1981 Washington State Cougars football
Holiday Bowl, L 36–38 vs. BYU
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record8–3–1 (5–2–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorPat Ruel (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorBob Padilla (2nd season)
Home stadiumMartin Stadium,
Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Washington $ 6 – 2 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Arizona State 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 14 USC 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Washington State 5 – 2 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
UCLA 5 – 2 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Arizona 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Stanford 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
California 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Oregon 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Oregon State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Jim Walden, the Cougars compiled an 8–3–1 record (5–2–1 in Pac-10, tied for fourth), and outscored their opponents 297 to 197.[1][2]

The team's statistical leaders included Clete Casper with 939 passing yards, Tim Harris with 915 rushing yards, and Jeff Keller with 495 receiving yards.[3]

The Cougars entered the Apple Cup with an 8–1–1 record and a win over Washington at Husky Stadium would clinch the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth, their first in 51 years.[4][5][6] The Huskies prevailed again at home,[7][8][9] and then shut out Iowa in the Rose Bowl.[10]

The Cougars went to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego,[9][11] and lost a close, entertaining game to Brigham Young of the WAC, led by consensus All-American quarterback Jim McMahon,[12][13][14][15] the fifth overall selection of the 1982 NFL draft.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 12Montana State*
W 33–2123,721[16]
September 19at Colorado*
W 14–1035,277
September 26No. 18 Arizona State
W 24–2124,481
October 3Pacific (CA)*
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 31–017,923
October 10at Oregon State
W 23–032,500
October 17UCLANo. 18
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
T 17–1740,000
October 24at ArizonaNo. 16
W 34–1950,265
October 31at No. 4 USCNo. 14
L 17–4160,972
November 7Oregon
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 39–733,500
November 14CaliforniaNo. 17
  • Joe Albi Stadium
  • Spokane, WA
W 19–031,000
November 21at No. 17 WashingtonNo. 14
L 10–2360,234
December 18vs. No. 14 BYU*No. 20
L 36–3852,419
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 89 Pat Beach Sr
QB 9 Clete Casper Jr
FL 87 Paul Escalera Sr
OT 60 Charlie Flager Jr
RB 43 Tim Harris Jr
SE 88 Jeff Keller Sr
G 55 Mark McKay Sr
SE 2 Cameron Mitchell Sr
G 63 Gary Patrick Jr
QB 17 Mark Rypien Fr
C 51 Steve Sebahar Jr
OT 72 Kevin Sloan Jr
QB 12 Ricky Turner So
RB 42 Robert Williams Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 96 Lee Blakeney So
CB 30 Nate Bradley Sr
DT 95 Ken Collins Sr
DT 73 Matt Elisara Sr
LB 18 Mark Pleis Jr
LB 34 Ken Emmil Jr
CB 41 Jeff Files Sr
CB 6 Bill Gribble Sr
DT 93 Keith Millard So
FS 48 Peter Shaw Sr
FS 28 Paul Sorensen Sr
SS 44 John West Sr
LB 57 Brent White Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
LS 89 Pat Beach Sr
P 16 Tim Davey Sr
H 6 Bill Gribble Sr
K 4 Ward Leland
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Pat Ruel – (OC)
  • Bob Padilla – (DC)
  • John Daniels
  • Dave Elliott
  • Gary Gagnon
  • Lindsay Hughes
  • Steve Morton
  • Mel Sanders
  • Harold Wheeler
  • Ken Woody
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

[17][18][19][20][21][22]

NFL Draft

Four Cougars were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Paul Sorensen DB 5 138 Cincinnati Bengals
Pat Beach TE 6 140 Baltimore Colts
Ken Collins LB 8 197 New England Patriots
Jeff Keller WR 11 246 Atlanta Falcons

[23][24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ "1981 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. 77. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  3. ^ "1981 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Gerheim, Earl (November 21, 1981). "Cougs: Today's the day". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 17.
  5. ^ Barrows, Bob (November 21, 1981). "WSU and Washington ready to pull the trigger". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  6. ^ Withers, Bud (November 21, 1981). "Cougars-Huskies game: The toughest ticket in town". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (November 22, 1981). "Huskies shatter a Cougar dream". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
  8. ^ Barrows, Bob (November 22, 1981). "WSU's cheers turn to tears in Seattle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 3D.
  9. ^ a b Van Sickel, Charlie (November 23, 1981). "'Holiday' next for frustrated Cougars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 33.
  10. ^ Oates, Bob (January 2, 1982). "Everything comes up roses for UW, 28-0". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
  11. ^ Blanchette, John (November 23, 1981). "It's WSU vs. BYU's aerial circus". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C4.
  12. ^ "McMahon makes Holiday happy one for BYU, 38-36". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1981. p. 2B.
  13. ^ Barrows, Bob (December 19, 1981). "Washington State almost has a curtain call". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  14. ^ Van Sickel, Charlie (December 19, 1981). "BYU survives on strong finish". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 13.
  15. ^ Robinson, Doug (December 19, 1981). "Y. wins another Holiday heart stopper". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
  16. ^ "Washington State teams Bobcats". The Montana Standard. September 13, 1981 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  17. ^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 7, 1981. p. 5B.
  18. ^ "Probable lineups: WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 21, 1981. p. 17.
  19. ^ "Probable lineups". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 21, 1981. p. 2C.
  20. ^ "WSU roster". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 18, 1981. p. 22.
  21. ^ "Starting lineups". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). December 18, 1981. p. 12B.
  22. ^ "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  23. ^ Barrows, Bob (April 28, 1982). "Sorenson, Beach drafted". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  24. ^ "NFL teams take best local talent". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 29, 1982. p. 27.
  25. ^ "Two more Cougars drafted in NFL". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 29, 1982. p. 1C.
  26. ^ "Four Cougars, two Vandals picked". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). April 29, 1982. p. 35.
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