On the first day of classes in Pullman, WSU announced its starting quarterback: UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick. Many people thought Pinnick was the favorite to win the starting job the minute he stepped on campus, but meaningful separation wasn’t made until later in fall camp.
Pinnick will bring a level of dynamism that the Cougars became accustomed to with Jayden de Laura, Cam Ward, and John Mateer. Offensive coordinator Matt Miller will look to leverage Pinnick’s elite running ability to create
better opportunities for his returning running backs. Last season, when Zevi Eckhaus took over for Jaxon Potter, we saw how much that opened up the run game for Kirby Vorhees, as defenses had to respect Zevi’s running ability.
Pinnick turned in an incredible season at FCS UC Davis last year, putting up over 3,200 passing yards and 32 touchdowns, with only 10 interceptions. Not to mention 437 yards rushing. Obviously, Pinnick will be making the jump to a higher level of football, but there is no reason to think he can’t make that transition in Washington State’s offense.
Pinnick was the runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman in the FCS, was the unanimous 2025 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, and earned FCS first-team Freshman All-American honors.
Spring and fall haven’t been quite as clean as offensive coordinator Matt Miller might have liked, but as time went along, Pinnick began to take more control of the offense and show his experience. However, it is important to point out that these internal camps greatly favor the defenses, who know your tendencies, and coaches (especially ones as good as Trent Bray) often know what plays are coming.
Pinnick will get a chance to redeem his worst performance of last season, which came against UW, at Husky Stadium in the Apple Cup on September 6.
