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1997 Washington State Cougars football team

1997 Washington State Cougars football
Pac-10 co-champion
Rose Bowl, L 16–21 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 9
Record10–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJim McDonell (4th season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorBill Doba (4th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →
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 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.

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] Freshman defensive back Lamont Thompson led the team with 6 interceptions.[8]

The Rose Bowl appearance was the first for Washington State in 67 years;[1][9] the next was five years later.[10][11]

Leaf decided to forgo his remaining season of eligibility (1998) and entered the 1998 NFL draft,[12][13] where he was the second overall selection.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  7. ^ "1997 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  8. ^ "1997 Washington State Cougars Stats".
  9. ^ Grummert, Dale (January 1, 1998). "Moment of truth". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  10. ^ Richardson, Vince (January 1, 2003). "The game has arrived". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 1B.
  11. ^ Grummert, Dale (January 2, 2003). "A thorny sendoff". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  12. ^ Grummert, Dale (January 3, 1998). "Change of venue". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  13. ^ Bruscas, Angelo (January 3, 1998). "Cougars' Leaf bound for NFL". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). p. 3D.
  14. ^ "Manning No. 1, Leaf gladly No. 2". Lewiston Morning Tribune. staff and wire reports. April 19, 1998. p. 1B.
  15. ^ "Indianapolis snaps up Manning at No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 19, 1998. p. 1G.
  16. ^ Jewell, Mark (April 20, 1998). "Draft goes over well in Pullman". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. p. 1C.
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