Martin Stadium
Wazzu keeps Martin Stadium in one place: 3 stories so far. The section currently leads with “The History Before the Hype: Seven Meetings Set for a New Era”, “Kirby Moore gets the keys, we see if the offense moves”, and “Moore faces his old team as a new Pac-12 era begins in Pullman”. Seven meetings. Kirby Moore is calling plays now. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Martin Stadium story on Wazzu, newest first.
The History Before the Hype: Seven Meetings Set for a New Era
Seven meetings. That's all the history we've got between Wazzu and Boise State before Saturday. And what a weird, wonderful history it is. The Cougs own a 5-2 record in the series, but the scoreboard doesn't tell the whole story. There's the 58-0 beatdown in 1997, when Ryan Leaf was still a Rose Bowl-bound legend and Rian Lindell drilled a 57-yard field goal just because he could. There's the 2017 triple-overtime thriller, where Tyler Hilinski came off the bench and gave us one of the most electric nights in Martin Stadium history. That win means more now than it did then. But this weekend isn't just about the past. It's Kirby Moore's first time coaching against the program he played for. It's Owen Eshelman's first home start. It's the first time these two meet as conference foes, which still sounds weird to type. The Broncos are ranked, and Ashton Jeanty isn't walking through that door again, but their program doesn't rebuild, it reloads. This is the kind of week that reminds you why you stayed a Coug. The history is real. The stakes are real. And if you want to dig deeper into where this program is headed, our piece on Kamie Ethridge and the Cougs breaking down 2026 WBB at Media Day is a good reminder that the future isn't just about football. Go Cougs.
Kirby Moore gets the keys, we see if the offense moves
Kirby Moore is calling plays now. That is the headline for anyone who watched Wazzu's offense stumble through the first half of the season and wondered if the Cougs had forgotten how to move the ball. The Hotline's weekly picks column lays it out: Moore gets the keys Friday night at Utah State, and we get to see if this thing shifts gears. The pick is Wazzu plus the points, and the reasoning is simple, the defense is solid, Utah State is flawed everywhere, and a new voice in the headset usually buys you a spark. That feels right. The numbers on 9 a.m. body-clock kickoffs are brutal for West Coast teams. The data says former Pac-12 schools cover the spread only a third of the time in those early Eastern games. Arizona is living that reality this week at West Virginia, and the trend says take the points. I buy it. That flight across three time zones is real, and the Wildcats have a banged-up receiver corps. If you want the deeper look at what Moore brings and the quiet work happening in Pullman, we published "Kirby Moore talks Utah State, and the quiet work that wins in Pullman" alongside this. It connects. The rest of the card has some strong leans. Oklahoma State off a bye against a UCF team playing back-to-back road games is a five-star special for a reason. Indiana at Nebraska feels like a mismatch the public hasn't caught yet.
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.