The Couch GM Podcast

Caden Pinnick stood at the podium in Manhattan and gave the shortest postgame availability of his career. "We just lost. Next question." Two days later he walked it back himself, and what he said Monday was a lot more interesting than what he didn't say Saturday. Sam Taylor of the Lewiston Tribune covers this team for a living, and he joins us to take both pressers apart. What the room actually felt like, why the frustration was aimed at more than the scoreboard, and whether a quarterback owning it on a Monday changes anything on a Saturday. Then Zachary Weiss brings us the other side of this week's matchup, because Duquesne is coming to Pullman and almost nobody around here knows anything about them. Washington State is 0-2 for the first time since 2016, dead last in the country in scoring and total offense, and hosting an FCS opponent in Kirby Moore's first game at Gesa Field. We get into all of it. THIS WEEK'S GUESTS Sam Taylor covers Washington State, LC State and prep sports for the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Murrow College made. X: @Sam_C_Taylor His work: lmtribune.com/writers/sam-taylor Zachary Weiss covers Duquesne for Pittsburgh Sports Now, A10 Talk and Pitt Sports News. X: @ZacharyMWeiss DUQUESNE AT WASHINGTON STATE Saturday, September 19 12:30 p.m. PT on USA Network Gesa Field at Martin Stadium, Pullman BEN THE COWBOY REALTOR, PRESENTING SPONSOR Presenting sponsor of Cougs on the Couch and of the Weekly Preview segment. Ben Nikolas, real estate broker licensed in Washington and Oregon, with MacDonald RE Group at Premiere Property Group, LLC. Buying or selling in WA or OR, Ben is your guy. Email: [email protected] Phone: 503-201-1934 Instagram: @ben_cowboyrealtor Website: https://bennikolas.premierepropertygroup.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ben_cowboyrealtor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxsYfFM3cdxV9AOOSm0k5w THE RECAP IS PRESENTED BY FORTRESS MEGA Jon Erickson, Pullman High and Wazzu grad, and a financial planner who does it differently. Near retirement and want less stress and more free time? Start the conversation at FortressMega.com. Jon Erickson is an investment adviser representative. This is a paid endorsement. Nothing in this episode is investment advice or a recommendation, and it does not reflect the experience of any client. COUG OF THE WEEK IS PRESENTED BY PADDOCK SPIRITS CO Award-winning canned cocktails made in Pullman, Washington, by Cougs. Best in Class for vodka-based ready-to-drinks at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. paddockspiritsco.com 21+. Please enjoy responsibly. TRAVERSING THE PAC IS PRESENTED BY CONNOR WEBB AT ENVOY MORTGAGE Licensed in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Arizona. Wherever this conference takes you, I can do your loan there. LenderConnorWebb.com [email protected] 360-713-2995 Envoy Mortgage, NMLS #1529504. Equal Housing Lender. FOLLOW THE SHOW Instagram: @cougsonthecouch

Washington State lost the 118th Apple Cup 24-10, and the two halves of the team went in opposite directions. The defense held No. 17 Washington to 10 points through three quarters. The offense did not convert a single third down. Now the Cougs go to Manhattan for the first meeting ever between Washington State and Kansas State, against a team that just hung 71 on an FCS opponent and is missing three left tackles. Wyatt Wheeler, who covers the Wildcats for the USA TODAY Network and the Topeka Capital-Journal, joins us to explain what K-State actually is. THE GAME Washington State at Kansas State · Saturday, September 12 · 9:00 a.m. Pacific · TNT and HBO Max · Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS THIS WEEK'S GUEST Wyatt Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and the Topeka Capital-Journal, out of Manhattan, Kansas. X: https://x.com/WyattWheeler_ Topeka Capital-Journal: https://www.cjonline.com

Washington State opens the 2026 season on a Sunday afternoon at Husky Stadium, on NBC, as a three-touchdown underdog with a quarterback making his first start as a Coug. We're joined by Christian Caple of On Montlake to find out what Washington actually looks like from the inside. THE GAME Washington State at Washington · Sunday, September 6 · 1:00 p.m. Pacific · NBC · Husky Stadium, Seattle THIS WEEK'S GUEST Christian Caple runs On Montlake, the independent Washington football site and newsletter, and co-hosts Say Who, Say Pod with Danny O'Neil. On Montlake: https://onmontlake.com X: https://x.com/ChristianCaple ═══════════════════════════════ THE 2026 FOUNDING SPONSORS This episode includes paid promotion. Cougs on the Couch is made possible by three Coug-connected businesses. Please go give them your business. ■ BEN COWBOY REALTOR — PRESENTING SPONSOR Presenting sponsor of Cougs on the Couch and of the Weekly Preview segment. Ben Nikolas, Cowboy Realtor. Real estate broker licensed in Washington and Oregon, with MacDonald RE Group at Premiere Property Group, LLC. Buying or selling in WA or OR, Ben is your guy. Website: https://bennikolas.premierepropertygroup.com Email: [email protected] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_cowboyrealtor TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ben_cowboyrealtor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxsYfFM3cdxV9AOOSm0k5w ■ FORTRESS MEGA, LLC — SEGMENT SPONSOR Presenting sponsor of The Recap. Jon R. Erickson, CFP®, CEBS®. Pullman High and Washington State grad, and a financial planner who runs a family-style practice. If you're near retirement and you want less stress and more free time, start the conversation. Website: https://fortressmega.com Email: [email protected] Office: (425) 646-6000 Investment Advisory Services offered through Regal Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Fortress Mega, LLC is independent of Regal investment Advisors. Registrations with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training. ■ PADDOCK SPIRITS CO — SEGMENT SPONSOR Presenting sponsor of The Coug of the Week. Award-winning canned cocktails made in Pullman, Washington, by Cougs. Seven-times-distilled premium vodka, real fruit, natural flavors, perfectly mixed and always ready to drink. Best in Class for vodka-based ready-to-drinks at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Website: https://paddockspiritsco.com 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.

Washington State has a starting quarterback. Caden Pinnick, the UC Davis transfer who won Big Sky Freshman of the Year last season, got the job Monday afternoon over Julian Dugger and Owen Eshelman, and he'll make his first start September 6 at Husky Stadium. One year to the day before that, he walked into the same building wearing UC Davis blue and threw for 50 yards in a 70-10 loss. We break down where he came from, the four days in January that landed him in Pullman, and what fall camp actually decided. Then there's the part nobody at either school wants to talk about. The Cougar Marching Band isn't traveling to Seattle for the Apple Cup. The reported reason is where they'd be seated at Husky Stadium. Washington says the decision belongs to WSU. WSU's band director answered a student reporter with two words: "No comment." Band members were told not to discuss it. We get into what that silence says about a rivalry that has already lost five Apple Cups this year across other sports. Erik Coleman joins us on the Couch. Coleman was a first-team All-Pac-10 safety at Washington State, led the Pac-10 in interceptions in 2003, and forced the fumble that flipped the Holiday Bowl against No. 5 Texas. He played nine NFL seasons with the Jets, Falcons and Lions, and he's now USA Network's Pac-12 studio analyst for the conference's first season. That means he has to say what he actually thinks about this league on national television every week. We asked him to do it here first, including a prediction on the Apple Cup he can't take back. We've also got our sit-down with Ben the Cowboy Realtor, and we're proud to announce that Ben is the presenting sponsor of Cougs on the Couch for the 2026 season. Ben's a Real estate agent serving Washington & Oregon, and he's the kind of Coug-owned business this show was built to support. If you're buying or selling in the PNW, reach out to him at 503-201-1934 or find him at @BenCowboyRealtor . Tell him the Couch sent you. Cougs on the Couch is collab-posted with The Couch GM. Subscribing to Cougs on the Couch directly is what grows this show, so if you get anything out of this one, hit subscribe. THANK YOU to Bad Birdie Golf! https://badbirdiegolf.com/collections/washington-state-university?srsltid=AfmBOoo_YmieF1SRQ5ZB9EEgyqgLMlkgLr3OZhif0dWfvsdF4n_rOf8J Connect with Connor/ The Couch GM- https://lenderconnorwebb.com My Mortgage Lending website- https://www.envoymortgage.com/connor-... My equipment list- https://www.amazon.com/shop/thecouchgm Livestream across channels using StreamYard- https://streamyard.com/?fpr=connor-35 Connor Webb- Mortgage Loan Originator NMLS #1529504 Envoy Mortgage NMLS #6666 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org 0:00 Intro/ Caden Pinnick QB 1/ WSU Band 24:02- Ben The Cowboy/ WAZZU Realtor 34:35- Erik Coleman

Two of Washington State's newest defenders join the show, and neither one took a normal road to Pullman. DJ Warner was the No. 67 recruit in the country coming out of Desert Edge in Arizona. He went to Kansas with his cousin and a high school teammate, spent a year at SMU, and is now learning a brand new position: he played on the edge his first two years and Trent Bray has him at off-ball linebacker. Bray says he's night and day from where he was in the spring, and he looks like a starter. Linus Zunk grew up in Berlin playing club basketball, picked up football as a teenager because the practice field happened to be close to his house, and showed up at a Georgia prep school as a junior with zero college offers. Four years and 36 games at Vanderbilt later, including the best season in that program's history, he's a 6-6 edge rusher spending his last year of eligibility on the Palouse. We get into the Berlin-to-the-SEC path, why you leave a program right after it wins 10 games for the first time ever, what it actually feels like to drop into coverage after two years of rushing the passer, and what this defense has to do differently after finishing 41st in the country in sacks last season. The Apple Cup is 19 days out. If you're new here, hit subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss a Cougs on the Couch episode this season. New shows every week through the fall. Follow us on Instagram for clips, graphics and mailbag questions, and drop a comment with what you want us to ask the next guest. Go Cougs. Connect with Connor/ The Couch GM- https://lenderconnorwebb.com My Mortgage Lending website- https://www.envoymortgage.com/connor-... My equipment list- https://www.amazon.com/shop/thecouchgm My Mortgage Lending website- https://www.envoymortgage.com/connor-... Livestream across channels using StreamYard- https://streamyard.com/?fpr=connor-35 Connor Webb- Mortgage Loan Originator NMLS #1529504 Envoy Mortgage NMLS #6666 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org