Trent Bray
3 stories filed under Trent Bray on Wazzu. The newest of them: “Oregon State looms as Cougs head south still searching for first win”, “Utah State on a short week? Cougs need an offensive pulse”, and “DJ Warner's Arizona roots could fuel a Coug upset under the lights”. Owen Eshelman gets the keys. Kirby Moore is calling the plays now. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Trent Bray story on Wazzu, newest first.
Oregon State looms as Cougs head south still searching for first win
Owen Eshelman gets the keys. First start of his college career, and he's walking into Corvallis against an Oregon State team that looks like it's been shot out of a cannon. The Beavers are on a four-game win streak, leading the country in passing yards per game, and just hung 66 points on San Diego State. Meanwhile, the Cougs are still hunting for their first FBS win, sitting at 1-5, and just watched a halftime lead evaporate into a 17-16 loss to Utah State. That Utah State game stung. Two fumbles turned into touchdowns. The offense put up 64 yards in the second half. Caden Pinnick took the brunt of it, and Moore made the call this week. For more on how Moore handled the aftermath, check out our piece, "Moore won't throw his QB under the bus after Utah State loss." Eshelman has a tough task. He's facing a Beaver defense that's rolling, and he's doing it with an offensive line that just lost left tackle Ashton Tripp to an ankle injury. The good news? WSU's defense is still showing up. They held Utah State's quarterback to 150 yards and one touchdown pass. They'll need that same effort, and then some, against Jesse Legree and that OSU passing attack. This is a gut-check game. The Cougs are 17.5-point underdogs for a reason. But it's also a chance to see what the offense looks like with a new hand on the wheel. Go Cougs.
Utah State on a short week? Cougs need an offensive pulse
Kirby Moore is calling the plays now. That's the headline out of Pullman, and honestly, it had to happen. Washington State's offense has been so quiet this season that the boo birds at Gesa Field have become a regular part of the gameday soundtrack, something we covered in "Boo birds hit Gesa Field as WSU offense goes quiet again." After a 26-6 loss to Fresno State where the Cougars didn't score an offensive touchdown for the second time this year, Moore had to shake something loose. Caden Pinnick turned in his worst game of the season. The running backs combined for 45 yards. The third-down conversion rate is 27 percent, which is five spots from dead last in the country. That's not a blip. That's a pattern. So Moore steps in for Matt Miller. He says everyone will get reps at quarterback this week. That's not a vote of confidence for Pinnick, and it shouldn't be. The good news? Utah State is 1-4 and has thrown 10 interceptions, worst in the nation. Their offense is barely better than WSU's. The bad news? The Cougs are still 4.5-point underdogs on the road. This is a rematch of last year's Potato Bowl, which WSU won 34-21. That feels like a different era. Right now, this team needs a pulse. Friday night in Logan is as good a place as any to find one. 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.