1973 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1973 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their sixth season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 5–6 record (4–3 in Pac-8, fourth), and were outscored 290 to 250.[1][2]

1973 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1973 record	5–6 (4–3 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jim Sweeney (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Tiller (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Ray Braun (2nd season)
Captains	Greg Craighead (DT) Tom Poe (LB)
Home stadium	Martin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)

1973 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
No. 12 UCLA	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Washington State	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
California	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Washington	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Chuck Peck with 1,023 passing yards, Andrew Jones with 1,059 rushing yards, and Tim Krause with 384 receiving yards.[3]

The Cougars won their last four games, all in conference, which included a sweep of the three Northwest teams; the season concluded with a second consecutive win in the Apple Cup over Washington, this time a 52–26 rout on the road in Seattle.[4][5][6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 15	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 8–29	39,750
September 22	at No. 13 Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 9–20	51,252
September 29	Idaho*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	W 51–24	22,500
October 6	at No. 1 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 3–27	87,425
October 13	at No. 4 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 35–46	50,975
October 20	No. 13 UCLA	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 13–24	32,200
October 27	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 14–45	48,000
November 3	Oregon	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 21–14	19,800
November 10	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 13–7	17,336
November 17	California	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 31–28	13,082
November 24	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	W 52–26	56,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1973 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OG 69 Bob Aldrich Jr RB Charles Anderson QB Wally Bennett WR 49 Fritz Brayton Sr FB 30 Vern Chamberlain So RB Ron Cheatham OG 61 Bob Drinkwalter Sr TE Bob Engel RB 44 Ken Grandberry Sr OT 51 Mike Hill Sr QB John Hopkins WR 40 Greg Johnson Sr FB 39 Andrew Jones Jr TE 86 Tim Krause Sr RB Jim Lewis OL Wilbur McKinney TE Lloyd Minor QB 10 Mike Mitchell Jr OL Steve Morton OG 62 Steve Ostermann Jr WR Dennis Pearson QB 13 Chuck Peck Jr C 65 Geoff Reece Jr WR 47 Rick Riegle Jr OT 75 Tom Wickert Sr WR Gordon Yeomans	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Rod Anderson S 36 Mike Carter Jr DB Dennis Clancy DT 71 Greg Craighead (C) Sr DE 79 Joe Daniels Jr DE 90 Mark Husfloen So S 37 Eric Johnson Sr CB 22 Basil Kimbrew Jr LB 66 Gary Larsen Jr CB 21 Morris Noble Sr DE 85 Don Olsen Sr DB Woodrow Perkins LB 58 Tom Poe (C) Sr LB Steve Roberts CB 24 Robin Sinclair Sr LB 67 Clyde Warehime Sr DL Lee Weatherford DT 77 Daryl Zanck Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Joe Danelo Jr P 40 Greg Johnson Sr	Head coach Jim Sweeney (6th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Ray Braun – (DC,LB) Joe Tiller – (OC,OL) Bob Simpson – (WR) Walt Cubley – (DE) Jack Elway – (QB,RB) Larry Donovan – (DT) Bill Cords – (TE,JV) Ron Mims – (DB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:[7][8][9][10][11]

Season summary

at Ohio State

Washington State Cougars (1–2) at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington State	0	3	0	0	3
Ohio State	0	14	13	0	27

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

• Date: October 6
• Game weather: Sunny, 65 °F (18 °C)
• Game attendance: 87425
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter OSU – Bruce Elia 17-yard run (kick failed), 7:14. Ohio State 6–0. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards. OSU – Archie Griffin 6-yard pass from Cornelius Greene (pass good), 3:20. Ohio State 14–0. Drive: 9 plays, 77 yards. WSU – Joe Danelo 41-yard field goal, 0:22. Ohio State 14–3. Drive: 40 yards. Third quarter OSU – Archie Griffin 26-yard run (kick blocked), 9:21. Ohio State 20–3. Drive: 12 plays, 84 yards. OSU – Bruce Elia 9-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 5:13. Ohio State 27–3. Drive: 3 plays, 33 yards. Fourth quarter No scoring Top passers WSU – Wally Bennett – 7/11, 50 yards, INT OSU – Cornelius Greene – 3/6, 62 yards, TD, INT Top rushers WSU – Andrew Jones – 17 rushes, 64 yards OSU – Archie Griffin – 15 rushes, 128 yards, TD Top receivers WSU – Fritz Brayton – 6 receptions, 45 yards OSU – Dave Hazel – 1 reception, 49 yards

[12]

at Washington

1 2 3 4 Total • Washington St 14 28 0 10 52 Washington 0 6 20 0 26 Date: November 24 Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle Game start: 1:30 pm PST Game attendance: 56,500 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C)

Scoring summary Q1 WSU Jones 12 yard run (Danelo kick) WSU 7–0 Q1 WSU Jones 1 yard run (Danelo kick) WSU 14–0 Q2 WSU Johnson 42 yard pass from Peck (Danelo kick) WSU 21–0 Q2 WSU Grandberry 17 yard pass from Peck (Danelo kick) WSU 28–0 Q2 WASH Taggares 19 yard pass from Rowland (kick failed) WSU 28–6 Q2 WSU Jones 62 yard run (Danelo kick) WSU 35–6 Q2 WSU Grandberry 1 yard run (Danelo kick) WSU 42–6 Q3 14:32 WASH Conley 75 yard pass from Rowland (pass failed) WSU 42–12 Q3 WASH Oldes 29 yard pass from Rowland (pass failed) WSU 42–18 Q3 WASH Oldes 24 yard pass from Rowland (Earl pass from Rowland) WSU 42–26 Q4 WSU Chamberlain 2 yard run (Danelo kick) WSU 49–26 Q4 WSU Danelo 38 yard field goal WSU 52–26

• Chuck Peck 9/17, 249 Yds
• Andrew Jones 139 Rush Yds
• Most points ever scored against Washington

Source:[4][5][6]

All-conference

Three Washington State players were named to the All-Pac-8 team: senior linebacker Tom Poe, junior guard Steve Ostermann, and junior center Geoff Reece.[13][14] Ostermann was a repeat selection; he and Reece returned to the first team the next year.[15]

NFL Draft

Three Cougars were selected in the 1974 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Robin Sinclair	DB	6	152	Cincinnati Bengals
Ken Grandberry	RB	8	190	Chicago Bears
Tom Wickert	G	9	212	Miami Dolphins

Source:[16][17]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

References

1. "1973 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. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
3. "1973 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
4. Missildine, Harry (November 25, 1973). "Peck, Jones wield Cougars' weapons in 52-26 rout of Washington Huskies". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
5. "Jones rushes for 139, WSU rolls by Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 25, 1973. p. 6D.
6. Brown, Bruce (November 26, 1973). "Sweeney pleased by year, future". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 15.
7. "Bruins vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (probable starters, rosters). October 20, 1973. p. 12.
8. "Todays lineups: WSU at OSU". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 10, 1973. p. 2B.
9. "WSU choice over Huskies today". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 24, 1973. p. 15.
10. Brown, Bruce (November 23, 1973). "Huskies, Cougars have goals". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 19.
11. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
12. "Sub Fullback leads Buckeyes to Victory." Palm Beach Post. 1973 Oct 7. Retrieved 2015-Nov-05.
13. "Three Cougars land on All-Pac-8 squad". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 3, 1973. p. 17.
14. "Three Ducks on Pac-8 unit". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 2, 1973. p. 3B.
15. "3 Cougars on Pac-8 all-stars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. December 5, 1974. p. 49.
16. Pumphrey, Lew (January 31, 1974). "NFL teams draft two Vandals, three Cougs". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 13.
17. "Five area stars go in NFL draft". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 30, 1974. p. 10.

External links

• Game program: Idaho at WSU – September 29, 1973
• WSU Libraries: Football game films – archive