1975 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1975 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their eighth season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (0–7 in Pac-8, last) and were outscored 295 to 262.[1][2]

1975 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Record3–8 (0–7 Pac-8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJack Elway (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorLarry Donovan (2nd season)
Home stadiumMartin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 1 0 9 2 1
No. 14 California + 6 1 0 8 3 0
Stanford 5 2 0 6 4 1
Washington 5 2 0 6 5 0
No. 17 USC 3 4 0 8 4 0
Oregon 2 5 0 3 8 0
Oregon State 1 6 0 1 10 0
Washington State 0 7 0 3 8 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included John Hopkins with 1,022 passing yards, Vaughn Williams with 662 rushing yards, and Brian Kelly with 371 receiving yards.[3]

With two wins to open the season,[4][5][6] followed by seven consecutive losses,[7] the Cougars took out their frustrations on over-matched neighbor Idaho in the Battle of the Palouse on November 15, scoring eight touchdowns in the first half on the way to an 84–27 rout.[8][9][10] The next week at Husky Stadium in Seattle, WSU led rival Washington 27–13 with three minutes left in Don James' first Apple Cup, but gave up two long touchdowns to lose by a point.[11][12][13][14]

Sweeney resigned a week later,[15][16][17] and was promptly hired at Fresno State.[18][19][20][21]

This was the first season for the concrete north grandstand at Martin Stadium; the student section, it was formerly a wooden grandstand constructed in the 1930s as part of Rogers Field.[22][23][24] (1975 aerial photo)[25]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 13at Kansas*W 18–1433,378
September 20at Utah*W 30–1419,622[26]
September 27CaliforniaL 21–3324,500
October 4at Illinois*L 21–2751,060
October 11at No. 3 USCL 10–2847,408
October 18No. 18 UCLAL 23–3728,500
October 25at StanfordL 14–5435,000
November 1Oregon 
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 14–2618,100
November 8at Oregon StateL 0–713,489
November 15Idaho*
W 84–2717,300[8][9]
November 22at WashingtonL 27–2857,100
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

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Washington

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Washington State Cougars at Washington Huskies
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Washington St 10 14 3027
Washington 7 7 01428

at Husky StadiumSeattle, Washington

  • Date: November 22
  • Game time: 1:30 pm PST
  • Game weather: Rain • 50 °F (10 °C)
  • Game attendance: 57,100
  • [11][12][13][14]
Game information

Roster

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1975 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 80 Carl Barschig Sr
QB 12 Wally Bennett Jr
FB 30 Vern Chamberlain Sr
C 60 Jon DesPois Jr
RB 11 Dan Doornink So
RB 31 Harold Gillum
G 54 Bob Hill Jr
QB 18 John Hopkins Jr
SE 44 Brian Kelly So
SE 27 Ray Kimble Sr
SE 21 Mike Levenseller So
SE 3 Mike Maenhout Sr
SE 1 Dennis Pearson So
OT 75 Robin Ross Sr
OT 73 Dan Smith Sr
C 56 Dave Tobin Sr
QB 14 Jack Thompson Fr
FB 24 Vaughn Williams Sr
G 70 Mark Young Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
SS 41 Tony Cook Jr
S 5 Rufus Cunningham Sr
NT 82 Dennis Dobberpuhl Sr
CB 37 Ken Greene So
CB 25 Tony Heath Sr
LB 57 Don Hover Jr
DE 90 Mark Husfloen Sr
LB 58 Scott Mullenix Sr
DE 87 Tim Ochs Jr
LB 94 Bill Patterson Sr
CB 15 Mark Patterson So
LB 63 Jerry Payne Sr
DT 50 George Yarno Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 33 Chuck Diedrick Jr
P 46 Gavin Hedrick So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]

NFL draft

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Four Cougars were selected in the 1976 NFL draft

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Robin Ross T 10 275 San Francisco
Mark Young T 13 370 Oakland Raiders
Mark Husfloen DE 14 383 Atlanta Falcons
Dan Smith T 15 405 Seattle Seahawks

[35][36]

References

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  1. ^ "1975 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. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  3. ^ "1975 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Brown, Bruce (September 15, 1975). "Cougars happy, but shy of goal". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 19.
  5. ^ "Hopkins, Doornink push WSU past Utah 30-14". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 21, 1975. p. 1B.
  6. ^ "Combo of two efforts WSU need this week". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). September 22, 1975. p. 13.
  7. ^ Missildine, Harry (November 9, 1975). "Pass interception key to Oregon State win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
  8. ^ a b Barrows, Bob. "WSU turns Battle of Palouse in 84-27 rout". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
  9. ^ a b Missildine, Harry (November 16, 1975). "Cougars clobber Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. D1.
  10. ^ Brown, Bruce (November 17, 1975). "Runaway Cougs want UW victory". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 17.
  11. ^ a b Missildine, Harry (November 23, 1975). "Bomb, theft beat Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1.
  12. ^ a b Barrows, Bob (November 23, 1975). "Cougs bit from behind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  13. ^ a b "WSU gets greedy, falls to Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 23, 1975. p. 3B.
  14. ^ a b Brown, Bruce (November 24, 1975). "Changes due at WSU". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 25.
  15. ^ "Sweeney uses option, quits as WSU boss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. December 1, 1975. p. 1B.
  16. ^ Missildine, Harry (December 1, 1975). "Cougar coach Jim Sweeney resigns". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 14.
  17. ^ "Cougar coach Jim Sweeney calls it quits". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. December 1, 1975. p. 10.
  18. ^ Derrick, Merle (December 9, 1975). "Sweeney takes Fresno post". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 31.
  19. ^ Missildine, Harry (December 10, 1975). "Sweeney to Fresno". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
  20. ^ "Sweeney goes south". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 10, 1975. p. 2D.
  21. ^ "Jim Sweeney named Fresno State coach". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. December 10, 1975. p. 12.
  22. ^ Felgenhauer, Neil (March 8, 1974). "Stadium to seat more". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 1.
  23. ^ "Stands demolished". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 21, 1974. p. 1.
  24. ^ "Pre-cast for Cougars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). June 10, 1975. p. 24.
  25. ^ "Moscow & Pullman set progressive pace in Palouse country". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Sunday Magazine). December 27, 1975. p. 28.
  26. ^ "Cougars throttle Utes 30–14 as Doornink gets three TDs". The Spokesman-Review. September 21, 1975. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Probable starters". Lawrence Journal-World. (Kansas). September 12, 1975. p. 13.
  28. ^ "Probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 12, 1975. p. 24.
  29. ^ "Bears vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (probable starters, rosters). September 27, 1975. p. 12.
  30. ^ "Bruins vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (probable starters, rosters). October 18, 1975. p. 12.
  31. ^ "WSU Cougars: Probable starters, coaches". Stanford Daily. (California). (Stanford University). October 25, 1975. p. 5.
  32. ^ "Ducks vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (rosters). November 1, 1975. p. 17.
  33. ^ "Vandals vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (probable starters, rosters). November 15, 1975. p. 12.
  34. ^ 2010 Washington State football media guide
  35. ^ "Four Cougars, Vandal taken in NFL's draft". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 10, 1976. p. 10.
  36. ^ "Three Palouse gridders drafted". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 10, 1976. p. 1B.
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