First look: WSU and first-year coach Kirby Moore visit No. 17 Washington for first season-opening Apple Cup

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Aug. 31—PULLMAN — Here is a first look at Washington State's season opener against No. 17 Washington on Sunday.

What is it?

In the first season-opening Apple Cup, Washington State and first-year head coach Kirby Moore will visit No. 17 Washington, hoping to take down the Huskies on the road for the first time since 2021. It's the third game in a five-year extension of the series, which was drawn up in response to the traditional Pac-12's implosion in 2023.

Where is it?

Husky Stadium in Seattle.

When is it?

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Where can I watch it?

NBC will broadcast the game.

Who is favored?

As of Monday afternoon, WSU was around a 221/2-point underdog in most sportsbooks.

How have the Cougars fared going into this season?

It's another year and another new-look team at WSU, which will debut Moore, quarterback Caden Pinnick and a cadre of new defenders to kick off the season. The strength of this Washington State team will likely be its defense, which dominated just about all of fall camp, getting consistent pass rush from edge rushers Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk, interceptions from safeties Jaylen Thomas and Jeremiah Bernard and impressive run-stopping from defensive tackles like Kaden Beatty, Paul Hutson III and several others up front.

It'll be intriguing to see how that unit fares in a game setting, against the nation's 17th-ranked team no less. The Cougs' defense played so well during fall camp — the only exceptions might be two stray days, with their defense exerting its will in both scrimmages — that it began to raise questions about their offense. Is that group on schedule? Or should there be concerns?

On offense, WSU has a bit more continuity. The strength of the unit is likely in the running back trio of Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi, all of whom looked solid during fall camp. But there is another running back to consider that hadn't come up before fall camp: true freshman Tre Hill Jr. He scored a touchdown in the Cougars' second scrimmage, and when Vorhees missed about a week of practice, Hill was the first to get the nod to fill in.

Up front, WSU features two returning starters in left tackle Ashton Tripp and right tackle Jonny Lester, the latter of whom played primarily left guard last season. The pieces around them have been in the program for some time, but they'll be stepping into their first full-time starting roles: left guard Kyle Martin, center Noah Dunham and right guard Nick Bakken.

Will those five be able to protect Pinnick long enough to give him time to shine? Results from fall camp were a bit shaky for the Cougars, whose defensive front often forced Pinnick to scramble from the pocket.

"Tremendous opportunity for our team against a top-20 team on NBC, only game on, I believe, in football that afternoon," Moore said. "Looking at Washington, a ton of respect for what they've done. Great finish to the season. Jedd Fisch, great head coach, offensive mind. Offensively, it starts with their quarterback, Demond Williams. Incredible playmaker who does it through the air and on the ground. Explosive group of wide receivers, veteran offensive line. They've done a really good job of controlling the game offensively."

Scouting Washington…

The head of the snake on Montlake is quarterback Demond Williams, who gave his team a big scare back in the winter. At first, he signed a new name, image and likeness revenue-sharing deal to return to the Huskies, only to reverse course a few days later and announce his intentions to enter the transfer portal. It was widely speculated that he would end up at LSU, where new coach Lane Kiffin could inherit a Heisman candidate.

Washington prepared to explore legal options to retain Williams, only for him to change his mind again and return to UW, capping a roller-coaster saga in Seattle. Now that he's back in the fold, he figures to present a stiff test for the Cougars in Week 1. Here are his numbers from last fall: 246 completions of 354 passing attempts (70%) , 3,065 yards and 25 touchdowns against eight interceptions. In last year's Apple Cup, he dinged WSU's defense for nearly 300 yards passing and four touchdowns, in addition to 88 yards on the ground and another rushing score.

"That wasn't our standard. That wasn't us," Beatty said on Monday. "I've lived with that now for an entire 365 days and some. Now we can go out and show who we really are and show that last year that wasn't what we're about. That wasn't our defense, and we all had a terrible taste in our mouth after that game. So it's awesome to be able to go in and do it over again and get another shot at it."

Elsewhere on the roster, the Huskies absorbed a series of losses over the offseason, including several to the NFL draft: running back Jonah Coleman, wide receiver Denzel Boston, cornerbacks Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock, defensive tackle Anterio Thompson and edge rusher Zach Durfee. Running back Adam Mohammed transferred , as did receiver Raiden Vines-Bright.

Still, UW returns plenty of talent. The Huskies' offensive line figures to be a compelling strength of the team, including five-star freshman Kodi Greene at left tackle, star left guard John Mills (freshman All-American last season) and veterans Drew Azzopardi (right tackle) and Kolt Dietrich (center).

On defense, second-year coordinator Ryan Walters commands a unit that finished No. 15 in scoring defense last fall. Seventh-year linebacker Jacob Manu is back after missing last season to a torn ACL, and in an intriguing twist, his backup is former WSU linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah. To fill holes at cornerback, coaches hit the transfer portal to land one starter in Emmanuel Karnley (Virginia) while returner Dylan Robinson mans the other corner spot.

What happened last time?

Washington earned a 59-24 win last season in Pullman, where the Cougars were within one touchdown after three quarters, but the Huskies used a 28-0 fourth surge to pull away. On top of Williams' five total touchdowns, UW got three more from Coleman, two on the ground and one through the air.

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