Coach Kirby Moore to take over playcalling duties for WSU, says 'everyone will get reps' at QB this week

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Oct. 5—PULLMAN — Washington State coach Kirby Moore will be calling the shots on offense moving forward.

Moore is taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller, Moore said Monday afternoon, making a big change as the Cougars' offense struggles.

"I can't wait to go to practice today," said Moore, who called plays from 2023-25 at Missouri, where he worked as offensive coordinator. "Just look forward to, naturally, I'm gonna be on the offensive side the whole time. But with that, just working with our guys. They're working their tail off, and we're gonna put the best plan moving forward for Friday."

It's the first significant change Moore has made to remedy his team's offense, which went without a touchdown in a 26-6 loss to Fresno State on Saturday evening. That was the second time the Cougars' offense didn't score a touchdown this season, a key reason why WSU (1-4) has started so slowly in Moore's debut year, its offense ranking No. 133 of 138 FBS teams with just 247 yards per game.

The Cougars' 19 points per game ranks No. 120 in the country. In four games against FBS competition this season, they have scored just three offensive touchdowns. They have eight total, which ranks No. 133 nationally, four spots up from last.

Miller, who Moore confirmed is still part of the WSU program, last worked at Boise State, where he served as wide receivers coach from 2020-24 and co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach in 2025. But Miller wasn't calling plays for the Broncos last fall.

WSU has now lost nine turnovers on the season, including six from quarterback Caden Pinnick, who threw his fifth interception of the season in Saturday's game. But it's unclear which QB will take the field for WSU's next game on Friday, a road test against Utah State: Pinnick, redshirt sophomore Julian Dugger or redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman.

Does that mean the Cougars' QB situation is an open competition this week?

"Everyone's gonna get reps," Kirby Moore said. "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 did not rule out the possibility of playing multiple quarterbacks, saying that "is probably still to be determined."

"It really starts with the operational piece from an offensive standpoint," Moore said of his QB evaluations this week, "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."

Dugger, who started his career at Pittsburgh, has seen little playing time at WSU since arriving ahead of the 2025 season. He completed 2 of 6 passes in short stints last fall, but he got more run in WSU's Potato Bowl win over Utah State last winter, at one point breaking free for a 32-yard touchdown run.

Coming out of fall camp, Dugger seemed to be the team's No. 2 quarterback, using a combination of athleticism and improved throwing to make a strong impression.

In his second year at the college level, Eshelman has yet to see the field at WSU. He seemed to be the Cougars' No. 3 quarterback out of fall camp, though it's important to note that on WSU's depth charts throughout the season, an "OR" designation has separated Dugger and Eshelman.

Moore also added that Miller will be "super involved in what we're doing on offense," Moore said. "We'll have a ton of dialogue. This whole thing's still gotta be super collaborative."

The last time Miller called plays was in 2019, his final season at FCS Montana State, where he worked as offensive coordinator and receivers coach from 2018-19. He took over playcalling duties late in the 2018 season and in the 2019 season, which followed his 2016-17 stretch, when he worked as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.

Moore and Miller first connected as players at Boise State, where they overlapped from 2010-13.

"I think everyone on our staff is pouring into their players," Moore said, "and Caden, rightfully, yeah, there will be even more dialogue with Matt and focusing on those guys. We've got a number of other guys who work with the quarterbacks and the receivers, and we gotta throw the ball better to be successful."

Under Miller and Moore's watch, the Cougars' offense has floundered. For the first time since 2008, WSU has gone two games in one season without an offensive touchdown, which underscores the way many of the Cougars' problems have run together. They're averaging 2.8 yards per rush, which ranks No. 128 nationally, and they lost another turnover on Saturday on a snap mishap between Pinnick and center Noah Dunham.

In Saturday's game, WSU running backs Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi combined for 45 yards on 12 carries. In the second half, those numbers dropped significantly: Those three combined for just 13 yards on five carries. As a team, the Cougars posted negative-4 rushing yards in the second half.

In other news, WSU defensive ends Malachi Wrice and Mike Hughes are now considered "day-to-day" with injuries, Moore said. Wrice has missed the past three games, while Hughes hasn't played since the Sept. 6 Apple Cup.

When healthy, those two have provided important depth behind defensive end starters Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain, the latter of whom turned in his best game of the season on Saturday against Fresno State, finishing with a half-sack and two tackles for loss.

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