Washington State just handed its offense to a guy who was tearing up the Big Sky a year ago. Kirby Moore, in his first year running the Cougs, named UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick his starting quarterback for 2026, and it's not a small job to inherit — the very first game on the schedule is the Apple Cup.
Washington State has named UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick its starting quarterback for the 2026 season. Threw for 3,206 yards and 32 TDs with 437 rushing yards in 2025. Will be Kirby Moore's first starting QB. Cougars play Washington in Week 1. t.co/VWqKni1l0T
Pinnick earned this. He threw for 3,206 yards and 32 touchdowns while adding 437 yards on the ground at UC Davis in 2025, a season that got him named Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year. Numbers like that don't always translate up a level, but they were enough for Moore to beat out Owen Eshelman and Julian Dugger for the job, according to reporting from the Spokesman-Review, which had Pinnick as the frontrunner heading into the announcement.
Moore had been saying for weeks he wouldn't rush the call. He told reporters back on Aug. 6 that a decision would come by Aug. 24 — and true to his word, that's exactly when it landed. For a first-year head coach trying to build trust with a locker room, sticking to a stated timeline while sitting on a legitimately open competition is its own small win before a snap is even played.
The stakes for the pick are obvious. This isn't a soft season-opening tune-up — it's the 118th Apple Cup, and for the first time in the rivalry's history dating back to 1900, it's being played on a Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 6, with NBC carrying the broadcast, which means Pinnick's first snap as a Coug will be on a national stage against the Huskies.
Handing a true starting job to a transfer from a level below the Power Four is a gamble, but it's the kind of gamble programs like Washington State increasingly have to take in the portal era. Pinnick's college production says he can sling it; the Apple Cup will say fast whether that production travels.