1987 Washington State Cougars football team

1987 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record3–7–1 (1–5–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBob Bratkowski (1st season)
Offensive schemeSingle-back spread
Defensive coordinatorJohn L. Smith (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
Seasons
← 1986
1988 →
1987 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 18 USC + 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 9 UCLA + 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
Washington 4 – 3 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
No. 20 Arizona State 3 – 3 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Oregon 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Stanford 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Arizona 2 – 3 – 3 4 – 4 – 3
California 2 – 3 – 2 3 – 6 – 2
Washington State 1 – 5 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Oregon State 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Dennis Erickson, the Cougars compiled a 3–7–1 record (1–5–1 in Pac-10, ninth), and were outscored 356 to 238.[1][2] Home games were played on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

The team's statistical leaders included Timm Rosenbach with 2,446 passing yards, Richard Calvin with 822 rushing yards, and Steve Broussard with 701 receiving yards.[3]

After nine years as WSU head coach, Jim Walden departed for Iowa State in the Big Eight Conference in late 1986,[4][5][6] and was succeeded by Erickson, who returned to the Palouse in January 1987 after just one season at Wyoming; he had led neighboring Idaho for the previous four years.[7][8][9] Wyoming visited Pullman in the second week of the season, a fifteen-point Cougar victory.[10][11][12]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 5Fresno State*
W 41–2422,971
September 12Wyoming*
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 43–2824,151[10][11][12]
September 19at No. 19 Michigan*
L 18–44103,521  
September 26at Colorado*
L 17–2643,527
October 10Stanforddagger
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 7–4431,538
October 17at Arizona State
L 7–3870,341
October 24Arizona
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 45–2822,269
October 31at USC
L 7–4224,834
November 14Oregon
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 17–3114,089
November 21at Washington
L 19–3474,038
November 28vs. California
T 17–1754,000[13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1987 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 31 Steve Broussard So
FB 22 Richard Calvin Sr
OT 68 Chris Dyko Jr
QB 12 Brad Gossen Fr
OT 73 John Husby Jr
TE 89 Chris Leighton Sr
G 74 Jim Michalczik Jr
WR 88 William Pellum Jr
QB 3 Timm Rosenbach So
WR 2 Tim Stallworth So
RB 33 Rich Swinton Fr
WR 36 Elmer Thomas Jr
G 60 Mike Utley Jr
TE 82 Doug Wellsandt So
WR 13 Victor Wood Jr
C 56 Paul Wulff So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 87 Marvin Adams Sr
LB 55 Tuineau Alipate Jr
DE 76 Ivan Cook Jr
DT 97 Tim Downing So
LB 57 Brian Forde Sr
DE 96 Randy Gray So
CB 41 James Hasty Sr
DE 93 Chris Hiller Sr
SS 19 Artie Holmes Jr
CB 18 Shawn Landrum Jr
DB 10 Jay Languein So
SS 42 Ron Lee Jr
LB 40 Maury Metcalf Jr
DB 37 Roosevelt Noble So
DT 75 Tony Savage So
LB 21 Neti Ulaga'ono
FS 29 Vernon Todd Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 4 Kevin Adams Sr
P 45 Rob Myers So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

[14][15]

NFL Draft

Two Cougars were selected in the 1988 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
James Hasty CB 3 74 New York Jets
Brian Forde LB 7 190 New Orleans Saints

[16][17]

References

  1. ^ "1987 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  2. ^ "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 77. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  3. ^ "1987 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. ^ "Walden denies seeking job". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). November 21, 1986. p. 21.
  5. ^ Devlin, Vince (December 16, 1986). "It's official: Walden's gone". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.
  6. ^ Condotta, Bob (December 15, 1986). "Iowa State hires WSU's Walden". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1.
  7. ^ Grummert, Dale (January 8, 1987). "Erickson sets lofty goals for Cougars". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. C1.
  8. ^ Condotta, Bob (January 7, 1987). "Denny's dream comes true". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1.
  9. ^ Weaver, Dan (January 8, 1987). "Erickson followed his heart to WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  10. ^ a b Jacobson, Bryan (September 12, 1987). "Cougs, Cowboys are carbon copy". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1D.
  11. ^ a b "WSU deals Cowboys 43-28 loss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 13, 1987. p. 6B.
  12. ^ a b Jacobson, Bryan (September 14, 1987). "Tough week for WSU's Erickson". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1B.
  13. ^ "Field goal lifts California to 17–17 tie with Cougars". The Olympian. November 29, 1987. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Oregon outlook: matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 14, 1987. p. 4C.
  15. ^ "Cougar roster". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 21, 1987. p. B2.
  16. ^ "WSU's Hasty taken by Jets in 3rd round". Idahonian. (Moscow). staff and wire reports. April 25, 1988. p. 3B.
  17. ^ "New Orleans takes Forde in 7th". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). staff and wire reports. April 26, 1988. p. C3.