2005 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record4–7 (1–7 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Levenseller (5th season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorRobb Akey (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
Seasons
← 2004
2006 →
2005 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 USC † $   8 – 0     12 – 1  
No. 13 Oregon   7 – 1     10 – 2  
No. 16 UCLA   6 – 2     10 – 2  
No. 25 California   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Arizona State   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Stanford   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Oregon State   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Arizona   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Washington State   1 – 7     4 – 7  
Washington   1 – 7     2 – 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • † – USC later vacated 12 wins (8 in conference) and 1 loss due to NCAA sanctions.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2005 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Bill Doba, WSU played its home games at on campus Martin Stadium in Pullman, with one at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Season

Washington State was picked fifth in the pre-season Pac-10 conference poll. They were even classified by some[who?] as a sleeper pick for the national championship, with Alex Brink at the helm. They opened with three non-conference wins in September, but the results were different in league play. In the Pac-10 opener at Oregon State, Brink passed for over 500 yards, but WSU lost by eleven.[1]

The Cougars lost their next three games (Stanford, UCLA, Cal), by a combined ten points; their inability to close out games cost them. After a blowout loss in Los Angeles to top-ranked USC,[2] three-point setbacks at home to Arizona State and #11 Oregon followed, as the conference losing streak extended to seven games.[3] In the Apple Cup at Seattle, they defeated struggling rival Washington by four points to finish at 4–7 overall.[4]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 17:00 pmIdaho*
FSNNWW 38–2628,339
September 97:00 pmat Nevada*
ESPNW 55–2717,552
September 174:00 pmGrambling State*
W 48–751,486
October 11:00 pmat Oregon State
L 33–4442,908
October 82:00 pmStanford
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, Washington
L 21–2433,442
October 153:30 pmNo. 11 UCLAdagger
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, Washington
FSNL 41–44 OT35,117
October 227:15 pmat No. 25 California
FSNL 38–4252,569
October 2912:30 pmat No. 1 USC
ABCL 13–5592,021
November 52:00 pmArizona State
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, Washington
L 24–2731,054
November 127:15 pmNo. 11 Oregon
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, Washington
FSNNWL 31–3427,595
November 1912:15 pmat Washington
FSNW 26–2270,713
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Conference opponent not played this season: Arizona

Game summaries

Washington

1 234Total
• Washington State 10 367 26
Washington 7 078 22
Scoring summary
18:15WSUGreg Prator 30 yard pass from Alex Brink (Loren Langley kick)Wash St 7-0
16:37WASHSonny Shackelford 65 yard pass from Kenny James (Evan Knudson kick)Tie 7-7
11:59WSULoren Langley 22 yard field goalWash St 10-7
21:50WSULoren Langley 48 yard field goalWash St 13-7
37:41WSHCraig Chambers 16 yard pass from Isaiah Stanback (Evan Knudson kick)Wash 14-13
32:53WSUJerome Harrison 19 yard run (pass failed)Wash St 19-14
414:50WASHJames Sims Jr. 3 yard run (Anthony Russo pass from Isaiah Stanback)Wash 22-19
41:20WSUTrandon Harvey 39 yard pass from Alex Brink (Graham Siderius kick)Wash St 26-22

[5]

References

  1. ^ Rodman, Bob (October 2, 2005). "OSU defense finally makes its case". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. D1.
  2. ^ Nadel, John (October 30, 2005). "Trojans determine BCS stands for Beating Cougars Soundly". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. D4.
  3. ^ Clark, Bob (November 13, 2005). "Ducks cool, collected". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. D1.
  4. ^ Fox, Tom (November 21, 2005). "Not a bad Apple". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 1B.
  5. ^ ESPN
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