TUESDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: Props to WSU QB Caden Pinnick for owning his mistakes; He shouldn't be the only one

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Sep. 15—COMMENTARY

Forty-eight hours removed from a 104-second postgame news conference in which he was short on words and visibly frustrated, Washington State quarterback Caden Pinnick returned to the podium with an opening statement to make.

"As the quarterback of this team and university, it is my job to give this team and institution some pride and belief," Pinnick said. "So my frustrations for the past two weeks crept up on me, got the best of me, and yeah, it's a growing process for me as well. And looking to get better."

Much better than "We just lost. Next question," and his other terse answers following WSU's 34-7 loss at Kansas State on Saturday in which the Cougs failed to score any offensive points.

Pinnick, a sophomore UC Davis transfer, spoke candidly and apologetically about his postgame demeanor during a Monday media availability ahead of WSU's home opener set for Saturday against Duquesne (Pa.).

"You just come to your senses 24 hours after an incident, you realize like, 'Yeah, I was wrong. I need to be a better image for my team and my guys,'" Pinnick said, "And acknowledging like, 'Hey, yeah, we lost, but what's gonna change?' You know what I mean? And then that just clicked to me."

Props to Pinnick for owning both his in-game and postgame mistakes. In this new semi-pro era of college football, the university and fanbase are giving him a significant amount of money to be the Cougars' quarterback.

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In that literal sense, he owes WSU something better, on the field certainly, but especially in a public-facing setting like a postgame news conference.

That doesn't mean that Pinnick should be happy after tough losses.

He put it best.

"You're not always gonna be smiles and laughing after a hard loss, but it's just the way you try to respond from it and grow from it," Pinnick said. "There's been some times where you gotta man up and just take it on the chin. Yeah, we gotta get better."

Pinnick's frustrations are understandable and the Cougs do indeed have to get better in order to have any chance at simply winning football games.

The WSU offense has been shut out in seven of eight quarters, posting 10 points in the Apple Cup's final stanza. On Saturday at K-State, Pinnick became the first WSU quarterback since Jeff Tuel in 2010 to pass for fewer than 100 yards.

The Cougs committed three three-and-outs, turned the ball over on downs, punted eight times and a fumble.

Pinnick's decision-making, accuracy and offensive operation are a big part of that equation.

But it's not just his fault.

Props to Pinnick for owning his mistakes. He shouldn't be the only one.

Offensive coordinator Matt Miller has caught the flack of fans for this painfully dreadful debut. WSU is, in a sense, spoiled by decades of offensive excellence. The late Mike Leach, current Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris, who just upset No. 2 Oregon 39-31 and current Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle have called plays in 11 of the last 14 seasons.

That's a pretty high standard.

The Air Raid, which changed college football at-large, transformed the Palouse, so to see this level of offensive dysfunction at the beginning of offensive-minded head coach Kirby Moore's tenure is pretty puzzling.

Yes, the Washington and Kansas State defenses are probably the two finest units that the Cougs will face all year.

But to be last in the country in points per game (8.5) and total offense (204 yards per game) can't really be excused.

With those humbling numbers in mind, the natural question is: "Should Moore, an offensive coordinator for each of the past four seasons with Fresno State and Missouri, take over playcalling duties from his former Boise State teammate?'"

Replacing your play caller after two games? Is that an overreaction?

I asked Moore.

"Well, I think everything's up for evaluation. I think the most important thing is we got to work together," Moore said. "I'm having a lot of meetings, looking at our process, looking at our practice plans, looking at how many reps we get, how many calls are on the call sheet. All those things need to be looked at because we got to put our guys in the best position to be successful."

The elephant in the room is, of course, the absence of senior wide receiver Tony Freeman.

Moore announced Monday that Freeman suffered a torn ACL during the Apple Cup and will miss the season. Freeman, a team captain and standout punt returner, was WSU's second-leading receiver last season.

How Moore and Miller, who used just three receivers for most of the game last week, adjust to an offense without Freeman's field-stretching threat will be a big tell for how capable the Cougars' new coaches are.

While the product on the field is far from pretty, hope is not lost.

Just as WSU addressed Pinnick's postgame demeanor with a second chance, so too can they mend their offensive issues with Pac-12 play around the corner.

"There's natural frustration," Moore said. "And I think the big thing is we all got to look inside out, internally, what we can control. And I think (Pinnick's) done that. We've done that from a coaching staff standpoint, and we're all in this thing together."

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

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