1975 Washington State Cougars football team

1975 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Record3–8 (0–7 Pac-8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJack Elway (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorLarry Donovan (2nd season)
Home stadiumMartin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 1 0 9 2 1
No. 14 California + 6 1 0 8 3 0
Stanford 5 2 0 6 4 1
Washington 5 2 0 6 5 0
No. 17 USC 3 4 0 8 4 0
Oregon 2 5 0 3 8 0
Oregon State 1 6 0 1 10 0
Washington State 0 7 0 3 8 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their eighth season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (0–7 in Pac-8, last) and were outscored 295 to 262.[1][2]

The team's statistical leaders included John Hopkins with 1,022 passing yards, Vaughn Williams with 662 rushing yards, and Brian Kelly with 371 receiving yards.[3]

With two wins to open the season,[4][5][6] followed by seven consecutive losses,[7] the Cougars took out their frustrations on over-matched neighbor Idaho in the Battle of the Palouse on November 15, scoring eight touchdowns in the first half on the way to an 84–27 rout.[8][9][10] The next week at Husky Stadium in Seattle, WSU led rival Washington 27–13 with three minutes left in Don James' first Apple Cup, but gave up two long touchdowns to lose by a point.[11][12][13][14]

Sweeney resigned a week later,[15][16][17] and was promptly hired at Fresno State.[18][19][20][21]

This was the first season for the concrete north grandstand at Martin Stadium; the student section, it was formerly a wooden grandstand constructed in the 1930s as part of Rogers Field.[22][23][24] (1975 aerial photo)[25]

  1. ^ "1975 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. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  3. ^ "1975 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Brown, Bruce (September 15, 1975). "Cougars happy, but shy of goal". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 19.
  5. ^ "Hopkins, Doornink push WSU past Utah 30-14". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 21, 1975. p. 1B.
  6. ^ "Combo of two efforts WSU need this week". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). September 22, 1975. p. 13.
  7. ^ Missildine, Harry (November 9, 1975). "Pass interception key to Oregon State win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference bopirt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference cclovnd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Brown, Bruce (November 17, 1975). "Runaway Cougs want UW victory". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 17.
  11. ^ Missildine, Harry (November 23, 1975). "Bomb, theft beat Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1.
  12. ^ Barrows, Bob (November 23, 1975). "Cougs bit from behind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  13. ^ "WSU gets greedy, falls to Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 23, 1975. p. 3B.
  14. ^ Brown, Bruce (November 24, 1975). "Changes due at WSU". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 25.
  15. ^ "Sweeney uses option, quits as WSU boss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. December 1, 1975. p. 1B.
  16. ^ Missildine, Harry (December 1, 1975). "Cougar coach Jim Sweeney resigns". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 14.
  17. ^ "Cougar coach Jim Sweeney calls it quits". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. December 1, 1975. p. 10.
  18. ^ Derrick, Merle (December 9, 1975). "Sweeney takes Fresno post". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 31.
  19. ^ Missildine, Harry (December 10, 1975). "Sweeney to Fresno". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
  20. ^ "Sweeney goes south". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 10, 1975. p. 2D.
  21. ^ "Jim Sweeney named Fresno State coach". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. December 10, 1975. p. 12.
  22. ^ Felgenhauer, Neil (March 8, 1974). "Stadium to seat more". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 1.
  23. ^ "Stands demolished". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 21, 1974. p. 1.
  24. ^ "Pre-cast for Cougars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). June 10, 1975. p. 24.
  25. ^ "Moscow & Pullman set progressive pace in Palouse country". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Sunday Magazine). December 27, 1975. p. 28.