2029 WSU MEDIA GUIDE
THE SCHEDULE
Week 1 @ BYU
Week 2 vs Arkansas State
Week 3 @ #11 Washington
Week 4 vs #23 Stanford
Week 5 vs Texas State
Week 6 vs UTSA
Week 7 @ Cal
Week 8 vs Oregon State "Senior Night"
Week 9 @ #17 Boise State
Week 10 "Bye"
Week 11 @ Colorado State
Week 12 @ San Diego State
Week 13 @ Fresno State
This schedule is very much like the 2026 schedule that saw WSU play it's final 4 games of the season on the road making it's Week 8 matchup the Cougars final home game of the season (Senior Day) and with 2 of it's non-conference matchups on the road (BYU and Washington) WSU will play just 5 of it's 12 game schedule at home making iit very difficult for late season recruiting visits.
THE ROSTER
QB
RS JR Calvin Loyd (81)
RS SO Johnathan Provo (79)
RS FR Cortez Ottis (77)
® FR Antwan Beaver (76)
RS JR Julius Flowers (75)
Loyd, a transfer via Colorado, appeared in 7 games last year throwing for 428 yds with 3 TD and 1 INT and rushing for 145 yds and 2 TD.
Provo appeared in 3 games as a True Freshman throwing for 500 yds with 4 TD and 3 INT in 2027. Last year he appeared in 3 games as the #3QB behind Loyd and threw for 217 yds with 1 TD completing 21/36 (58%)
Ottis like Provo is a former 4*who is probably the best pure passer of the entire group. He redshirted last year. Beaver is a 4* Recruit who will redshirt this season well Flowers is a former 3* recruit who has yet to appear in a game.
RB
RS JR Tashuan Dragos (90)
RS JR Clint Powell (88)
RS JR Alex Goings (82)
® FR Cedrick Mangum (79)
® FR Fredrick Anthrop (76)
Dragos, a WR from Texas State moved to RB this during the spring and will push Powell for both carries and catches out of the backfield.. Dragos had 55 rec for 689 yds with 6 TD last year for the Bobcats.
Powell, a transfer from K-State had a breakout season finishing with 142 carries for 808 yds and 11 TD rushing and 91 rec 1084 yds and 8 TD receiving.. Powell was named the National Championship MVP finishing with over 200 combined yards and 2 touchdowns.
Goings is a former Iowa State transfer who spent the bulk of his PT last season on Special teams logging just 3 carries for 26 yds (8.7 avg) well leading the team in KR (32) for 675 yds and PR (38) for 485 yds.
Mangum and Anthrop are 4* Recruits who will redshirt this season but could see action in a few games should Dragos/Powell struggle with injuries.
FB
SR Cliff Provo (78)
RS FR Hasheem Mamula (71)
Provo a former 4* Recruit moved to FB his Freshman year but still managed to log 114 carries for 523 yds and 3 TD rushing and 29 rec for 239 yds and 1 TD receiving. Those #’s have take a hit with the addition of guy’s like Doll and Powell the past 2 seasons but with 63 carries 311 yds and 6 TD’s the past 2 years he still for his career has the most carries and yards of any runner on the team
Mamula is a former 3* TE recruit who is transitioning to FB to allow Provo to fill in as the team’s #3 RB this year at times especially near the goal line.
WR
RS SR Carter Pabst (82)
RS SR Cory Izien (90)
RS SR Brayden Trimble (90)
RS SR Trisitan Glass (82)
RS SR Landon Wright (78)
RS SO Calvin Wayne (90)
RS SO Deon Rugamba (84)
RS FR Oscar Paul (78)
® FR Jordin Lockett (76)
® FR Marquise Bartow (75)
With 5 Senior WR’s on the roster including Pabst who broke a school record with 135 rec 1632 yds and 12 TD and former Missouri State transfer C. Izien (103 rec 1414 yds 12 TD) it appears that former 4* Calvin Wayne will either have to battle it out with transfers Brayden Trimble (72 rec 811 yds 9 TD) and Tristian Glass (3 years-154 rec 2109 yds 14 TD) as the team’s #3 or suffer through another long season on the bench (11 rec 98 yds 1 TD last year). However because the Top-5 WR’s are all Seniors, Wayne is next in line to take over the #1 role in 2030.
TE
SR Caleb Slye (97)
SR Junior Fineaganofo (85)
SO Fetu Ursua (88)
® FR Tyron Jackson (75)
Fineanganofo returns for his final season. Junior spent the bulk of his Freshman year (2026) as TE1 logging 50 rec for 619 yds but managed just 1 TD.. Then in 2027 as TE2 he posted 15 rec for 188 yds but caught 4 TD.. Last season back at TE1, he had a career season posting 66 rec for 822 yds and 6 TD. However WSU add former Notre Dame recruit Caleb Slye who comes in as the team’s highest rated player despite limited PT the past 3 years for the Irish (8 rec 81 yds 2 TD) as well as former N. Illinois recruit Fetu Ursua who posted 50 rec 528 yds and 2 TD last year for the Huskies
4* Recruit Tyron Jackson will redshirt and likely push Ursua for the TE1 job in 2030.
O-Line
LT SR Brayden Jacobs (95)
LG SR Abel Hoppii (89)
C JR Alonzo Lowell (83)
RG JR Andy Weiner (83)
RT JR Matt Retkofsky (85)
Key Reserves OT- SR Sone Falealo (77), OG-SR Isiah Lyons (76) C-SR Isiah Woolfolk (77) OG-SR Trevor Bindel (76)
The O-Line will feature 4 new starters with former Clemson transfer Braden Jacobs the only returning starter. Hoppii,Lowell and Retkofsky all transferred in which will allow some of the younger guy’s 1 more season of training to be ready to step in. Woolfolk has 2 years as the teams starting center under his belt but lost it to Lowell who grades out as a better pass protector.
OT-RS SO Javier Bueno (78)
OG-RS FR Harvey Carmrda (78)
C-RS SO Miles Ejiofor (80)
OG-RS SO Chuck Anders (84)
OT-RS SO Devon Livings (76)
OT-RS FR Glenn Merrick (75)
C-RS SO Scott Gibbs (77)
OG-RS FR Cortez Mundy (74)
Even with 7 Seniors in the 0-Line unit these guy’s are the future, allowing Coach Moore to plug and play with the Portal as well as look for guy’s WSU can develop over the course of 2 seasons rather then look for instant starters.
WSU is making a pretty major change on Defense going into the 2029 season. After playing a 4-2-5 Defense the past 3 seasons, DC Trent Bray is looking to take advantage of his LB’s and is going to switch to a 3–3-5 Defense.
D-Line
DE-FR Marquez Charles (76)
DE-SR Conner Elias (84)
DT-SR Joseph Mupoyi (81)
DT-JR Nolan Conklin (81)
Charles one of the 4* Recruits that headline’s the 2029 Class will look to rotate in with Elias (Arkansas transfer) and Mypoyi (Cal transfer) as well as Conklin who had 49 tackles with 18 TFL and 6.0 sacks last season.
RS JR Jeremiah Makovicka (76), RS JR Jaden Rice (76), SR Luke Webb (73) JR Kahil Figueroa (76), JR Josh Johnson (75) are an experienced group of backups that give DC Trent Bray plenty of depth should he return to a 4 man front.
Linebackers
Sam-RS JR Stephen Harris (81)
Mike-FR Serge Udeze (74)
Will-FR AL Boone (84)
Harris a former 3* Athlete who played as a undersized (6’0 245lbs) DE the past 2 seasons recorded 75 Tackles with 15 TFL and 9 sacks, including 51/12/6 last season will be joined by 4* Recruits Udeze and Boone in the starting lineup.
FR Amari Tolbert (73) ,SR Jovan Clark (76) and JR Hugh Frerickson (74) are the primary backups. Like Udeze and Boone, Tolbert was also a 4* Recruit whose deal breaker is PT
SECONDARY
CB-SR Tyrone Cotton III (82)
CB-SR Tre Poteat (83)
CB-RS SO Marques Stroughter (84)
FS-RS JR Vonn Hurkey (81)
SS-RS JR Dwyane Carstens (78)
Cotton and Potet return for their 3rd season as starters at CB, between them they have just 5 career INT’s, however Cotton’s was to seal the victory over Oregon in the Semi’s so it was a big one. Stroughter had a huge spring (jumped 14 points in rating) and will take over as this year’s 5th DB. Hurley, a transfer from Rice posted 52 tackles last year for the Owls with 1 INT.
Carstens takes over at SS after being a reserve the past 2 years.
CB-RS SO Chuck Hajrulllahu (75), RS FR Tevin Gentry (75) and SR Angel Mercer (75) are the key reserves
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK- RS SR Adali Lounsbury (77)
P- SO Juan Chavez (83)
PK/P ® FR Keenan Carr (80)
Lounsbury best season was his Freshman year when he connected on 20/23 FG’s (86%) however he has still been solid the past 2 seasons (2027-18/25) and (2028-20/26).. Inside 40 yards he is almost automatic (31/32) it’s his 45+ yd attempts that get him into trouble.
Chavez was decent last year with 46 punts for 1939 yds (42.2 avg) with a net avg of 35.1. He had a career long of 62 yds and landed 7 punts inside the 20 and had 8 for TB’s.
Carr will redshirt and likely take over as the Punter next year as Chavez moves to PK. r Both have strong legs (92 KPW with Chavez boasting a much high KAC of 89 vs 82). In fact look for Chavez to maybe even take over long FG’s from Lounsbury this season (Lounsbury KPA is 79 with a 91 KPW)
TROSTER BREAKDOWN
WSU goes into the 2029 season with 83 scholarships filled (22 Seniors/19 Juniors/14 Sophomores and 28 Freshman (Redshirt and True) With a great Spring(Training) we saw a massive jump in the Roster Overall as WSU went from a 82 Overall to a 89 Overall (91 Offense/86 Defense)
With 14 Seniors on Offense including 5 WR's and 6 O-Lineman look for those to be the 2 main focus's for Moore and Miller. Out of the 8 Seniors on Defense we have 2 DE's and 2 CB's who are starting so look for those to be key positions to fill
MY SCHOOL RATINGS
Play Style-A+ (Ranked #2 behind Alabama)
Championship Contender-A- (Ranked #16, interesting that Miami of OH is ranked #13)
Program Tradition- C- (Ranked #76)
Campus Lifestyle C (Ranked #74, Some reason BSU is ranked #77, however Wyoming is ranked #73)
Stadium Atmosphere C+ (Ranked #53)
Pro Potential B- (Ranked #43, against BSU is ranked #46 and Texas is #47)
Brand Exposure C+ (Ranked #56, North Texas is ranked #52)
Academic Prestige D+ (Ranked #80, Arkansas is #78, Alabama is #79, Ole Miss is 82. Fresno State is 84)
Conference Prestige B (Ranked #6, Big Ten is #1, SEC #2, ACC is #3, Big 12 is #4 American is #5)
Coach Stability B (Ranked #34, Not sure how having the same staff 4 years in a row and we are still ranked lower then schools with brand new coaches)
Coach Prestige A (Ranked #10, Kirby Smart/Georgia is currently ranked #5
Athletic Facilities C (Ranked #66 , Oregon State is #69, Boise State is only ranked #60)
As a School we are currently sitting at a 3* Prestige. Normally I wouldn't allow myself a chance to recruit 5* Recruits until I am a 4* however with a Pac-12 Championship and now a National Championship and I am allowing myself to look at 5* Recruits who start WSU in their Top-10 as well as any Recruits in the PNW (Washington/Idaho/Oregon).. I however will still limit the # of guy's I can try to sign to 2 players on each side of the ball, focusing my recruiting efforts on 4* who have WSU in their Top-5 and 3* who have WSU in their Top-3 to start the season.
grats on the Natty. Already a legend in Pullman just three years in
