Kirby Moore's first season in Pullman kicks off against an FCS team that's flown 2,300 miles to be here — this one's about Washington State finding its footing, not finding a fight.
Bush’s Picks
DUQWSU
DUQWSU
OverUnder
Best BetWashington State
Washington State is the overwhelming pick here on pure roster gap alone — an FBS program with a retooled receiver room and a deep backfield against an NEC team that had to fly across the country. The only real variable is how Moore's staff handles its first game together with an unsettled quarterback job, but that's a style question, not a moneyline one.
Duquesne
+Schmitt entering 21st season, program continuity
+Went 6-5 in competitive NEC slate in 2025
−Massive size and speed gap vs FBS roster
−Cross-country road trip into hostile power-conference building
Washington State
+Retained deep RB room: Vorhees, Woods, Pulalasi
+Portal additions reloaded the receiver room
−Quarterback job still unsettled entering the opener
−Brand-new staff's first game working together
Everything about this matchup starts with the quarterback competition Moore still hasn't settled. Pinnick, Owen Eshelman and Julian Dugger have been battling since spring, and whoever wins the job will make his first career start behind center for a brand-new staff running Moore's up-tempo scheme brought over from Missouri. That's the real storyline of Washington State's season opener — not the opponent.
Duquesne, for what it's worth, isn't a total pushover on paper. Jerry Schmitt is entering his 21st season running the Dukes and brought them to a 6-5 mark in 2025, a program that competes hard in the Northeast Conference. But NEC-level FCS football and a rebuilt Pac-12 roster with Power Conference speed and size are two very different sports, and Duquesne is walking into Martin Stadium as a massive underdog in what amounts to a paycheck game before conference play begins.
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DUQ Duquesne
WSU Washington State
The bigger question for Washington State isn't whether they win — it's how clean the operation looks doing it. A first game under a new coordinator staff, a new offensive identity and an unresolved starting job at the most important position is exactly the kind of spot that produces uneven quarters even against inferior competition.
Duquesne Dukes
Sep 5?@ Air Force—
Washington State Cougars
Sep 12?@ Kansas State—
Sep 6?@ Washington—
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Moore's staff spent the winter and spring attacking the transfer portal to reload the receiver room, and the retention of Vorhees in the backfield alongside Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi gives Washington State one of the deeper running back groups in the league on paper. If the Cougars want a low-drama tune-up before the schedule gets real, this is the group that can carry the offense without needing a settled quarterback to look competent doing it.
Duquesne's task is more about survival than upset. Traveling across the country to face a well-resourced FBS program in a building far bigger than anything the Dukes see in NEC play is a tall order regardless of record, and Schmitt's group will be leaning on its own returning experience just to keep this one from turning into a rout early.
