Washington’s defense will defend against a familiar quarterback but in a much different situation on Sunday afternoon. Caden Pinnick will line up under center for Washington State. The former FCS Freshman All-American at UC Davis started for the Aggies inside Husky Stadium exactly one year earlier on September 6th, 2025.
“I don’t think the representation of him playing against us a year ago in a different system at a different school is something that we can really pay attention to,” defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said of Pinnick during the final week of Fall camp. He followed that up with additional comments on Tuesday of game week. “It’s a completely different player when you’re surrounded by a different environment,” Walters noted. “[Pinnick] has athleticism to extend plays with his legs and is accurate when he has a clean pocket and can deliver the ball. [He’s a] good player, which is why he was able to earn a starting job at Wazzu.”
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Pinnick started every game last year for the Aggies, including that game at Washington. Walters’ defense held him to just 50 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception that Saturday night. But in total, Pinnick tossed for over 3,200 yards on the season with 32 touchdowns and an additional 437 yards on the ground. Walters knows the caliber of athlete he’s up against for the second-straight season.
“[Pinnick] is a cerebral guy that can move around, extend plays with his legs, and he’s accurate when he throws the football,” Walters said. And during his first Monday press conference of the season, Jedd Fisch shared similar thoughts on the athleticism Pinnick brings to the position.
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“He made a lot of plays with his feet, with his arm,” Fisch recalled from studying Pinnick at UC Davis last year. “I remember, I think they were playing Mercer, that he made some unbelievable plays that I was very impressed.”
But Walters and Fisch both agreed that the talent surrounding him can make him even more dangerous at the position. In Pinnick’s last matchup against Washington, the Husky defense generated 11 pressures and 21 stops according to Pro Football Focus. They allowed a total of 218 yards while UC Davis ran just 52 plays in the game.
“He was a good player on a not very good team in terms of the level of play that we’re in the Big Ten,” Walters said during the final week of Fall camp. “So I anticipate he’ll be surrounded by a better supporting cast.”
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Similarly, Fisch described the difficulty of evaluating Pinnick due to his supporting level of competition. “Now, our game against them was a little bit different. Because of the surrounding casts, I think, we’re just physically different. So it’s really hard to evaluate one guy with that.”
“We’re expecting him to be the player that I saw in the end of the season, as well as the one that we saw before we played him,” Fisch continued. “I think that we just had a lot of things going with us up front that enabled us to shut him down.”
The Cougar offense returns running back Kirby Vorhees after he initially intended to enter the transfer portal after last season. He led the Washington State offense in rushing with 576 rushing yards and five touchdowns. At receiver, Tony Freeman returns after catching 54 passes for 590 yards and three scores. The offensive line returns two starters and adds the experience of former Washington tackle Max McCree, who played in 14 games during his time as a Husky.
Fisch recalled, “Pinnick I think he only played one half against us when he was at UC Davis, but I’m expecting a way different situation [in the Apple Cup].”
