PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State Cougars were met with a rare chorus of boos from their home crowd Saturday night during a 26-6 loss to Fresno State in their Pac-12 opener.
Despite an inspired performance by the Washington State defense, the game never felt close. The Cougars’ offense completely sputtered, managing just 182 total yards of offense, zero touchdowns and turned the ball over twice.
The frustration in the stands was palpable, and it spilled over into the postgame press conference for a team now finding itself at a crossroads.
“This isn’t Cougar football. This is not the standard that we want to give, and we’re gonna clean it up,” defensive tackle Kaden Beatty said. “We’re going to fix it, and I don’t fault those fans at all. I love them to death still, and so we’re going to clean it up, fix it up for them, and give them something to cheer about, not boo.”
When asked about the fans voicing their displeasure, head coach Kirby Moore agreed with the home crowd’s assessment.
“Yeah, they deserve better,” Moore said. “There’s Cougs who travel, and alums and people in the Northwest who travel from all over to get here, and they deserve a better product on the field.”
The 26-6 defeat marked another major setback for a Washington State offense that has struggled to find its footing in recent weeks.
“I think everything we got to reevaluate, right? And obviously it starts with me as the head coach on offense. We gotta find ways to score more than six points,” Moore added. “I think that’s the most important thing. We got to score, right? Tuesday in the staff meeting, we said we need to score 27 to win this game. Score 27, we win this game. And we didn’t do that.”
The locker room shares the fans’ frustrations, but the team maintains that they are committed to turning the season around.
“All of us are pissed off right now. Nobody’s more pissed off than this team, this coaching staff, Coach Moore,” a player added. “So we’re gonna get it fixed up and we’re gonna be better.”
The Cougars’ season may now rely on how they respond on a short week as Washington State hits the road for a Friday night game against Utah State in Logan, UT.