WSU Offense Stymied Once Again as Cougars Fall to Kansas State 34-7
It was a beautiful day in the Little Apple, Manhattan, Kansas, for the first ever meeting between Washington State (0-1) and the Kansas State Wildcats (1-0). It was not a beautiful day on the field, however, as the WSU offense did the impossible and looked even more inept than they did the week prior in the Apple Cup.
WSU deferred the kickoff, and the defense picked up right where they left off. After KSU QB Avery Johnson dinked and dunked
for 18 plays, the Cougs held them to a field goal. The eight-minute drive elapsed over half the first quarter.
Then Caden Pinnick & Co. came out and took the field, converting their first third down of the season and driving the ball down for a 37-yard field goal attempt. A welcoming sign, but the blocked field goal for Jack Stevens was not. He has now missed three field goals on the season. The kick may have been destined for between the goal posts, but it came out low regardless, allowing the defensive line to get a paw on it.
WSU’s defense kept doing their thing, forcing KSU into a few third-and-longs and eventually an interception by safety Jaylen Thomas, setting up WSU with the ball just inside of KSU’s half.
And then, exactly what Coug fans didn’t want to see, four straight runs by Matt Miller, and WSU was unable to convert on third down. The first down run was fine, and the motion on second allowed Kirby Vorhees to get to third-and-2. But the inside handoff followed by the QB draw were predictable for everyone at home, and for the Wildcats, who drilled Caden Pinnick in the hole, forcing the turnover.
This led to a touchdown drive by the Wildcats that lasted 5 minutes, where WSU forced another set of long third downs, but ultimately the coverage broke down on third and goal, leading to a 10-0 lead.
When WSU got the ball back with a chance to make it 10-7 before halftime, Pinnick was sacked on third down by Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory.
After a long punt return, it set up the Wildcats for their second touchdown of the game from the 20-yard line. The defensive line almost brought Avery Johnson down, but the running back Joe Jackson snuck out and scored, cutting across the field.
They picked up a first down and advanced the ball to midfield with a third-and-1 after a magnificent scramble from Caden Pinnick. Then came a weird shot play down the sideline that had no chance.
After driving the ball to the 45 with under a minute left in the half, Avery Johnson gifts WSU life, with an under thrown sideline route read perfectly once again by Jaylen Thomas, who housed it for WSU’s first first-half points of the season.
A 30-minute lightning delay, and fans were thinking this could give the WSU defense some rest.
Out of the half, WSU started with a false start and quickly went 3-and-out, a major groan-er.
That was followed by a 75-yard house call for Rodney Fields Jr. on first down, and that’s all you need to know about the second half.
Kansas State added on ten more points (with some pretty conservative play calling), and WSU managed one more first down. At one point at 34-7, which remained the final score, WSU started their drive with two straight inside runs. Kirby Vorhees also coughed up his second fumble of the season; he had four all of last year, and only two lost.
WSU had 10 first downs, went 2-12 on third down, and produced 166 yards of total offense.
Do I think Pinnick is Cam Ward? No. Do I think this receiver room is awesome? No. Do I think the offensive line is stout? No.
However, that is no excuse to be somehow worse than the 2025 offense. They have not given themselves a chance to win. 24 passing attempts compared to 30 rushing. 3.3 yards per carry isn’t bad against a team like Kansas State, but the play calling is just so predictable. Kansas State knew everything the Cougars wanted to do and were right on top of it.
That does NOT mean this group lacks talent, either. I think Pinnick is plenty talented, the receivers are plenty good, and we saw most of the offensive linemen be solid last season. The point is that regardless of the talent, you should be able to design at least one scoring drive in four quarters of football.
We’ve seen the Cougar defense go from giving up 50 points in back-to-back weeks last season to being absolute nails the rest of the season. We’ve seen Luke Falk start 0-2 with an FCS loss before winning 7 in a row. So this offense, against Power 4 opponents, shouldn’t have that much of a doom & gloom feeling.
However, this feels and looks different. It really stood out to me when Mike Golic Jr. pointed out the conservative play calling. WSU, midway through the second quarter, had every opportunity to be competitive in this game, with the defense giving them the ball at the 50-yard line. Instead, it followed with 4 straight runs. The second down run was a nice play with a receiver and motion and Vorhees being able to dive for 7 yards to set up third and short. Then, they went to a halfback dive and a designed QB run, both of which the Wildcats snuffed out immediately. Short week be damned, they schemed themselves out of this game.
WSU’s defense looked worse as the game went on, but by the end of the game they were down 3 starters, and on a short week, they had to be on the field for the majority of the first three quarters. I still think they profile as a really solid, borderline elite unit. Kansas State star Avery Johnson was mediocre, showing his ability to extend plays and burning WSU a couple of times, but also showing his limitations with some questionable passing decisions. However, Joe Jackson and Rodney Fields Jr. appear to be an elite backfield, as the Wildcats totaled almost 295 rushing yards.
Those were two of Wazzu’s hardest games of the year, with the lone remaining Power 4 contest against Arizona coming at home. Top conference opponents Fresno and Boise also have to travel to Pullman. However, the same kind of optimism cannot be brought out of this week as there was last week. Kirby Moore and offensive coordinator Matt Miller have a lot of questions to answer, and they need to be answered fast.
It is fair to give Moore some slack, putting together this team and staff in less than a year. But after a promising performance last week, it felt like a major regression. There were a lot of factors against them today, but the offense simply did not give itself a chance to be competitive.
WSU mercifully returns home to play Duquesne next Saturday, in a game that all of a sudden feels a lot more dire, with a 12:30 kick at Martin Stadium.
