As WSU portal entrants eclipse 25, no word on players who might play in Holiday Bowl

PULLMAN – Over the past two days, it’s become clear that Washington State football has decided to allow players who enter the portal to remain eligible to play in next week’s Holiday Bowl.

What hasn’t become clear is who the list includes.

As of Saturday, 26 Cougars have entered the transfer portal, including 13 starters and three backups. The group includes quarterback John Mateer, running back Wayshawn Parker, top receivers Kris Hutson and Josh Meredith, defensive tackles David Gusta and Ansel Din-Mbuh, and linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah, plus defensive backs Ethan O’Connor and Jackson Lataimua.

Some have signed with other programs – Din-Mbuh has landed at TCU, Hutson has gone to Arizona and Parker went to Utah – but among the players who haven’t found a new landing spot, it’s unclear who would be interested in playing against No. 21 Syracuse.

Pete Kaligis, serving as acting head coach in the wake of former coach Jake Dickert’s departure for Wake Forest this week, declined to say.

“I’ve already mentioned that. I mentioned that last time,” Kaligis said, referring to his post-practice availability on Thursday. “I’m not gonna talk about that one again.”

Kaligis did not address that topic Thursday, only detailing the status of cornerback Stephen Hall, who appears to be the only Cougar likely to play in the bowl game. Kaligis said Hall has his transfer portal paperwork submitted but is not ready to move on from the program yet. In recent days, Hall has been posting offers he’s received from other schools on social media.

Also up in the air is the status of center Devin Kylany, who missed each of the final two games of the regular season with a knee injury. Asked about Kylany’s status, Kaligis said only, “We’ll find out.”

If Kylany can’t play, look for Brock Dieu to fill in at center, which is what he did in Kylany’s absence against Oregon State and Wyoming. In those games, guard Christian Hilborn played right guard and Rod Tialavea played left guard – but unless portal-bound right tackle Fa’alili Fa’amoe decides to play in the bowl game, his absence would shuffle the deck.

Assuming Fa’amoe is out – he was on a visit to Nebraska this week – it’s likely redshirt freshman Ashton Tripp would play right tackle to allow Hilborn to play his more natural position of guard. But if Kylany does play, expect Dieu to move back to right guard and Hilborn to move to right tackle.

In other news, about 12 players missed Saturday’s practice because of flu-like symptoms including fevers, Kaligis said. It added another round of instability to the WSU program, which is without a head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, running backs coach and quarterbacks coach.

In those coaches’ absence, Dickert had tabbed wide receivers coach Nick Edwards to call offensive plays next week in San Diego, which appears to remain the case.

What’s more uncertain is who will call the defense, which Dickert was supposed to do. Asked about that topic, Kaligis remained mum again.

“Can I answer that question later?” Kaligis said. “I sort of answered that question yesterday, but there’s still a lot in there. We’re good.”

Kaligis addressed some of that topic in his last availability, which was Thursday, crediting nickels/safeties coach Jordan Malone, edges coach Frank Maile, cornerbacks coach Allen Brown, offensive line coach Jared Kaster and assistant special teams coach Justin Mesa for their commitment to the program.

The rest of the remaining coaching staff includes special teams coordinator Nick Whitworth and assistant secondary coach Calin Criner. Otherwise, the Cougars’ coaching staff is made up of graduate assistants and strength and conditioning coaches.