defense
defense at Wazzu is a file of 22 stories. The newest of them: “Eshelman looks sharp but Cougs still chasing the Pac-12 pack”, “A Freeman grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise”, and “Moore's sideline bench talks get real after WSU's bowl hopes vanish”. Owen Eshelman looks the part. A Freeman High grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every defense story on Wazzu, newest first.
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Eshelman looks sharp but Cougs still chasing the Pac-12 pack
Owen Eshelman looks the part. He stands in the pocket, looks downfield, and will take a hit to deliver a third-and-long throw. But after two starts against the best the Pac-12 has to offer, the Cougs are still stuck chasing the pack. Saturday's 31-10 loss to No. 21 Boise State was another game that got away, tied at 10 entering the fourth quarter, then undone by a costly interception. It would be easy to blame the quarterback. Eshelman threw no touchdowns, one pick, and took four sacks. But the issues run deeper. The offensive line is getting flat-out whipped. When your running backs combine for 20 yards on 10 carries, it doesn't matter how patient your QB is. Eshelman completed just 21 of 40 passes while under constant duress. Still, there was something there. A 10-yard scramble on third down. Four-of-five on fourth-down conversions. WSU actually held the ball longer than Boise State, the nation's No. 1 time-of-possession team. It was chaotic, not clean, but chaos at least creates the possibility of a big play. Head coach Kirby Moore says nobody's quitting. With four games left and no bowl to chase, the Cougs need to show improvement, not just spirit. For a deeper look at how one bad snap turned a close game into a lopsided loss, check out "One bad snap cost the Cougs a chance at an upset in Boise." Go Cougs.
A Freeman grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise
A Freeman High grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise. The junior linebacker, a former walk-on, picked off an Owen Eshelman pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it 13 yards to set up a touchdown that put the Broncos up by 14. That's the kind of play that makes you groan into your beer. Eshelman and running back Kirby Vorhees weren't on the same page, Vorhees went the wrong way, and the ball went right to Phelps. Two plays later, Boise State scored. Game over. Phelps finished with six tackles, but it was Dylan Riley who twisted the knife. The Broncos' star back struggled for three quarters against a WSU defense keying on the run. Then the fourth quarter happened. Riley ripped off a 33-yard score right after the pick, then bounced outside for a 72-yard dagger on the next possession. He finished with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Ranked No. 6 nationally in rushing entering the game, he's now at 963 yards for the year. One bad snap. One missed read. That's the difference between a tight game and a runaway loss. For deeper coverage on how that fourth quarter unraveled, check out "One bad snap cost the Cougs a chance at an upset in Boise." Go Cougs.
Moore's sideline bench talks get real after WSU's bowl hopes vanish
Kirby Moore sat Owen Eshelman down on a sideline bench seconds after the interception. Not later. Not in the film room. Right there, while the game was still happening. That's the kind of moment that tells you where a season has gone. Washington State just lost 31-10 to Boise State. Bowl hopes are dead. First time since 2010 the Cougs have been eliminated before November. Moore's offense gave up four sacks. The running backs combined for 20 yards on 10 carries. That's not a bad night. That's a pattern. The offensive line was recruited for an Air Raid system. They're being asked to win third-and-1. It isn't working. Moore knows it. He said the miscommunication on that pick starts with him. Fair enough. But he's also the guy who waited too long to make the switch at quarterback, and those missed wins are gone. What's left is four games and 14 seniors. No bowl to sell. No national relevance. Just pride and a coaching staff that has to find a way to get something out of nothing. Eshelman talked after the game about standards and what gets revealed when things go wrong. That's the right thing to say. The question is whether Moore can coach him into a couple wins before it's over. For a deeper look at how Boise broke the dam, read "The long run that broke the dam: WSU defense gasps after Boise's 72-yard dagger." Go Cougs.
Boise State's offense is the test WSU's D hasn't passed yet
All season, Washington State's defense has been a little tricky to parse. On one hand, the Cougars have excelled in tough spots, jumping into action after short fields thanks to offensive turnovers. The pass rush has been above average. So has the tackling. But when you're playing No. 21 Boise State, above average won't fly. That's why we're picking WSU to fall Saturday afternoon in Pullman. The Cougars are tasked with doing something only Oregon has done this season: slow down tailbacks Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines. Riley ranks second in the country with 139 rushing yards per game. Gaines has cleared the century mark in each of his last two. Complicating matters is Boise State's average time of possession: 36 minutes, which leads the entire country. That puts serious strain on the defense, especially if the offense commits a turnover. New quarterback Owen Eshelman did well to avoid that in meaningful settings last weekend in his first start. It's a lot to ask out of this WSU team, and there's no shame in losing to this Boise State squad. But the Cougars will have to look elsewhere for their first FBS win of the season. Final score: Boise State 30, WSU 20. If you need a break from the defensive math, go check out how Kamie Ethridge and the Cougs broke down 2026 WBB at Media Day. That squad is still the top of the West, and it's a better kind of stress. Go Cougs.
Owen Eshelman's first start gave Wazzu its best FBS offense yet
Owen Eshelman's first start gave Wazzu its best FBS offense yet, and that's the kind of sentence that makes you wonder what took so long. The Cougs lost 48-30 to Oregon State, which makes it four straight losses, but the offense finally looked like it had a pulse. Eshelman threw for two touchdowns, ran for another, and unlocked Branden Ganashamoorthy for career highs in catches and yards. The running game from the tailbacks? Still stuck in neutral. Maxwell Woods, Kirby Vorhees, and Leo Pulalasi combined for 26 yards on 13 carries. That's not going to cut it. Kirby Moore benched Caden Pinnick after six starts, and the question hanging over Pullman is whether he waited too long. Probably yes. With Eshelman, the Cougs likely beat Utah State, maybe Fresno State, maybe even Washington. Moore defended punting on fourth-and-short from midfield, saying he trusted the defense. The defense gave up 48 points. That math doesn't add up. The good news is Eshelman looked legit. The bad news is Boise State comes to town next weekend, and the Cougs still can't run the ball against FBS teams. For deeper coverage on that Boise State matchup, check out Greg Woods' piece on the first visit from the Broncos since 2017. For now, the take to text a friend: Eshelman might be the real deal, but Moore's clock management and a dead running game are going to make the rest of this season a grind. Go Cougs.
Boise State comes to Pullman for the first time since 2017
The last time Boise State came to Pullman, Tyler Hilinski came off the bench and won it in triple overtime. That was 2017. This Saturday, the Broncos are back at Gesa Field, ranked No. 21, and WSU is still looking for its first FBS win of the season. The Cougs are 14-point underdogs. That feels about right. Boise State has won five straight since losing to Oregon, and running back Dylan Riley is averaging 139 yards per game. Quarterback Maddux Madsen has thrown 13 touchdowns and zero picks. Zero. That offense is a machine, and WSU's defense just gave up 347 passing yards to Oregon State. But there was something to like last week. Owen Eshelman got his first start and looked like a different offense. 32 of 49, 289 yards, two touchdowns, and 136 rushing yards. The running backs? Still stuck in neutral, 26 yards on 13 carries. Moore said it starts up front, and he's right. This is also a full-circle game for Kirby Moore, who played at Boise State and built the coaching connections he uses now. You can read more about what worked for him after the Oregon State win in our piece "Kirby Moore breaks down what worked after the win over Oregon State." It's a long shot. But it's Pullman, and it's Boise State, and that 2017 game still echoes. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore finally had something to say, and it wasn't about a tie
Kirby Moore finally looked like he had something to say, and it wasn't about a tie. After WSU's 48-30 loss to Oregon State, the head coach showed up to the postgame microphone visibly frustrated, animated, and far more fired up than we've seen all season. For a guy who usually sounds like he just finished a scrimmage, this was a real shift. He benched Pinnick, started Owen Eshelman, and the offense finally looked alive. Eshelman completed 32 of 49 passes for 289 yards and ran for 136 more, the second-most rushing yards by a WSU quarterback in program history. If you didn't know it was his first start, you'd have called your buddy a liar. Moore also punted on fourth-and-short from midfield twice, both times leading to long OSU touchdowns. He defended the calls after the game, saying he has confidence in the defense. That's the right thing to say to the room. But you can tell he's learning. The Cougs are 1-6 and this season is basically a lost cause. But Eshelman changes the look of the rest of the schedule. They might not beat Boise State next weekend, but San Diego State and Colorado State suddenly feel different. Moore took too long to make this call. That's fair to say. But he made it, and that matters. For more on the bright spots from that game, check out our piece on Eshelman and Branden Ganashamoorthy making the scoreboard hurt a little less. Go Cougs.
Eshelman and WSU need the offense to show up if they want to beat Oregon State
The rock is on the line, but that's the least of Wazzu's worries right now. Owen Eshelman gets his first college start Saturday in Corvallis, and the kid has barely played. Two snaps. Garbage time against Duquesne. Now he's supposed to fix an offense averaging 12.6 points a game, with a turnover margin that's dead last in the country. That's not a soft landing. Keith Brown, the veteran linebacker who started his career at Oregon, says he wasn't nervous when he faced Ohio State as a true freshman. He felt prepared. Eshelman might feel the same way. He's got the arm and the accuracy. But the Cougs need more than a live arm. They need the whole offense to show up for the first time all year. Oregon State, meanwhile, is rolling. Braden Atkinson is throwing for 376 yards a game. Jesse Legree has 12 receiving touchdowns. The Beavs' offense is ranked fifth in the country, and they just hung 66 on San Diego State. The WSU defense has been the one bright spot this season, but slowing that down is a tall order. Kirby Moore made the switch at QB. He took over playcalling last week. He's trying everything. Now it's on Eshelman to prove the change matters. If the Cougs can't score, it won't matter how well the defense plays. For more on the challenge facing WSU's secondary, check out "WSU's secondary gets its biggest test of the season against OSU's Legree." Go Cougs.
Cougs hand Utah State a win with an offense that forgot how to finish
Logan was not kind to the Cougs. Washington State went down to Utah State Friday night and handed them a win the Aggies barely earned themselves. WSU led 16-3 at halftime. Then the offense forgot how to finish. Kirby Moore took over playcalling from Matt Miller, and for a half it looked like something might click. Three field goals. A touchdown. 193 yards. Then the second half happened: 64 total yards, zero points, 1 of 8 on third downs. That's not just a slump. That's a collapse. Utah State didn't suddenly get good. Their quarterback completed 11 of 26 passes. They averaged 2.9 yards a carry. They looked miserable. But the Cougs gave them short fields off two turnovers, a Pinnick fumble and a Jack Pedersen fumble, and that was enough. The defense deserved better. Again. At 1-5 and 0-2 in the new Pac-12, bowl hopes are gone. Oregon State and Boise State are next. The wheels are off. Something else needs to change offensively, and if you want a deeper look at the quarterback situation, we have a piece titled "Caden Pinnick is a good dude. That doesn't fix the QB room." It's worth your time. Go Cougs.
The Cougar QB question looms large ahead of Utah State
Six turnovers in five games. That's the Cougar QB situation right now, and it's the whole story heading into Logan. Caden Pinnick has thrown a pick in every start. He's also fumbled. That's not a trend you want to bring on the road. So the question isn't just who starts Friday, it's whether the leash is short enough to yank him if it happens again. Owen Eshelman hasn't played a meaningful snap. Julian Dugger can run but hasn't shown he can throw. None of these are comfortable answers. But here's the thing: Utah State's QB room has been worse. Their guys have taken 17 sacks and thrown 10 interceptions. That's worst in the country. So while our offense is a mess, their offense is a mess too. That puts the game on the defenses. Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk should have a day. Jaylen Thomas already has two picks this year. If the Cougar D can flip the turnover margin, we're at minus-5, they're at minus-7, this thing swings. Coach Moore is calling plays now, which Jack Pedersen backed up this week. We've got deeper coverage on that in "Kirby Moore called his own shot. Now can his offense answer." Worth a read before kickoff. For now, the take is simple: we don't know who's under center, but we know the defense has to carry. If they do, we've got a shot. If they don't, it's a long bus ride home. Go Cougs.
Who starts at QB for WSU could decide the Utah State game
Friday night in Logan, the Cougs will go through all the same motions they always do. Stretches. Warmups. Jumping jacks. Then the tunnel opens, and something will actually be different. Kirby Moore is taking over playcalling. That alone is a big shift for an offense that ranks near the bottom of the country in scoring. But the real question, the one that decides whether this season has a pulse, is who takes the first snap. Caden Pinnick has been turnover-prone, leading the nation in QB-fault sacks. Owen Eshelman has the arm but hasn't played in a meaningful way. Julian Dugger brings athleticism and hasn't seen much time either. Moore says everyone will get reps, and that the decision comes down to what they see in practice. That sounds like a coach keeping his options open, which is about all you can ask for at 1-4. The good news? Utah State's offense might be even worse. Ten interceptions. 13.3 points per game. Our defense should have a day. Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain ought to be licking their chops. But defense alone won't win this one. The offense has to answer. If Moore picks the right QB, and his new play sheet makes a difference, the Cougs might save the season before it slips into November. If not, bowl eligibility becomes a memory. For a deeper look at what Moore's move means, check out our story on why the Cougs are letting a new voice call plays in Logan. Go Cougs.
Pac-12 power rankings leave little doubt about the gap ahead of WSU
The gap between the top three and the rest of the Pac-12 is a chasm, and the power rankings make it official. Boise State, Oregon State, and Fresno State are the class of the conference. Washington State? We're sitting at No. 7, and the takeaway from the rankings is brutal but fair: we don't have enough offense to secure a bowl berth, let alone sniff the championship game. It's one week into round-robin play, and the picture is already clear. The beauty of this eight-team league is everyone plays everyone, so there are no excuses. The defining dates are set: Boise State at Fresno State, Oregon State at Fresno State, and Oregon State at Boise State. The analytics favor the Broncos to sweep. Our hunch is they do. For the Cougs, the immediate concern is finding an offensive pulse. First-year coach Kirby Moore has no answers right now, and if that doesn't change in the next 19 games, Pullman will be in the market for a new coach. That's the hard truth. We've got deeper coverage on the situation, including a look at Moore taking over playcalls and what the Cougs need against Utah State this Friday. It's a short week, and the offense is MIA. Pullman is letting them hear it. Go Cougs.
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.
Wazzu's Saturday math problem: Fresno takes the ball, Cougs give it back
Here's the math problem for Saturday, and it's not the kind you can solve with a calculator. Fresno State comes to Pullman ranked sixth in the country in turnover margin at plus-seven. Washington State is 119th at minus-four. That gap is the whole ballgame before kickoff even happens. The Cougars have given it away seven times this season. Five of those are Caden Pinnick's doing. The quarterback has been fine when he keeps it short, completing 71% of his throws inside 19 yards. But the moment he tries to push the ball downfield, the wheels come off. He's hit just 2 of 13 passes of 20-plus yards and thrown two picks on those attempts. That's not a matchup problem. That's a decision problem, and it's shown up against Washington and even Duquesne. So what's the counter? Run the ball. Keep the pressure off Pinnick and make Fresno's defense respect something underneath. That gets harder if Kirby Vorhees can't go with that upper-body injury. He's the best weapon Matt Miller has in the backfield, and without him, the offense loses its teeth. We're not going to overthink this one. The Cougars have a chance because the game is at home and the matchup is more even than the records suggest. But turnovers travel, and Fresno's defense feeds on them. Give us the Bulldogs, 24-20. If you need a break from the math, check out "Three Cougs who made the Boeing Apple Cup one to remember.
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.
Fifita shakes off the rust, hits Smith twice to flip the script on Arizona
Jackquintin Bal saw it coming before Noah Fifita let it go. The Washington State safety jumped the route, snatched the ball, and ran 25 yards untouched into the end zone. That pick-six put the Cougs up 14-0 early. It felt like one of those nights in Pullman where the old magic shows up. Then the second quarter happened. Fifita shook off the rust. Arizona's veteran quarterback started slow, but he found Caleb Smith for a 41-yard bomb, then hit him again for a 38-yard touchdown on the very next play. By the fourth quarter, Fifita was dropping a pinpoint over-the-shoulder pass to Isaiah Mizell for an 11-yard score. He finished 22 of 36, 297 yards, four touchdowns. The Wildcats erased that 14-point deficit and never looked back. Bal still had a night. The Arizona State transfer led the team with nine tackles, nearly grabbed a second pick in the end zone, and made open-field stops all over the field. But one great individual performance doesn't win a game when the other side's quarterback finds his rhythm. For the full story on how that early lead slipped away, check out "Cougs jump Arizona early, then watch a 14-point lead dissolve." The script flipped. Fifita improved to 2-0 in Pullman. That one stings. Go Cougs.
Arizona lands a punch Wazzu never quite answers
The Cougars did the rope-a-dope thing Saturday, and it turns out Homer Simpson was right: at some point you have to punch back. Wazzu brought Arizona back to Pullman for a messy, physical grudge match, and for one glorious stretch it looked like the old magic might hold. Safety Jackquintin Bal, an Arizona kid, no less, broke on a Noah Fifita pass, put the receiver on his back, and danced into the end zone for a 14-0 lead. The defense was suffocating. Sacks on each of the first two drives. Arms in passing lanes. Chaos for the Wildcats' quarterback. Then Arizona scored 31 of the next 34 points. The pattern is getting hard to ignore. The Cougars have great defensive players, but not enough depth to sustain that level through four quarters, especially when the offense can't give them a breather. Caden Pinnick was miles from good, though he bounced back from mistakes the way you'd expect from a former Big Sky Freshman of the Year. The offense is still finding its way, and it's costing this defense. The solace? No more Power Four teams on the schedule. WSU should have one of the better defenses in the Pac-12. But as we saw Saturday, that doesn't matter much if the offense can't land a single counterpunch. For more on the special teams situation that didn't help matters, check out our piece on Max Dean's migraines making punting a game-time call. Go Cougs.
Trey Leckner's return is suddenly a Saturday question for Cougs
Trey Leckner's foot healed faster than the schedule said it would, and that's a small win in a 1-3 start that's felt heavier than the record. The Cougars' best pass-catching tight end is a game-time decision Saturday against Fresno State, per Kirby Moore, who's been cautious with him all month. Leckner was supposed to miss the first half of the season. Instead, he's back at practice, full-go, and ready to give an offense that's turned the ball over seven times a much-needed safety valve. That's the thing about this group: they've got backs, they've got receivers, but they haven't had a reliable middle-of-the-field target since Leckner went down. Jack Pedersen has filled in admirably, five catches, one score, mostly against Duquesne, but he's not the same mismatch. Moore said it himself: they want both guys on the field, and that's a problem for Fresno State's defense if Leckner's actually healthy. Elsewhere, Jalil Tucker's status remains a shrug emoji. He's dressed and warmed up the last two weeks but hasn't played since the Apple Cup. The silver lining? Jack Bal made the most of his shot against Arizona, picking off a pass and taking it back 25 yards for a score while logging a career-high 67 snaps. If Tucker can't go, you ride Bal again and hope the secondary doesn't bend too far. Moore also defended his clock management before halftime last week, and honestly, he's got a point. You don't give Noah Fifita extra chances.
Another Late Night Letdown as Cougs Can't Finish the Job at Gesa
That 14-0 lead felt like something, didn't it? Caden Pinnick punched one in on the ground, then Jackquintin Ball jumped a route and took it to the house. Gesa was loud. The old ghosts were stirring. Then Arizona remembered it had Noah Fifita and Tre Spivey, and the whole thing flipped. The Cougs hung around. Pinnick found Branden Ganashamoorthy for a 46-yard score late, cutting it to seven with seven minutes left. That's the part that stings. The defense got a stop, then couldn't push Arizona out of field goal range. Michael Salgado-Medina drilled a 51-yarder with two minutes left, and that was that. 34-24. This was the best effort of the year, which tells you where the bar is. Pinnick is now up to five turnovers in four games. The offensive line gave up three more sacks. The run game still isn't there. The secondary got torched for seven passes of 15-plus yards. All of that adds up to 1-3 and a lot of the same questions. The good news? Pac-12 play starts next week against Fresno State. First meeting in Pullman since 1994. The bad news is the same problems keep showing up. If you want to dig into how the offense left plays on the field, our story on Moore's unit has the details. Go Cougs.
Five sets, no quit: Cougar volleyball leaves it all on the floor
Five sets. No quit. That's the story of Cougar volleyball right now, and it's the kind of thing that makes you proud to be a Coug even when you're miles from Bohler Gym. This team left everything on the floor, and if you watched, you felt it. They didn't just play hard. They played through the kind of fatigue that makes your legs forget what fresh feels like. And they kept swinging. That kind of grit doesn't happen by accident. It starts with the coaching staff setting the standard and the players buying in. If you want the full breakdown on how the win came together, the adjustments, the moments that mattered, head over to Kirby Moore's piece on the game. He gets into what it took to get there, and it's worth your time. This is a group that doesn't flinch. They've been tested, and they keep answering. Whether you were in the stands or watching from your couch in Seattle, this one hit different. The Cougs are showing up. They're fighting. And when you see that kind of effort, you don't need to say much else. Go Cougs.