Washington St Huskies 2026 College Football Preview
Posted June 25, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 7-6
ATS – 9-4
That was a sneaky‑good season from the Cougs last year. They stacked seven wins, capped things off by taking down Utah St in the Idaho Potato Bowl, and let’s not forget they somehow lost to Ole Miss and Virginia on the road in back‑to‑back weeks by a combined five (!) points.
Former HC Jimmy Rogers has taken his talents to Iowa St, and now it’s up to first‑year boss Kirby Moore to keep the train rolling without derailing the momentum.
Washington St Cougars 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (FBS):
- Scoring: 22.5 PPG (#105 FBS)
- Total Offense: 338.7 YPG (#107 FBS)
- Rushing: 128.2 YPG (#101 FBS)
- Passing: 210.5 YPG (#89 FBS)
- Sacks Allowed: 22 (#54 FBS)
We’ve gotta say, Washington St managed to book a lot of wins for a team with an offense this putrid. It probably has something to do with the defense, but more on that later.
There’s excitement around the Cougars camp right now with respect to sophomore QB Caden Pinnick, who dominated at UC Davis last year during his FCS All-American campaign (3,206 yards, 32-10 TD to INT; 437 rush yards, 3 TDs). New HC Kirby Moore has a good offensive mind, and we think his staff will do a good job getting the most out of their shiny new toy.
The skill position weaponry looks decent. RB1 Kirby Voorhees is back (576 yards, 5 TDs), and we like the potential of RB Maxwell Woods, who had 117 yards on the ground in the bowl win over Utah St. As far as the THROW GAME weaponry goes, there aren’t any doods that jump off the page in terms of game-changing ability, but they’re pretty deep at WR/TE. Tony Freeman is back at WR (590 yards, 3 TDs), TE Trey Leckner can help out in the red zone, and they added a small handful of transfers. Hopefully, one or two of them will pop.
The offensive line is probably going to be okay with half a dozen players having starting experience, but it’s not an overwhelming group on paper.
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (FBS):
- Scoring: 20.2 PPG (#26 FBS)
- Total Defense: 299.5 YPG (#15 FBS)
- Rushing Defense: 125.2 YPG (#33 FBS)
- Passing Defense: 174.4 YPG (#13 FBS)
- Sacks: 31 (#35 FBS)
Hooray for the defense. They played some excellent football last year and put the offense on their back. Here’s some bad news: The Cougs lose their — wait for it — top-17 tacklers from last season, and new DC Trent Bray will be burning the midnight oil trying to get the most out of the 2026 stop unit.
The DL lost essentially everyone in the two-deep and they’ll be relying on transfers to get the job done. The propaganda coming out of the coaching ranks and some preview mags is positive, but we’ll have to see it to believe it. Some additions to keep an eye on include DE Linus Zunk (Vanderbilt), who’s increased his sack total gradually every year, and impossibly YUUUGE NT Jirah Leaupepetele (6-3, 330), who rolls into town from Eastern Washington.
The LB unit is almost certainly going to be an issue. They’ll be without the team’s top two tacklers from last year in Parker McKenna and Caleb Francl, and they’ll need some inexperienced transfer portal specimens to step up in a big way. The secondary is also in complete reboot mode and will need players like CB Jalil Tucker (Oregon St) and free safety Jeremiah Bernard (Cal Poly) to be all they can be.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Hey, look — some continuity! The Cougars are happy to see ace PK Jack Stevens (16/19 FG) and PR Tony Freeman (24-415, 17.3!) back in the fold, and they made a promising addition at punter in Max Dean from New Mexico St.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Ruh Roh. How do road games at Washington and Kansas St look to start the season? Ya, that’s what we thought. On the plus side, they get to drill Duquesne and their Pac-12 flex game is currently posted vs Oregon State (H). They get both of the conference BIG ‘UNS at home (Boise St, Fresno St), so maybe they can SHOCK THE WORLD in one of those contests?
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Washington (Sept 5)
Yes, there’s a long and bitter rivalry between these two schools, but it’s hard to imagine Washington St being ready for a really tough road test in Week 1 against a vastly superior opponent.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – June 25
Over 4.5 -170
Under 4.5 +140
ALERT – This win total quote is graded on an 11-game schedule due to the Pac-12 Week 13 Flex Matchup. Note that some sportsbooks post totals based on all 12 games. Always confirm house rules before placing your wager.
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: No leanage
It’s hard to get a good grasp on a completely new team with a first year head coach.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Pullman is one of the most unique setups in college football — beautiful, remote, and a legit trek to reach. Washington State’s own travel guide lists it as a 5-hour haul from Seattle, 6 hours from Portland, and 90 minutes from Spokane, with only a tiny regional airport to help. It’s the kind of place where visiting teams spend more time mapping the trip than drawing up the game plan. When you need snacks, podcasts, and EMOTIONAL SUPPORT just to make kickoff, you know you’ve entered COUG Country, bay-bee.
Washington St has been very impressive at home over the L10Y (45-15), but they’ve struggled ON THE HIGHWAY (21-30).
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
Washington St is one of the more interesting squads to track in the recrafted Pac-12, if for no other reason than the sheer variance of potential outcomes. We really like the potential of the new QB and think the offense has a chance to level up, but the defense is a complete mystery box that needs time to gel. They added a ton of new faces to the stop unit, and only reps will reveal what kind of quality they’ve assembled.
We think it’ll be a grind for first-year HC Kirby Moore to reach a bowl game, and four or five wins feels like a fair projection for this version of the Cougs.
And as the crimson faithful love to shout… “Fight, fight, fight for Washington State!”