"Moore to the Story" The Next Chapter in Cougar Football

[redsox907]

Rice should be easy cookings to wrap the season with a W

[Deuce2223]

COUGARS MAKE HISTORY!!

Coach Moore in just his 2nd year at the helm as already made a huge impact in Pullman as he leads the Cougars to their 11th win of the season snapping their 6 year Bowl drought and snapping a 3 game Holiday Bowl drought with the victory.. The 11th win is the Cougars highest total since 2018 when they also won 11 games. Moore was given a 4 year extension that will keep him in Pullman at least through the 2031 season.

WSU jumped out to a early (14-0) lead in the 1st Quarter as Malachi Nelson throws a pair of touchdowns including a 45 yd bomb to Lester Creer and a 9 yd strike to Landon Wright who continues to prove he should be a focal point next season after spending the bulk of the year as the team's #4 WR.

Rice would get on the scoreboard midway through the 2nd Quarter with a 39 yd FG but WSU answers back as Nelson breaks free for a 29 yd touchdown run.. It was his 6th 20+ yd run of the season and his 6th rushing touchdown of the year.

Leading (21-3) Nelson would make his lone mistake at the end of the half throwing a INT that would lead to Rice getting the ball back with 1:12 to play and JR RB Tyvonn Byars made him pay as he goes 30 yds for the touchdown to make it (21-10) at the half.

Washington State would start the 2nd half with the ball and quickly extended their lead with a 23 yd touchdown run by Leo Pulalasi to make it (28-10). WSU wasn't done though as the Cougars add another pair of touchdowns in the 3rd Quarter as Antonio Abbottt caps of a pair of drives with short runs to make it (42-10) going into the 4th.

Rice would add a FG midway through the 4th, but again WSU answers back with another score as Brevin Doll runs it the Cougars 5th rushing touchdown of the day.

WASHINGTON STATE-49 RICE-13

KEY COUGARS
QB M. Nelson-35/43 (58%) 327 yds 2 TD 1 INT, 33 yds rushing 1 TD
RB L. Pulalasi-21 carries 90 yds (4.3 avg) 1 TD
RB B. Doll-9 carries 28 yds 1 TD
RB A. Abbott-4 carries 8 yds 2 TD
WR L Creer-10 rec 154 yds 1 TD
WR D. James-4 rec 70 yds
WR B. Ganashmoorthy-6 rec 66 yds
WR L. Wright-2 rec 15 yds 1 TD
TE J. Fineanganofo-1 rec 17 yds
LB D. Pritchard-12 tackles
LB G.Jones-1 INT

[Deuce2223]

Rice should be easy cookings to wrap the season with a W

Yeah much easier then last year's LSU matchup, but a little disappointed with the matchup. I felt like Stanford got the better matchup and so did BSU yet the Cougars are the Pac-12 Champs. Heck I would've even take the Sun Bowl and played Duke.

I just posted the game.. Now it's time to see how the year finishes and get ready for next year.. I am not sure Provo is ready to be QB1, so I will need to find a Portal QB who might be

[Deuce2223]

HOW IT FINISHIED

BYU defeated Penn State 34-27 to advance but fell short against Alabama (49-42) in the Fiesta Bowl

Arkansas State moved to 14-0 with a (33-31) win UNC in Round 1 but couldn't keep it going against Oregon losing (35-24) in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan cruised past TAMU (40-28) and then pulled off the upset beating #3 Miami (39-26) in the Peach Bowl to advance to the Semi's.

LSU ended Boston College season (38-21) but couldn't pull off the upset against Georgia falling (26-9) in the Sugar Bowl.


Oregon pulled off the (27-21) win over Alabama in the Orange Bowl well Georgia survives a 4th Quarter push by Michigan to hold onto a (36-35) win in the Cotton Bowl.

Georgia is your 2027 National Champions as the defeat Oregon (41-31) . The Bulldogs actually led (41-10) going into the 4th but the Ducks battle back scoring 3 times to make it look closer then it was.

COACHING CHANGES

It was a weird year in the Coaching Carousel as several coaches leave the Alma Mater's for jobs well a few others return.

After a playoff berth and 10 win season Bill O'Brien is leaving Boston College (his Alma Mater) for West Virginia.

Jeff Brohm is leaving Louisville (his Alma Mater) to head to Tennessee to replace Josh Heupel who is leaving the Vol's to return to his Alma Mater (Oklahoma).

The Sooners fired former Oregon HC Dan Lanning.. Lanning will head back West where he will replace former Florida State HC Mike Norvell who lasted just 1 season at Washington. How will Lanning do against his former team and back in the Big Ten? Norvell landed at Northwestern after getting fired.

Pete Lembo is leaving Buffalo (his Alma mater) for Georgia Tech

Bob Chesney is leaving James Madison (his Alma mater) for Syracuse.

Colorado OC Chad Butters is headed to BC to replace O'Brien.

[Deuce2223]

COUGARS LOOK TO RELOAD

With just 14 Seniors on the roster and only 2 early portal entries (QB A. Sheppard and RB G. Ard) the Coach Kirby Moore will go into the Year 3 Off-season not looking to continue the rebuild but to reload and find maybe that missing piece as he looks to build off his 11 game/Bowl win season.

Here is a look at the final stat's of the 2027 season.

*-Seniors **-Transfer

OFFENSE
*M. Nelson-425/695 (61%) 5021 yds 43 TD 16 INT, 77 carries 423 yds 6 TD
J. Provo-42/76 (55%) 500 yds 4 TD 3 INT
**A Sheppard-21/29 (72%) 214 yds 3 TD 2 INT, 16 carries 65 yds 2 TD

*L. Pulalasi-220 carries 1055 yds 11 TD, 24 rec 212 yds
B. Doll-140 carries 639 yds 6 TD, 73 rec 724 yds 5 TD
A Abbott-103 carries 388 yds 9 TD, 5 rec 38 yds
**G. Ard-22 carries 129 yds 1 TD
C. Provo-25 carries 110 yds 2 TD

L. Creer-119 rec 1588 yds 14 TD
*D. James-67 rec 1003 yds 7 TD
C. Pabst-76 rec 833 yds 9 TD
*B.Ganashamorrthy-18 rec 235 yds 2 TD
L. Wright-22 rec 214 yds 4 TD
*M. Williams-65 rec 667 yds 4 TD
J. Fineanganofo-15 rec 188 yds 4 TD

DEFENSE
K. Patau-109 Tackles- 6 TFL 1 Sack 1 INT
*D. Pritchard-97 Tackles 8 TFL 5.0 Sacks 1 INT
T. Poteat-85 Tackles 2 TFL 2 INT
G. Jones-75 Tackles 5 TFL 1.5 Sacks 2 INT
T. Cotton III-72 Tackles
*S. Denson-70 Tackles 2 TFL 1 INT
A.Palano-63 Tackles, 1 TFL
M. Wrice-57 Tackles 15 TFL 8.5 Sacks
F. Lecuona 46 Tackles 16 TFL 8.5 Sacks
T. Weaver-42 Tackles, 1 TFL 1 INT
*B. Butler-34 Tackles 12 TFL 6.0 Sacks
C Reynolds-30 Tackles, 3 TFL 1.0 Sacks
*K. Beatty-29 Tackles, 6 TFL 2.5 Sacks
S. Harris-24 Tackles 6 TFL, 3.0 sacks

With Malachi Nelson finally graduated and Ajani Sheppard exploring his options in the transfer portal, Moore #1 target this off-season will be looking for a QB to challenge Johnathan Provo.. The Cougars have already signed 4* Cortez Ottis (#134/#14CA/#7 QB) but will look to add at least 1 if not 2 more QB's to challenge for QB1 next season.

With 3 of their Top-5 RB's returning next season. RB won't be a priority for WSU this off-season but with Ard leaving for the portal and Brevin Doll being a Senior next season , Moore could look for Doll's replacement this year.

WR will not likely be a top priority for the Cougars this off-season, despite losing Dazmin James (67 rec 10003 yds 7 TD) and Brandon Ganashasmoorthy..

Not only did Moore and Miller land a pair of talent 4* WR's last year who redshirted but they also landed another pair this year with Oscar Paul (#44 Overall/#3 FL/#9 WR) and Glenn Cronk (#61 Overall/#2NJ/#11 WR). However with a deep portal class, and plenty of scholarships available don't be shocked if the the Cougars look or at least 1 gem to add to this talented group.

O-Line
With 3 returning starters from last year's squad plus key reserves, WSU will be on the hunt to potentially fill those starting spots out of the portal and continue to build their depth. Look for the Cougars to target at least 4-5 lineman in this year's class.

D-Line
With the Top 6 DE's all set to return DT will be the Cougars main priority this season, as DC Trent Bray looks to fill the middle of his line with instant starters.

Linebackers
Dalton Pritchard finished 2nd on the team in Tackles and will need to be replaced by outside talent as the LB room is already weak in the reserves. Look for Bray a former LB himself to find a Gem in this year's portal class.

Secondary
Last season WSU landed former Florida CB Sedric Denson who spent the entire year (when healthy) as the Cougars CB1. With plenty of talent in the reserve unit, landing is replacement isn't key but landing depth for a starting unit that will have 3 Seniors next season is. As Bray will look for players who could push for starting roles in 2029 and Beyond.

Special teams
The Cougars will need to replace Ryan Harris at Punter but it appears that they have zeroed in on 3* Juan Chavez (#1686 Overall/17WA/#29P) from Camas WA..

[Deuce2223]

To no one’s surprise QB Desmond Williams Jr is back in the Portal.. The former Washington Husky QB was the Cougars top target last season before landing Malachi Nelson but Williams decided to be the backup in Colorado for Coach Prime.. Reports are despite what could be a guaranteed starting spot in a the #1 Offense in the country Williams is still not a lock to come to Pullman.

The Portal however is loaded with talent outside Williams (#6 Overall/#1 QB) with a list that includes (19) 4* talent.

Moore “

Well the portal is full of guy’s who are talented there is not alot of guy’s who have seen action. Most of these guy’s are former 4* Recruits who spent last season #3 and #4 on most team’s depth charts, so it’s going to take alot of scouting to find a guy we think that will push J.P (Johnathan Provo) and Cortez Ottis for that starting job”

Like QB there is plenty of talented RB’s in the portal this year (19) but 1 guy to keep an eye on is 3* Peyton Lewis who is coming off a monster season that saw him win the Doak Walker Award at Kent State. Alabama is considered to be Lewis’s #1 target as the Tide are looking to replace 4* Ja’Kyrian Turner (#22 Overall) and AK Dear (#17 Overall).


This year’s WR Portal Class is off the charts.. The Class features (27) 4* talent that makes up 9 of the Top-25 players in the Class.(#3/7/8/10/14/15/18/24/25th)

Moore

“ This year’s WR Class is loaded. Despite the current depth chart we have it’s hard not to take a look at some of these guy’s. Coach Miller and I both agreed we don’t need a guy who steps in a produces a 1000 yd season for us but if we find the right guy, it’s hard to not add someone who can make your offense better”

WR is the only position loaded with talent though. This year’s Portal has (14) 4* CB’s including the #1/#4/#5 and #19 players in the portal led by #1 Overall SO Tresitin Castro who spent last season at USC.

USC was hit the hardest this year with 3 players in the Top-40 declaring as Castro is joined by fellow 4* CB Chasen Johnson (#5 Overall) and 4* QB Trey Owens (#30 Overall).

[Deuce2223]

WSU LANDS #1 CLASS IN THE PAC-12

Coming off their Pac-12 Championship, Coach Kirby Moore and his staff added 22players in the 2027 Recruiting Class good enough to be ranked #1 in the Conference and #30 Overall in the country.

The Cougars will welcome in 7 players from his year's Transfer Portal including (4) 4* prospects joining the Trio of QB C. Ottis and WR's O. Paul and G. Cronk.

4* QB's Trey Owens (USC) and Calvin Loyd (Colorado) lead the charge with 4* OT D. Massey (KState) and Brayden Jacobs (Clemson) joining them.

WSU also landed 3* RB Clint Powell (K-State) , 3* WR Cory Izien (Missouri State) and 3* LB Hugh Fredrickson (Oregon State).

Moore "Overall we are pretty happy with this year's class.. We missed out on several players on the Defensive side of the ball (signed just 8 players) but we feel good about our QB room moving forward and really like the fact we added 5 players to the O-line including a pair of guy's from the Portal who we believe will make our O-Line one of the best in the country next year."

[redsox907]

Trey Owens

could be a game changer for y'all

[Deuce2223]

GEORGIA LANDS #1

Georgia coming off their National Championship win, just built a team that could very well turn the school in a Dynasty for the next 4 years. The Bulldogs landed 34 Players (just 4 from the portal) including a nation's best (7) 5* players led by a trio of CB's J. Lowe, J.Mitchell and A. Shoate as well as QB Alex Rich and (26) 4* Recruits.

Here is a look at the Top-25 as well as some other noteworthy schools
(5*/4*/3*/2*

#1 Georgia-34 (7/26/1/0)
#2 Ohio State-30 (4/25/1/0)
#3 Alabama-34 (1/33/0/0)
#4 USC-28 (3/13/12/0)
#5 Oklahoma 31 (2/17/12/0)
#6 Oregon-23 (3/11/9/0)
#7 Notre Dame- 25 (1/18/6/0)
#8 Michigan-30 (0/21/9/0)
#9 Clemson-26 (2/10/14/0)
#10 Miami- 27 (0/18/9/0)
#11 Texas- 23 (1/16/6/0)
#12 Nebraska 26 (0/17/9/0)
#13 Texas A&M 26 (2/10/14/0)
#14 LSU 29 (0/21/9/0)
#15 Penn State 28 (1/11/16/0)
#16 Tennessee 28 (0/15/13/0)
#17 UCLA 29 (0/9/20/0)
#18 FSU 28 (0/11/17/0)
#19 UNC 27 (0/9/17/1)
#20 Ole Miss 23 (1/10/12/0)
#21 BYU 26 (0/10/16/0)
#22 Iowa 25 (1/6/17/1)
#23 Michigan State 25 (1/5/19/0)
#24 Missouri 22 (0/7/15/0)
#25 Indiana 20 (0/7/13/0)

#28 Southern Miss 19 (0/7/11/1)
#29 North Texas 18 (0/7/11/0)
#33 Boston College 27 (0/3/23/1)
#42 Washington 20 (0/5/12/3)

#45 Boise State 15 (0/6/13/1)
#46 Stanford 18 (0/4/13/1)
#67 UTSA 22 (0/0/17/4/1)
#71 Cal 17 (/0/0/14/3)
#75 Oregon State 23 (0/0/12/10/1)

[Deuce2223]

Trey Owens

could be a game changer for y'all

I am hoping so.. He was buried behind Cha Fox at USC.. Fox is a 90 Overall and threw for 3861 yds with 28 TD and 13 INT last year.

Owens is comes in as a 86 Overall but played in just 1 game so far in his career throwing for 165 yds with 1 TD and 1 INT.

Loyd the 4* from Colorado comes in a a 82 Overall but was the Buff's #3 QB last year behind Lewis and Williams , so he has no career stats, but he is the best runner, so he will push Provo for the #2 job well Ottis will redshirt now and have a chance to work his way into the rotation next year, unless he transfers out.. His Dealbreaker is playing time which right now is a D+ and he wants a B-.