TUESDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: WSU coach Kirby Moore to assume offensive play-calling duties. Will it matter?

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Oct. 6—COMMENTARY

Something had to change.

Kirby Moore understood this.

Two days removed from a 26-6 loss to Fresno State in which Washington State failed for a second time in five games to score a touchdown, Moore announced during his Monday news conference that he will assume offensive play-calling duties moving forward.

The signs were there.

Long before Washington State started the season 1-4 and ranked within the bottom-10 in the country in multiple offensive categories, there were signs that this offense might struggle.

Moments after a lackluster second scrimmage of the Washington State football team's fall camp under the hot August sun in which the offense looked disjointed and positive plays were few and far between, offensive coordinator Matt Miller stepped to the mic and owned it.

"Not to the standard. Not to the standard. Starting with me, I gotta be better," Miller said after that Aug. 21 scrimmage at Gesa Field. "Gotta lead better. Gotta prepare a better plan for the guys, for them to go execute it. So everybody's got to look themselves in the mirror, which is an awesome opportunity for all of us to learn and grow."

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That was the right kind of attitude for a first-time solo play caller — Miller was co-offensive coordinator for Boise State last season — to have, especially as WSU transitioned out of fall camp and looked toward the coaching staff's inaugural season together.

New coaches, new players, a new Pac-12 Conference … The possibilities were endless.

Surely first-year coach Kirby Moore, the son of a legendary high school football coach from just down the road in Prosser, Wash., (Tom Moore) and the brother of one of the 32 men entrusted to lead an NFL team (Kellen Moore) would be a sure-fire success at WSU.

With Boise State — Moore and Miller's alma mater — as the most direct competition, it was easy to imagine a world in which the Cougs were an instant success and right there in the new Pac-12.

But life isn't a storybook and things are often not as simple as one may want them to be.

This season has featured a fair share of adversity for the Cougar offense, which ranks in the bottom-10 in the country in multiple offensive categories. Out of 138 FBS teams, WSU is No. 130 in points per game (11.8) and No. 133 in yards per game (287).

Through five games, WSU has allowed 18 sacks (ninth-worst in the country) , converted just 27% of third downs into first downs (sixth-worst) and visited the red zones just 11 times (13th-worst).

The numbers are bleak and the product on the field alone is enough to justify some degree of change.

It makes perfect sense for Moore to take over play-calling duties heading into WSU's 6 p.m. Friday game at Utah State. His success as an offensive play caller in the SEC with Missouri played a big role in WSU hiring him in the first place.

With Moore calling the plays, the hope is that WSU can be a bit more creative and dynamic. Sophomore running back Maxwell Woods did not see the field much on Saturday, rushing just five times for 15 yards. That has to change.

The run game in general was mostly an afterthought in the second half of Saturday's loss — a tied or one-score game for much of the affair.

The averages were there in the few opportunities that they got. Junior RB Kirby Vorhees averaged 4.2 yards per carry through six carries. Woods averaged 3.0 yards per carry, with a 7-yard gain and a loss of 4 yards mixed in there.

As the game unfolded and the number of five-or-fewer-play drives approached the double digits, the offense was devoid of rhythm or identity.

Of the 14 third downs that WSU faced, seven were considered third-and-long, Moore said on Monday.

A change had to be made and Miller, justified or otherwise, was the fall guy.

It's OK to be encouraged by this move — which is just as much for the fans as it is for the team — and to feel bad for Miller, a college teammate of Moore's at Boise State.

The business of college football, after all, is measured by wins and losses.

But it wasn't all on Miller. He is just not good enough, at this stage of his coaching career, to make up for WSU's lack of talent.

As Moore alluded to on Saturday, part of what has gone wrong for the Cougs has been a lack of sufficient preparation.

"It all starts with our process," Moore said. "Our process, our corrections. Where do we start with the next opponent? How many plays do we rep? Which ones do we call? We call them off the same hashes as we rep them in practice. Today, there was a couple things that, from a protection standpoint, we needed to flip the protection. I can't say, just from a practice standpoint, that that exact look was given, and that's something that has to happen consistently moving forward."

How to make that happen consistently going forward?

Moore will oversee the offense.

Then there's the question of quarterback.

Moore opted not to commit to a starter publicly, saying instead that "who's out on the field on Friday needs to be determined through practice."

Five-game starter Caden Pinnick has struggled, throwing just two touchdown passes to six interceptions. He took five sacks on Saturday, consistently choosing to attempt to extend plays with his legs, often to no avail.

He's proven unable to throw the deep ball — his longest pass Saturday was for 18 yards and just four of his 21 completions were for more than 10 yards.

Backups Julian Dugger and Owen Eshelman have not seen a snap this season. Moore said that the idea of multiple QBs playing in Friday's game was "to be determined."

Based on fall camp, Pinnick was the better of the three. Though Jaxon Potter, who started the first three games of last season, had a better fall camp than eventual starter Zevi Eckhaus last year. Eckhaus won the job back three games into the year and did not look back.

And, Pinnick not speaking with the media after each of the last two losses does not help his case in the court of public opinion.

The offense is in desperate need of leadership. Moore, as head coach, is doing his part to enact change.

In third-grade science, students in the state of Washington are taught about the basics of experiments. It's often best to have just one manipulated or changed variable; that way you can see if the impact is truly attributable to said variable, or if further experimentation is needed.

Football often doesn't have that luxury of a controlled setting. There are multiple changed variables being flung in every direction in-game, but by calling plays and keeping Pinnick at QB, perhaps Moore will see what he wants to see.

Another solution? Play two or all three QBs in Logan, Utah. See what you have in a full-game setting. Would it be more ideal to choose a QB and stick with him? Of course.

But the Cougars are quickly running out of ideal circumstances.

It's time for a change.

Moore knows this.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com, or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.

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