whole mess of grandparents, nieces, and nephews. Jirah made it clear what colors they better be wearing. The Leaupepetele family has earned this moment. Jirah transferred in from Eastern Washington and has become a force on the interior of WSU's defensive line, notching his first sack as a Coug last week against Arizona. Jonah earned the starting job at Fresno State as a redshirt freshman before the injury. Even if they don't line up across from each other, they'll share the same field. That's enough for a family that watched these boys grow up sharing a bedroom, one yelling at video games, the other trying to sleep. This is the kind of story that reminds you why Cougar football matters beyond the score. For more on how this weekend is shaping up, check out our piece on how the Cougs stared down the Dawgs and didn't flinch. Go Cougs.
How Wazzu Alumni Turn a Pullman Return Into a Proper Tailgate
You roll into Pullman for a game, and within an hour you've seen three people you haven't talked to since graduation. That's the whole point. For Wazzu alumni, coming back isn't just about the scoreboard. It's about parking the car in the same dusty lot, cracking a can, and picking up a conversation that started five or ten years ago. The tailgate is the real reunion. There's a ritual to it. Someone brings the grill they bought at Dissmore's in 2014. Someone else shows up with a cooler full of something local. You stand in a circle, talk about the game, then talk about everything else. The town hasn't changed much, and neither has the feeling. That's what makes it work. We wrote about how Dean Khosla recently made the case that the land-grant mission still means something. That mission is part of Pullman's soul. When you come back for a tailgate, you're not just visiting a campus. You're standing on ground that was built for people to return to. The town stays small, the research stays big, and the people keep showing up. A proper Pullman return tailgate is simple. You bring food. You bring stories. You remember why you left, and why you keep coming back. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore breaks down Fresno State tape on this week's Cougar Football Hour
Kirby Moore went to the tape. On this week's Cougar Football Hour, the offensive coordinator sat down and walked through Fresno State's defense. Not the general stuff. The specific stuff. The kind of breakdown that makes you think he's been up late with the lights on and a remote in his hand. That's the guy you want calling plays in a big spot. Fresno State is next. They're good. They're always good. But Moore has seen what they do, and he has a plan. The segment is worth your time if you want to know what WSU is actually trying to do on offense, not just what the box score says. He gets into alignments, tendencies, the little tells that separate a smart read from a forced throw. It's the kind of detail that makes you feel like you're in the room. If you missed last week's loss to Oregon State, we've got you covered there too. Check out "Citowicki and Hawkins break down the Beavers loss in Pullman" for the full postmortem. But for now, the focus is forward. Moore's tape session is the closest most of us will get to sitting in on a real game plan meeting. Go Cougs.