Cougs Weekly: Kirby Moore reflects on Apple Cup, previews K-State

Kirby Moore’s first game as head coach of the WSU Cougars was a big one. But it didn’t result in a big win.

Despite coming in as three-score underdogs, the Cougars played the rival UW Huskies tough in a 24-10 Apple Cup loss at Husky Stadium on Sunday.

Apple Cup: WSU Cougars take positives from defensive performance

After being shut out through three quarters, WSU had its chances late to pull off an upset in the opener. It twice pulled within one score in the fourth quarter, but both Cougars scoring drives in the final period were answered by Huskies touchdowns that helped UW ultimately take home its second straight Apple Cup.

“No one’s confidence should waiver. I echoed the same thing to the team that did in the press conference,” Moore said of the message to his team during a conversation with former WSU wide receiver Michael Bumpus on the latest edition of Cougs Weekly on Seattle Sports. “We were close, and then we got to understand the margins in college football. Offense had their opportunities, defense had their opportunities, special teams had their opportunities… We got to learn from this, though, for sure.”

Along with reflecting on the Apple Cup, Moore looked ahead to WSU’s road matchup with Kansas State on Saturday.

Getting the offense on track

WSU’s offense and first-year starting quarterback Caden Pinnick struggled to move the ball consistently against the Huskies. The Cougars’ biggest struggles came on third downs, going 0 for 9 in those drive-extending opportunities.

But for Moore, it’s also about what happened leading up to those third downs.

“First and second down, we got to be more efficient and more explosive,” Moore said. “Definitely got to improve the third downs, but some of that is when you get in third-and-7-plus, I don’t care who you’re playing, those are going to be challenging situations for anyone at quarterback and for any offense. So, we got to be more efficient, more explosive on first and second down to move the ball with more chunks throughout the game and help those third downs be manageable down and distances.”

Next step for defense

The defense was the highlight of the day for WSU in the Apple Cup. The Cougars were able to hold dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and the UW offense to just 10 points through the first three quarters, which included an impressive stand at the goal line when they stuffed a fourth-and-goal run from the 1-yard line on the final play of the first half.

Moore said the next step for his defense is to improve communication.

“There’s always a little bit of verbal combat, right? You’re in the heat of the battle,” Moore said. “Motions, did a fairly good job (communicating on those). There was a couple instances where I think it could have been cleaner.”

A familiar foe

Moore and those on his coaching staff that followed him from Missouri have gone to battle a few times against first-year Kansas State coach Collin Klein.

Klein, a former Kansas State quarterback, was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater in 2023 when Missouri hosted Kansas State in a non-conference game, and he spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, which faced Missouri is SEC play in 2024 and ’25.

“Lot of variety in the run game,” Moore said of Klein’s offense. “The quarterbacks are part of the run game as well, and then they have play actions that they want to get people vertically down the field.”

The Wildcats ran for 312 yards and six touchdowns on 44 carries in their season-opening 71-3 win over FCS school Nicholls last week. Three different players rushed for at least 50 yards and six different rushers scored.

New Kansas State defensive coordinator was also the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Texas A&M the last two seasons.

“A&M was really good last season on third down, so they got a nice package there, and they’re not going to give you a lot of free yards – you got to earn it,” Moore said.

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the video at the top of this story. Catch Cougs Weekly with WSU head coach Kirby Moore on Tuesdays during Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app. 

Apple Cup: Takeaways from UW Huskies’ win over WSU Cougars

Related

Brock Huard’s take on UW Huskies’ Apple Cup win over WSU CougarsApple Cup: WSU Cougars take positives from defensive performanceApple Cup Notebook: UW shows ‘resilience,’ but has plenty to improveApple Cup: Takeaways from UW Huskies’ win over WSU CougarsNo. 17 UW Huskies shake off offensive struggles, beat WSU 24-10 in Apple CupSeattle Sports Radio Info: How to find Apple Cup and Mariners game