WSU Gets Much-Needed Feel-Good Win vs. Duquesne, 48-7

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Washington State defeated the Duquesne Dukes 48-7 Saturday afternoon at Martin Stadium behind an explosive second half. Kirby Moore earned his first-ever win as a head coach and advanced the Cougars to 1-2 on the season.

After a sluggish first half that made Coug fans feel even more uneasy about their offensive woes, WSU exploded in the second half.

Duquesne came in after losing to Air Force 34-0 and Youngstown State 70-13. WSU was a 37.5-point favorite and was searching for any semblance of rhythm on offense.

Four penalties in the first two drives for the Dukes offense made it look like today was going to be a cake walk for WSU.

But then a disaster start for WSU as the first snap of the day went over Pinnick’s head, and then his deep shot on second down was intercepted.

After forcing a quick stop, WSU went into the bag with Maxwell Woods in the Wildcat, who broke off a 45-yard run, with the aid of a personal foul, and set up an 8-yard rushing touchdown from Kirby Vorhees.

But we hadn’t heard the last of Duquesne; after a big run on 2nd and long from around midfield, the Dukes got down to the two-yard line. WSU was primed for a goal line stand with no gain on first or second down, but a roughing the passer on DJ Warner set up a tush push, which leveled the game at 7-7.

WSU had a really solid drive to end the 1st quarter, but they weren’t able to capitalize after two scoring plays were negated by penalties. Vorhees rush after an illegal formation, and Hawkins on the end around after a questionable holding.

Pinnick took a QB draw on 3rd and 18 with one man to beat, but the DB made a great tackle, setting up the WSU field goal attempt, which Jack Stevens pushed wide right, keeping the score deadlocked.

WSU stalled out of their next drive but managed to pin the Dukes deep. After the three-and-out, WSU capitalized on a short field, ending with a 19-yard Pinnick rushing touchdown.

Duquesne was able to advance the ball to midfield but ultimately gave the ball back to WSU under the 2-minute warning of the first half. WSU ran three straight runs to pick up a first down before going to tempo, and Pinnick’s hail-mary attempt fell helplessly in the end zone.

An uninspiring first half for WSU finished with a 14-7 lead, despite 234 yards of offense. It is fair to point out that they had multiple touchdowns called back, but it simply was not pretty.

Everything changed in the third quarter, as WSU took their first two drives all the way down the field. Going 75 yards and 90 yards to make the game 28-7. The Cougs went tempo and started giving Maxwell Woods some more touches, and the game opened up for them.

Pinnick started to gain some confidence passing the ball, with a nicely designed touchdown to Jack Pederson to cap off the first drive and a good throw for a 10-yard touchdown to Branden Ganashamoorthy.

Then WSU really started to break it open. Vorhees ended the third quarter with a 59-yard house call. The run put WSU up to 458 yards of offense. A feel-good quarter WSU desperately needed, as the Cougs piled on 21 unanswered.

Duquesne drove the ball into WSU territory to start the fourth quarter but elected—questionably—to punt.

WSU completed a successful 4th and 5 to get inside the 40, but ANOTHER holding call negated the play. Penalties on both sides of the ball cost the Cougs the chance to go for 50 points, ending with 11 penalties for 96 yards.

The Cougs left their defensive starters in as the Dukes brought in backup quarterback Logan Kushner, who promptly went three-and-out.

And then, the player of this season thus far, Jaylen Thomas, houses the punt to make it 41-7 WSU. It was WSU’s first punt return touchdown since Kaleb Fossom in 2016. Stevens missed the ensuing PAT, so look for there to be real discussion about the kicking game this week.

Wazzu forced another three and out, and this time Tank Hawkins gets in on the fun, returning a punt of his own, making it 48-7 WSU. After going nearly a decade exactly without a punt return, they had two in the span of minutes. It’s the first time WSU has had two punt returns in a game since 1973.

Owen Eshlemen got into the game to bleed the clock out, handing the ball off to Leo Pualasi twice, and that was all she wrote.

The defense was outstanding, barring the one broken play that set Duquesne up at the 2-yard line, not allowing any points in the second half. The Duke’s quarterback, Carson Camp, was held to 9/18 passing and 69 yards, and as a team, Duquesne only managed 180 yards.

WSU needed this to be a lopsided win, and they got it. The first half was not good enough, and you could see the pressure mounting on the players. Both Kirby Vorhees and Caden Pinnick referenced getting back to a positive mindset after the tough-sledding in the first two weeks, and the second half will certainly help them gain some confidence.

WSU upped the tempo after halftime and had absolutely no problem moving the ball. The Cougar offense finished with 512 yards, including 316 rushing yards, and a 17/22 day from Caden Pinnick with his first two passing touchdowns as a Coug.

Subtracting a plethora of penalties, WSU likely would have been pushing 60-plus points. Pinnick really emphasized in his postgame press conference the need for the offensive line (and himself) to get out of their own way and play within themselves, commending them on their breakthrough second-half performance.

Of note: both Pinnick and Moore clarified that Matt Miller was still calling plays, although coach Moore once again referenced “a more collaborative effort.”

At the end of the day, this result is something for WSU to build on, but there is still a lot to cleanup. If they want to beat the Wildcats next week, they cannot afford to start slow. If their defense can play to the level that we have seen, and the offense can build on what they did today, WSU should be able to make a game of next weekend’s contest.

WSU will face the Arizona Wildcats for the first time since 2023’s Pac-12 matchup next Saturday at 4:30 on CBS, which makes to be quite the atmosphere at Gesa Field.

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