American college football season
The1986 Washington State Cougars football team was anAmerican football team that representedWashington State University in thePacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the1986 NCAA Division I-A football season . In their ninth and final season under head coachJim Walden ,3–7–1 record(2–6–1 in Pac-10, eighth place) and were outscored 312 to 221.[ 1] [ 2]
The Cougars tied eventualRose Bowl championArizona State inTempe in lateSeptember,[ 3] then beatUSC by twenty points in Pullman, but lost their final five games and dropped in the standings.
WSU's statistical leaders in 1986 included senior quarterback Ed Blount with 1,882 passing yards, Kerry Porter with 921 rushing yards, andKitrick Taylor with 523 receiving yards.[ 4] Timm Rosenbach ,[ 5] [ 6] Mike Utley , and future head coachPaul Wulff .[ 7]
Walden departed forIowa State in theBig Eight Conference inmid-December,[ 8] [ 9] [ 10] [ 11] and was succeeded byDennis Erickson , who returned to thePalouse (four years atIdaho ) inJanuary1987 after just one seasonatWyoming .[ 12] [ 13]
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 6 UNLV * W 34–1417,000 [ 14] September 13 San Jose State * Martin Stadium Pullman, WA L 13–2015,000 [ 15] September 20 atCalifornia L 21–3141,500 [ 16] September 27 at No. 11Arizona State T 21–2170,543 [ 17] October 4 Oregon State Martin Stadium Pullman, WA W 24–1425,200 [ 18] October 11 No. 9USC Martin Stadium Pullman, WA W 34–1426,000 [ 19] October 25 at No. 17UCLA L 16–5446,189 [ 20] November 1 atStanford L 12–4235,000 [ 21] November 8 No. 17Arizona Martin Stadium Pullman, WA L 6–3117,000 [ 22] November 15 atOregon L 17–2725,137 [ 23] November 22 No. 12Washington L 23–4440,000 [ 24] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game
[ 2] [ 25]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total UNLV 0 7 0 7 14 • Washington St 21 3 7 3 34
Scoring summary Q1 WSU Taylor 11 yard pass from Blount (Adams kick) WSU 7–0 Q1 WSU Blount 14 yard run (Adams kick) WSU 14–0 Q1 WSU Collins 71 yard interception return (Adams kick) WSU 21–0 Q2 UNLV Woods 5 yard run (Libonati kick) WSU 21–7 Q2 WSU Adams 32 yard field goal WSU 24–7 Q3 WSU Wood 15 yard pass from Blount (Adams kick) WSU 31–7 Q4 WSU Obrastoff 44 yard field goal WSU 34–7 Q4 UNLV Jones 10 yard run (Libonati kick) WSU 34–14
Source: [ 26]
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
WSU – Ed Tingstad 3-yard run (Kevin Adams kick).Tie 7–7.Drive: WSU – Kevin Adams 51-yard field goal.Washington St 10–7.Drive: WASH – Tony Covington 2-yard run (Jeff Jaeger kick).Washington 14–10.Drive: WASH – Matt Slater 25-yard pass from Chris Chandler (Jeff Jaeger kick).Washington 21–10.Drive: Third quarter
WASH – Matt Slater 38-yard pass from Chris Chandler (Jeff Jaeger kick).Washington 28–10.Drive: WASH – Jeff Jaeger 43-yard field goal.Washington 31–10.Drive: WASH – Jeff Jaeger 26-yard field goal.Washington 34–10.Drive: WSU – Kerry Porter 2-yard run (Kevin Adams kick).Washington 34–17.Drive: Fourth quarter
WASH – Matt Slater 25-yard pass from Chris Chandler (Jeff Jaeger kick).Washington 41–17.Drive: WSU – Kerry Porter 9-yard run (pass failed).Washington 41–23.Drive: WASH – Jeff Jaeger 27-yard field goal, 3:16.Washington 44–23.Drive: Top passers WASH –Chris Chandler – 15/20, 204 yards, 4 TD WSU – Ed Blount – 16/30, 240 yards, 2 int Top rushers WASH – Vince Weathersby – 25 rushes, 177 yards WSU – Kerry Porter – 25 rushes, 90 yards, 2 TD Top receivers WASH – Matt Slater – 4 receptions, 106 yards, 3 TD WSU – Rodd Olson – 6 receptions, 94 yards
1986 Washington State Cougars football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 4 Kevin Adams Jr P 45 Rob Myers Fr
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Jim Burrow (DB) Dave Elliott (LB) Jon Fabris (TE) Gary Gagnon (RB) Lindsay Hughes Steve Morton (OL) Robin Ross (DL) Mel Sanders Ken Woody (WR) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible
[ 9] [ 27] [ 28] [ 29] [ 30] [ 31]
Four Cougars were selected in the1987 NFL draft .
[ 32] [ 33]
^ "1986 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 24, 2016 .^a b "2016 Media Guide" (PDF) .WSUCougars.com . Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 77. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. RetrievedOctober 24, 2016 .^ "WSU is fit to be tied with Arizona State" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. September 28, 1986. p. 1C.^ "1986 Washington State Cougars Stats" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 24, 2016 .^ Grummert, Dale (September 21, 1986)."Kicking off Pac-10 play on wrong foot" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. p. 1B. ^ Fears, Shannon (November 16, 1986)."Cougars locate their quarterback, but not in time" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. p. 4C. ^ "Washington State at Arizona State: probable starters" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. September 27, 1986. p. 3B.^ "Walden denies seeking job" .Spokane Chronicle . Washington. November 21, 1986. p. 21.^a b Devlin, Vince (December 16, 1986)."It's official: Walden's gone" .Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington. p. B1. ^ Condotta, Bob (December 15, 1986)."Iowa State hires WSU's Walden" .Idahonian . Moscow. p. 1. ^ Grummert, Dale (December 16, 1986)."The Walden era comes to a close" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. p. 1B. ^ Grummert, Dale (January 8, 1987)."Erickson sets lofty goals for Cougars" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. p. C1. ^ Condotta, Bob (January 7, 1987)."Denny's dream comes true" .Idahonian . Moscow. p. 1. ^ "Cougars open with 34–14 victory over UNLV" .Tri-City Herald . September 7, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "San Jose State stops Washington St. 20–13" .The Idaho Statesman . September 14, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cougs take licks on kicks" .The Spokesman-Review . September 21, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cougars, Arizona State play to hard-fought 21–21 tie" .The Olympian . September 28, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Blount passes Washington St. past Oregon St" .The Idaho Statesman . October 5, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Porter keys WSU upset of Trojans" .The Billings Gazette . October 12, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "UCLA unmasks Cougars, 54–16" .The San Bernardino County Sun . October 26, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Cougars can't pass Muster" .The Spokesman-Review . November 2, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Arizona runs all over Cougars" .The Daily Herald . November 9, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Ducks top WSU by 27–17" .The Sunday Oregonian . November 16, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "How 'bout them Dawgs!!!" .The News Tribune . November 23, 1986. RetrievedApril 21, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "1986 Washington State Cougars and Results" .Sports Reference . RetrievedSeptember 21, 2022 .^ Gainesville Sun. 1986 Sep 7. Retrieved 2018-Jan-15. ^ Devlin, Vince (December 17, 1986)."WSU assistants left in limbo" .Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington. p. D1. ^ Grummert, Dale (December 17, 1986)."Walden's staff considers its options" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. p. 1B. ^ "2009 Football media guide: coaches" (PDF) . Washington State University Athletics. 2009. p. 179. RetrievedFebruary 5, 2020 .^ "Washington State vs. California" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. (probable starters). September 20, 1986. p. 4B.^ "Starting lineups" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. November 15, 1986. p. 4C.^ Bergum, Steve (April 29, 1987)."Reynolds goes in 2nd round" .Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington. p. D1. ^ "Four Cougars go in football draft" .Idahonian . Moscow. April 29, 1987. p. 6.
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