Colorado State and Washington State both blew up their coaching staffs this offseason, so November 14 is less about who's better and more about who's figured it out first.
Bush’s Picks
CSUWSU
CSUWSU
OverUnder
Best BetWashington State
With no line out yet, this reads as a pick 'em between two staffs in year one, and that favors the team with more returning continuity at the skill positions. Washington State keeping Kirby Vorhees and Leo Pulalasi in the fold gives it a stabilizing core that Colorado State, which leaned almost entirely on the portal for its offensive additions, doesn't have. Back the Cougars at home in a game where neither side has established form yet.
Colorado State
+new staff brings fresh system and portal talent
+Mora's culture reset worked before at Washington
−coming off 2-10 season with little momentum
−almost entirely new skill-position corps needs time
Washington State
+Vorhees, Pulalasi provide backfield continuity
+historical edge vs new Pac-12 opponents, including CSU
−three new coordinators debuting together
−Pinnick still adjusting to new weapons
Jim Mora inherits a Colorado State team that went 2-10 a year ago, and he didn't waste time reshaping it. He brought in transfer QB Ksaan Farrar, receiver Impact Smith and tight end Juice Vereen, all while installing the same ball-control, run-first, no-turnovers approach that worked for him at Washington. Across the state line, Kirby Moore is doing his own version of the same job, pairing new coordinators Matt Miller and Trent Bray with a QB room now led by transfer Caden Pinnick, who threw for 3,206 yards and 32 touchdowns at his last stop.
Washington State's staff overhaul didn't touch everything. Running back Kirby Vorhees pulled himself out of the transfer portal after entering it in December and is back as the presumptive lead back after racking up 576 yards on 138 carries last season. Leo Pulalasi also stuck around. That continuity matters for a program installing three new coordinators-level voices at once, and it gives Moore a base to build from while Pinnick and a retooled receiver corps get up to speed.
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CSU Colorado State
WSU Washington State
Colorado State, by contrast, is starting closer to scratch. Mora's staff leaned hard into the portal for skill-position help, which means chemistry and installation reps matter more in Fort Collins than in Pullman right now. Both programs are also getting a real conference slate for the first time in a while, with Washington State back to playing a full Pac-12 schedule and Colorado State making its own jump into the league — so this is as much about which staff has its team playing complementary football by mid-November as anything else.
Colorado State Rams
Nov 7?vs Boise State—
Oct 31?@ Utah State—
Oct 15?@ Texas State—
Oct 3?vs Oregon State—
Sep 25?@ UTSA—
Sep 19?vs BYU—
Sep 12?vs Southern Utah—
Sep 5?vs Wyoming—
Washington State Cougars
Oct 31?@ San Diego State—
Oct 17?@ Oregon State—
Oct 9?@ Utah State—
Oct 3?vs Fresno State—
Sep 26?vs Arizona—
Sep 19?vs Duquesne—
Sep 12?@ Kansas State—
Sep 6?@ Washington—
Recent form.
History offers Washington State a little cover here. Since 2023, the Cougars have gone 9-3 against the group of schools now joining them in the new-look Pac-12, including a winning record specifically against Colorado State. That doesn't guarantee anything with two new staffs running the show, but it's a data point in Pullman's favor when neither team has much recent form to lean on otherwise.
By the time Fort Collins and Pullman meet, both rosters will look almost nothing like they did in 2025. The more interesting story might be which coach has better internalized his own culture change — Mora's ball-control approach needs a offensive line and run game clicking in unison, while Moore's staff needs Pinnick building rapport with a receiver room that's still being assembled. Whichever program answers that question first probably wins this one.
