Offense sputters as Cougs bow to Fifita-led Wildcats for their third Power Four loss

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Sep. 27—PULLMAN — It was going so well.

Already up a touchdown over the visiting Arizona Wildcats, sophomore quarterback Caden Pinnick and the Washington State offense were grooving with 112 total yards through two drives Saturday at Gesa Field.

Then, it happened again.

Pinnick's youth and inexperience caught up to him on a first-and-10 flea flicker at midfield. Looking to pass with the pocket collapsing around him, the UC Davis transfer rolled out to his right and underthrew junior wide receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who was triple-covered. Instead of taking the safe throwaway, Pinnick threw an interception to Arizona junior safety Cam Chapa.

It was the first of two turnovers and another in a string of misfortunes for Pinnick and the Cougs who could not keep up with Arizona senior quarterback Noah Fifita's nearly 300 passing yards in a 34-24 nonconference loss to Arizona in front of an announced crowd of 23,903.

"This should hurt," first-year WSU coach Kirby Moore said to open his postgame news conference.

Pinnick's predicament

Pinnick put himself and the ball in peril on several occasions. Only two of them led to turnovers, but each carried its own consequences.

Advertisement

At the start of the second quarter, WSU faced third-and-3 from its own 32 and opted for the QB keeper. Pinnick gained 2 yards, but stepped out of bounds shy of the chains. The Cougars punted.

With 1 minute and 31 seconds left in the half, Pinnick let another throw fly down the left boundary. It was again off target and caught by fifth-year Arizona cornerback Jay'Vion Cole. However, upon review, officials found that Cole was out of bounds. The would-be interception was an incomplete pass.

WSU kicked just its second successful field goal of the season to cap that drive. Sophomore kicker Jack Stevens connected from 33 yards out after his earlier attempt was blocked by an Arizona defender who pushed past senior offensive lineman Jaylin Caldwell. Caldwell appeared to whiff on his block and fall, not even getting a hand on a Wildcat.

"That's not on the kicker. That's up front," said Moore of WSU's miss at the 3:36 mark of the second quarter. "We didn't do a good enough job protecting the field goal. We had a guy fall down, and that's unacceptable."

In the second half and under duress, Pinnick seemingly attempted to get rid of the ball, but ended up fumbling instead of throwing the rock and the Wildcats recovered the turnover.

Pinnick, Moore said, will enter Pac-12 play as WSU's starting quarterback.

"Caden's our quarterback. The most important thing is the quarterback is a product of everyone around him. There were some things in protection. There were some things in terms of routes on depth, and so all of that stuff needs to get cleaned up," said Moore, who also detailed problems with Pinnick's decision making. "There (were) times where 'All right, hey, if they're not open, maybe (look) to the field.' We've got to find the check down on a couple of those drop back passes in the second half."

After a second-half response last week that led to 21 third-quarter points against FCS Duquesne, the Cougars failed to adjust to the Wildcats' blitzes. WSU gained just 39 yards in the third quarter, punted four times and fumbled once to open the half.

Pinnick connected with Ganashamoorthy after a Wildcat defender fell down, opening up the junior for the 46-yard touchdown that made it 31-24 with 7:15 left.

However, Arizona's offense grinded out a 5-minute drive and Wildcat kicker Michael Salgado-Medina made the 51-yard field goal to put the game out of reach.

Bal bail out

Ironically, both of Pinnick's turnovers led to zero Wildcat points and the Cougs led 14-0 3 1/2 minutes after his first interception.

WSU junior safety Jackquintin Bal bailed out his quarterback on the next drive when he crashed a Fifita pass to secure the interception and returned it 25 yards for the touchdown.

WSU led 14-0 at the 2:05 mark of the first quarter.

"It all starts with preparation," said Bal, who notched a career-high nine tackles versus Arizona. "It was 100% communication, and you see it pre-snap. The communication was there. We're talking, and that's just the play to make. I gotta be there."

WSU cornerback Khamari Terrell made the play after Pinnick's third-quarter fumble, wrapping up a Wildcat on third down and forcing a field goal, which the Wildcats missed. Arizona missed two field goals. WSU missed one.

Fifita finds a way

The Cougars were hot on Fifita's tail from the first snap, sacking him on that first play.

It was the first of three sacks that the senior, who last week surpassed Nick Foles' Arizona program passing record, took.

However, it didn't take long for Fifita to find a way, torching the Cougs through the air by completing 22-of-36 passes for 297 yards with four touchdowns to one interception.

Fifita grabbed the lead on a three-play, 44-second third-quarter touchdown drive in which he found true freshman wide receiver Caleb Smith on all three plays. The two connected for a 41-yard leaping grab over the middle and capped it off with the 38-yard touchdown.

Arizona led 21-17 with 4:02 left in the third quarter and never gave it up.

While an earlier Ariziona TD was the result of blown coverage on the part of the Cougs, that 82-yard drive was the opposite.

"The one there in the third quarter, you got to give them credit too," Moore said. "We're playing a lot of man coverage. We're trying to challenge them. We're trying to create pressure on the quarterback. Quarterback makes a play."

Similar to WSU's loss to the Kansas State Wildcats two weeks ago, the defense spent 34 minutes on the field against another Big 12-branded Wildcat.

Next up for the Cougs is a more evenly matched opponent. The 3-1 Fresno State Bulldogs come to town next week for the team's Pac-12 opener at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

"Very appreciative of our players," Moore said. "They should walk out of here with their head up and a whole lot of conference play in front of them. We've got to come in the building tomorrow with the right mindset."

Arizona 34, Washington St. 24

First Quarter

WSU — Pinnick 11 run (Stevens kick), 9:57.

WSU — Bal 25 interception return (Stevens kick), 2:05.

ARIZ — T.Spivey 28 pass from N.Fifita (Salgado-Medina kick), :08.

Second Quarter

ARIZ — T.Spivey 4 pass from N.Fifita (Salgado-Medina kick), 7:42.

WSU — FG Stevens 33, :22.

Third Quarter

ARIZ — C.Smith 38 pass from N.Fifita (Salgado-Medina kick), 4:02.

Fourth Quarter

ARIZ — FG Salgado-Medina 27, 12:49.

ARIZ — Mizell 11 pass from N.Fifita (Salgado-Medina kick), 9:07.

WSU — Ganashamoorthy 46 pass from Pinnick (Stevens kick), 7:15.

ARIZ — FG Salgado-Medina 51, 1:57.

A — 23,903.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Arizona, Mahdi 10-63, Reescano 7-34, Roberts 4-25, N.Fifita 11-20, Craig 4-12, (Team) 2-(minus 4). Washington St., Vorhees 9-39, Pinnick 13-35, Woods 8-20.

PASSING — Arizona, N.Fifita 22-36-1-297. Washington St., Pinnick 24-41-1-241.

RECEIVING — Arizona, T.Spivey 7-129, C.Smith 4-86, C.Hunter 4-39, Mizell 2-21, Reescano 2-3, Craig 1-8, Phelps 1-6, Mahdi 1-5. Washington St., Hawkins 6-37, Blood 5-57, Ganashamoorthy 4-67, Clemons 4-57, Vorhees 3-17, Pedersen 1-5, Pulalasi 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — Arizona, Salgado-Medina 43, Salgado-Medina 42. Washington St., Stevens 39.

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

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos