Washington State Changes Offense Before Utah State Road Game

Washington State will visit Utah State on Friday night at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah, with both 1-4 teams seeking their first Pac-12 victory of the season. The Cougars are changing their offensive approach as head coach Kirby Moore takes over playcalling duties after a difficult opening five games.

According to the Spokesman-Review and Seattle Times, Washington State enters the matchup after losing two straight games and holding a 0-1 conference record. The Cougars scored six points in their loss to Fresno State and rank near the bottom nationally in offensive production.

Moore is also considering a quarterback change involving Caden Pinnick, Owen Eshelman, and Julian Dugger. Pinnick has thrown five interceptions, recorded three touchdown passes, and has been sacked 18 times this season, according to coverage from Deseret News and Yahoo Sports.

"It really starts with the operational piece from an offensive standpoint, whether it’s a protection check, whether it’s something with a motion. Obviously the defense is game-planning just as much as us, so there’s times where, yes, there’s a first read in a progression, but there’s times where we gotta check the ball down. We can’t make a bad play worse.

So that’s the big emphasis. It’s gotta start in practice. We’ll go through that process.

That’ll determine what happens on Friday." Moore said.

The Cougars coach said the evaluation process will include all offensive players during preparation for Utah State. Washington State's defense will face an Aggies offense that has struggled, averaging 13.3 points per game.

"Everyone’s gonna get reps," Moore said.

Moore emphasized that practice performance would help determine decisions before kickoff. The Cougars are trying to avoid falling to 1-5, which would mark the program's worst start since 2010.

"I think that’s the most important thing. Everyone’s gotta make the reps count. We’ll see where it’s at on Friday, and we’ll play ball." Moore said.

Utah State enters the game with its own quarterback questions. Grady Brosterhous and McCae Hillstead have combined for 10 interceptions, according to the Spokesman-Review, while the Aggies are coming off a 37-18 loss to Boise State.

Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall said the teams share several similarities, including defensive performance and challenging schedules. The Aggies have played three road games against ranked opponents this season, according to Yahoo Sports.

"I think (Washington State’s) statistics, they’re almost identical in many cases to ours defensively. I’m not going to make these teams the same, but there are more similarities than not in terms of circumstance and maybe how the teams have had their seasons go so far. But I noticed that the first game, because we were getting ready to play Washington, and I saw their film.

Because we had just played them in the bowl game and there are different players, but they did well in the portal. They’re talented. I think they’re really well coached and their culture is good.

And I think their defense is playing well." Mendenhall said.

Washington State's defense will attempt to pressure Utah State quarterbacks, who have taken a combined 17 sacks. The Aggies defense ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing 25 points per game.

"Looking at Utah State, obviously played them in the bowl game there. Bronco Mendenhall, veteran coach. He’s won everywhere he’s been.

Twentieth year as a head coach. Their schedule’s been challenging as well. They’ve played at Washington, at Utah, and at Boise this past weekend.

Defensively, he’s got a defensive background, so they do a lot of different things. There’s complexity there. And then offensively, they got a quarterback who transferred in from Virginia.

He can really run the football. He can throw the football. It starts with him.

There are some RPO elements to what they do. There’s a lot of creativity offensively. They got some good skill guys that we got to make sure we tackle in space.

Back on the road, looking forward to the opportunity in Logan." Moore said.