1997 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1997 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth season under head coach Mike Price, the Cougars went 10–1 in the regular season (7–1 in Pac-10), won the conference championship,[1] lost to #1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl,[2][3][4] and outscored their opponents 483 to 296.[5][6] They played their home games on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington, and were ninth in the final rankings.

1997 Washington State Cougars football
Pac-10 co-champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–21 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 9
1997 record10–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJohn McDonell (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorBill Doba (4th season)
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
(Capacity: 37,600)
1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 9 Washington State +  7 –1     10 –2  
No. 5 UCLA +  7 –1     10 –2  
No. 14 Arizona State  6 –2     9 –3  
No. 18 Washington  5 –3     8 –4  
Arizona  4 –4     7 –5  
USC  4 –4     6 –5  
Oregon  3 –5     7 –5  
Stanford  3 –5     5 –6  
California  1 –7     3 –8  
Oregon State  0 –8     3 –8  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Ryan Leaf with 3,968 passing yards, Michael Black with 1,181 rushing yards, and Chris Jackson with 1,005 receiving yards.[7]

The Rose Bowl appearance was the first for Washington State in 67 years;[1][8] the next was five years later.[9][10]

Leaf decided to forgo his remaining season of eligibility (1998) and entered the 1998 NFL Draft,[11][12] where he was the second overall selection.[13][14][15]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 3012:30 pmUCLA
ABCW 37–3426,000
September 133:30 pmat No. 23 USC
FSNW 28–2151,655
September 209:30 amat Illinois*No. 19
ESPN2W 35–2247,131
September 272:00 pmBoise State*No. 15
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 58–034,131
October 41:00 pmat OregonNo. 15
W 24–1343,516
October 182:00 pmCaliforniaNo. 13
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 63–3735,739
October 2512:30 pmArizonaNo. 10
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
ABCW 35–34 OT31,137
November 17:00 pmat No. 20 Arizona StateNo. 10
FSNL 31–4473,644
November 82:00 pmSouthwestern Louisiana*No. 16
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 77–732,345
November 152:00 pmStanfordNo. 14
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 38–2840,306
November 2212:30 pmat No. 20 WashingtonNo. 11
ABCW 41–3574,268
January 12:00 pmvs. No. 1 Michigan*No. 8
ABCL 16–21101,219
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Roster
1996 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 13 Steve Birnbaum So
RB 6 Michael Black Sr
RB 24 Jason Clayton Jr
RB 1 DeJuan Gilmore Jr
C 62 Lee Harrison Sr
RB 37 Adam Hawkins Fr
WR 81 Chris Jackson Sr
TE 20 Love Jefferson Jr
QB 16 Ryan Leaf Jr
TE 86 Brenden Marshall Jr
C 76 Jason McEndoo Sr
WR 9 Kevin McKenzie Sr
T 76 Ryan McShane Sr
WR 45 Shawn McWashington Sr
T 79 Rob Rainville Jr
WR 82 Nian Taylor So
G 71 Cory Withrow Sr
WR 8 Shawn Tims Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 91 Leon Bender Sr
DE 90 Dorian Boose Sr
DE 46 Shane Doyle Sr
CB 3 LeJuan Gibbons So
LB 34 Steve Gleason So
DB 29 Torry Hollimon So
DT 95 Gary Holmes Jr
DB 28 Jermaine Hunsaker Fr
FS 2 Ray Jackson Sr
LB 22 Brandon Moore Sr
CB 6 Dee Moronkola Jr
LB 43 Todd Nelson Jr
SS 25 Duane Stewart Sr
DB 19 Lamont Thompson Fr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 12 Jeff Banks Sr
K 21 Rian Lindell So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt
Source:[16][17]

Awards and honors

NFL Draft

Four Cougars were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft; quarterback Ryan Leaf was taken second overall.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Ryan LeafQB12San Diego Chargers
Leon BenderDT231Oakland Raiders
Dorian BooseDT256New York Jets
Jason McEndooT7197Seattle Seahawks
Source:[13][15][18]

References
  1. de Leon, Virginia; Sorensen, Eric (November 23, 1997). "A Wazzu bouquet". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. A1.
  2. Grummert, Dale (January 2, 1998). "Cougs fall one miracle short". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1A.
  3. Kearney, Trevor (January 2, 1998). "A Rose to remember". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 1B.
  4. Rosenblatt, Richard (January 2, 1998). "Michigan's No. 1 bid blooms". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1C.
  5. "1997 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  6. "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 77. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  7. "1997 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  8. Grummert, Dale (January 1, 1998). "Moment of truth". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  9. Richardson, Vince (January 1, 2003). "The game has arrived". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 1B.
  10. Grummert, Dale (January 2, 2003). "A thorny sendoff". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  11. Grummert, Dale (January 3, 1998). "Change of venue". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  12. Bruscas, Angelo (January 3, 1998). "Cougars' Leaf bound for NFL". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). p. 3D.
  13. "Manning No. 1, Leaf gladly No. 2". Lewiston Morning Tribune. staff and wire reports. April 19, 1998. p. 1B.
  14. "Indianapolis snaps up Manning at No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 19, 1998. p. 1G.
  15. Jewell, Mark (April 20, 1998). "Draft goes over well in Pullman". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. p. 1C.
  16. "Oregon Outlook". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 4, 1997. p. 4D.
  17. "Stanford at WSU: stat leaders". Lewiston Morning Tribune. November 15, 1997. p. 4B.
  18. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1998.htm
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