SPOKANE, Wash. — The Washington State Cougars spent their Saturday in Spokane, holding an open spring practice for fans to come see the quarterback battle and new offensive and defensive schemes under first-year head coach Kirby Moore.
The Cougars cycled through reps with three quarterbacks throughout the afternoon, and only one has seen in-game action in a crimson and gray uniform.
Redshirt sophomore transfer quarterback Caden Pinnick comes to the Cougs from UC Davis where he enjoyed a standout 2025 season with the Aggies, throwing for more than 3,200 yards and 32 touchdowns and earning Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year honors.
Redshirt sophomore returning quarterback Julian Dugger saw limited action last season, mostly in special-play packages at quarterback. The Pittsburgh native appeared in nine games, completing 2 of 6 pass attempts for 39 yards while rushing 22 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 8 yards in the Cougs’ 22-20 loss to No. 18 Virginia and was sacked four times in 2025.
Redshirt freshman Owen Eshleman did not appear in any games after redshirting in 2025.
“Yeah, it’s always close… there’s a lot more situations to be put in,” Moore said about the quarterback battle. “We had four-point plays today in the red zone. We haven’t gotten to some of the more third-down volume, I should say, and you know, defensively, they’re going to bring some stuff as well, and that’s going to be hard on the quarterback… those are huge for quarterbacks to prove themselves.”
The quarterback group has been getting to know each other and is working to make each other better one practice at a time.
“All these guys, Owen and Dug are really good guys, really good athletes so I mean, as our room keeps on building and competing, we’re all serving each other,” Pinnick said.
As for the Wazzu defense, there are a lot of new faces up front.
Two Big Sky conference transfers Matyus McLain from Idaho, and Jirah Leaupepetele from Eastern Washington, will look to bolster the Cougars defensive front.
“We just got to keep building on that chemistry, communication. I feel like if you watch practices, when you see us communicate on all cylinders, you know, we’re firing and we’re attacking,” Leaupepetele said. “I feel like the strength is attack, we attack, we go, we play fast, play off each other, and the more reps we get, the better we’re going to get at it.”
Washington State concludes its spring practice season with the Crimson and Gray game on April 25 at GESA Field in Pullman.