WSU QB Caden Pinnick takes reins and other things we learned from Cougars' first scrimmage

Aug. 15—PULLMAN — Across the first week of Washington State's fall camp, the team's three quarterbacks competed for the starting job to something of a stalemate, a thick haze hovering over the race. Who was ahead? Behind? Good luck finding any clarity. After the Cougars' first scrimmage of fall camp, which unfolded Saturday afternoon at Gesa Field, some answers are beginning to surface. UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick took the first reps at quarterback in Saturday's scrimmage, primarily working with the Cougars' first-team offense, the clearest sign yet that Pinnick may be starting to pull away from returners Julian Dugger and Owen Eshelman. Pinnick kept things clean, avoided turnovers and completed about 60% of his passes. Pinnick did rep with WSU's first- and second-team offenses, as did Dugger and Eshelman, likely indicating that WSU coach Kirby Moore and offensive coordinator Matt Miller still want to get a clear picture of each quarterback's capabilities with different mixes of players. But among the three, Pinnick was the only QB who did not rep with third-teamers. For their parts, Moore and Miller are choosing to stay mum on details of the race, saying they would trim the race to two at some point — but there's no word on when that might be. "It's probably too early to say. I really need to watch the film and see," Moore said. "Sometimes, the quarterback gets too much credit, too much blame. See some of the route distribution, protection. There was a couple situations where we gotta make sure we stay on schedule and things that the quarterback can control, making sure we don't take a sack in two-minute (drills). That's something we for sure gotta learn from." "I thought at times all three made their plays. I also thought at times all three did not make their plays and left some things out there," Miller added, "whether it was a decision here, decision there, operating in the pre-snap, things like that. So it'll be really good for our staff to go through and really look at it with all the details. Obviously celebrate the good things too. But obviously, we've got things that we need to correct." In an unofficial tally of statistics, Pinnick completed 12 of 20 passes for 79 yards and one touchdown, a short completion to tight end Cash Landau on one of the afternoon's final series. One practice after tossing a pick-six, his first interception in a team period all fall camp, Pinnick bounced back with sharp accuracy and showed off some athleticism too, adding four rushes for 27 yards. "I think he's a great player, and I think he's a very, very shifty dude, playmaker-type quarterback," said defensive end Linus Zunk, who registered two simulated sacks. "As I was just saying, it has a lot to do with discipline, not doing things that you're not supposed to, not trying to do too much when you have him in those open-field scenarios. Finding that fine line closing the space, but also trying to keep leverage while not getting out-runned. So, 100% a guy that it's great to play against just because he keeps us on our toes in that way." Each quarterback led scoring drives. Dugger led two touchdown drives, scoring once on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Landau and again on a 21-yard scramble. Eshelman piloted a drive that ended in a field goal from Jack Stevens, who went 4 for 4 on the afternoon, while Pinnick also led a drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown rush from freshman running back TreMayne Hill. Hill has been taking regular reps with the Cougars' second-teamers, perhaps indicating he could slot in as the team's fourth running back behind Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi. Vorhees did not play in Saturday's scrimmage, missing his fourth straight practice with what Moore called "just a little bump." Likely WSU's starting running back, Vorhees is expected to resume practicing next week, Moore said. In Vorhees' absence, Woods took first-team reps with Pinnick, signaling he could be the Cougs' second running back. Woods looked electric, turning the first play of the scrimmage into a 16-yard gain, bolting upfield through some nice blocking, putting on display the shiftiness and speed that makes him so dangerous. All told, Woods picked up 34 yards on seven carries, which includes two double-digit chunks: a 16-yard burst and a 13-yard surge. Woods has turned in several nice practices, but because the Cougars were doing two-hand touch tackling until this scrimmage, evaluating his progress was a bit tricky. Not the case in live tackling, when he slipped through tackles and raced upfield. "Max, first thing I'm gonna say is he does more than what's expected," Moore said. "He is one of the first guys in this building. If I'm getting a morning workout in the morning, he's usually in there at 6:30, 6:45. Breakfast doesn't open till 7, so he is always in there getting extra work, and I think that's showing up on the field and in that running back room all together." Still, there were plenty of highlights from WSU's defense, which has been the story of this fall camp. In Saturday's scrimmage, Cougar defenders forced their offensive counterparts to settle for field goals on a number of drives, which is why Stevens and Miguel Arenas got so many opportunities at field goals. Safety Jaylen Thomas came inches away from an interception on Eshelman — it would have been his second, joining a pick-six he earned earlier in the week, which came against Pinnick — while cornerback Elmo Wartson delivered a trio of blistering hits in the open field. Two WSU drives ended in three-and-outs, one from Eshelman and one from Pinnick, which was partially a product of the Cougars' defense and partially a product of some mistakes from their offense. In total, WSU was called for about 12 penalties, most of them holding calls. That set the Cougs' offense back several times. The issue has come up a couple times this fall. In practices, offensive linemen have jumped too soon, and some defenders have made contact with receivers too early. "There was maybe some times where we gotta get our hands off guys when the ball breaks (in the) secondary," said Moore, whose group will resume practices on Monday. "Probably all position groups, it's gonna show up. We just gotta make sure they got to earn it. Defensively, we gotta make sure the offense has to earn it. Offensively, we gotta stay on schedule because getting behind the chains can make it difficult." In other news from Saturday's scrimmage, tight end Hudson Cedarland went down early with what appeared to be a leg/knee injury. He was carted off the field. After the scrimmage, Moore said he didn't know Cedarland's status, indicating he would check with the team's training staff and find out soon. If the injury is serious, it could have several ramifications. For Hudson, it would be another injury in a career with several like it, including setbacks in the past couple years that prompted him to switch from linebacker to tight end. In a June 2025 interview, he said his injury luck had gotten so bad that he began to think, "God, if you don't want me to play football anymore, I understand that you have something better for me, and I'm gonna go do that." For WSU, it's another injury in the tight end room. Redshirt sophomore Beau Baker has missed about the past four practices with what Moore called a "mild foot sprain," prompting redshirt freshman Peyton Read to get more looks in Saturday's scrimmage, including 7 catches for 36 yards. The Cougars' starting tight end will likely be veteran Jack Pedersen, who played a couple series with first-teamers before sitting out the remainder of the scrimmage, in all likelihood a signal from coaches that they know what they have in Pedersen and don't want to risk injury. Notes —Veteran cornerback Khamari Terrell, a likely starter, recorded an impressive tackle-for-loss on receiver Tony Freeman —Fellow veteran cornerback Jalil Tucker, who will also probably start, returned from injury and ran with the Cougs' first-team defense —Redshirt junior receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who has enjoyed a sparkling fall camp, took the field with WSU's first-team offense over Daniel Blood. Otherwise, Blood has been repping with first-teamers —The Cougs' first-team linebackers were Keith Brown and DJ Warner, while Nylan Brown played with the second-team defense —Offensive lineman Sone Falealo, who has been repping with second-teamers, is now wearing a club on his right hand to protect an apparent injury