1971 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1971 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Jim Sweeney, they compiled a 4–7 record (2–5 in Pac-8, seventh), and were outscored 286 to 246.[1][2]

1971 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1971 record	4–7 (2–5 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jim Sweeney (4th season)
Home stadium	Joe Albi Stadium

1971 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Stanford $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 USC	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
No. 19 Washington	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
California	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UCLA	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included junior quarterback Ty Payne with 1,206 passing yards, senior running back Bernard Jackson with 1,189 rushing yards, and wide receiver Ike Nelson with 349 receiving yards.[3][4][5]

The Cougars defeated tenth-ranked Stanford, the defending and future Rose Bowl champions, in Palo Alto on October 23,[6][7][8] but lost their third straight Apple Cup.[9][10] Washington State did not play the Battle of the Palouse in 1971, and neighbor Idaho had their best season to date, winning eight consecutive games.

Due to the fire damage to Rogers Field in Pullman in April 1970,[11] the Cougars played their entire home schedule eighty miles (130 km) north of campus at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane in 1970 and 1971.[12]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 11	11:30 AM	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 0–34	37,750
September 18	1:30 PM	Arizona*	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 28–39	13,500
September 25		at Minnesota*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 31–20	32,020
October 2	12:30 PM	at Utah*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 34–12	15,008
October 9	1:30 PM	UCLA	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 21–34	30,500
October 16	1:30 PM	California	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 23–24	12,600
October 23	1:30 PM	at No. 10 Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 24–23	52,250
October 30	1:30 PM	Oregon	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 31–21	25,400
November 6	1:30 PM	at No. 17 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 20–30	57,432
November 13	1:30 PM	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 14–21	20,385
November 20	1:30 PM	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	L 20–28	60,100
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Source:[2][13]

Roster

1971 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 15 Gary Bergan Sr SE 49 Fritz Brayton So T 77 Buzz Brazeau Sr TE 80 Bob Engel So TE 89 Jim Forrest Jr G 67 Jim Giesa Sr FB 44 Ken Grandberry So G 62 Jim Gulledge Sr FB 35 Steve Hamilton Jr G 51 Mike Hill So C 50 John Hook Sr TB 26 Bernard Jackson Sr FL 41 Tony Lomax Sr FB 32 Ken Lyday Sr G 61 Bill Moos Jr SE 42 Ike Nelson Jr QB 14 Ty Paine Jr TE 81 Mark Painter Sr SE 47 Bobby Redmond So SE 46 Don Transeth Jr T 75 Tom Wickert So T 76 Wallace Williams Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 63 Crosby Anderson Sr DT 72 Harold Bradford Sr LB 66 Steve Busch Sr DT 71 Greg Craighead So CB 29 Tyrone Daisy Jr SS 40 Nile DeCuire Sr LB 69 Dana Dogterom Sr FS 11 Chuck Hawthorne Sr FS 37 Eric Johnson So DE 85 Mike Johnson Jr DE 78 Brian Lange Sr LB 38 Bob Leslie Sr CB 25 Ron Mims Sr DT 88 Dennis Mitchell Jr LB 39 Randy Pickering Sr LB 58 Tom Poe So DE 82 Jim Robinson Jr CB 24 Robin Sinclair So FS 22 Harry Thompson Sr LB 67 Clyde Warehime So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 12 Jim Dodd Jr K 3 Don Sweet Sr	Head coach Jim Sweeney (4th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Sam Jankovich Jim Erkenbeck Bob Simpson Walt Cubley Leon Burtnett Joe Tiller Keith Lincoln Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:[14][15][16][17][18][19]

NFL Draft

Two Cougars were selected in the 1972 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Bernard Jackson	DB/RB	4	81	Cincinnati Bengals
John Van Reenen	DE	14	351	San Diego Chargers

Source:[20]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

References

1. "1971 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
2. "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 76. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
3. "1971 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
4. Missildine, Harry (September 18, 1971). "Cougs have ample reason to exhibit hostility today". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 14.
5. "Cougar offensive records tumble". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 25, 1971. p. 32.
6. Missildine, Harry (October 24, 1971). "Cool Cougs earn 'Sweet' victory". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
7. "Wow! Cougars upend Stanford". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 24, 1971. p. 1B.
8. Strickland, Carter (September 2, 2000). "How Sweet it was to knock off Stanford". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C7.
9. Missildine, Harry (November 21, 1971). "Washington wins weirdly". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
10. "Huskies stymie Jackson, hand WSU 28-20 loss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 21, 1971. p. 1B.
11. "Fast blaze ruins Pullman stadium". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 6, 1970. p. 1.
12. Leeson, Fred (December 19, 1971). "Stadium to proceed". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 6, sports.
13. College Football @ Sports-Reference.com
14. Missildine, Harry (September 10, 1971). "Are Cougs improved? KU will find out". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 8.
15. "Arizona vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 18, 1971. p. 14.
16. "Bruins vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 9, 1971. p. 12.
17. "Ducks vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 30, 1971. p. 14.
18. "WSU vs. Oregon: probable offensive starters". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 29, 1971. p. 17.
19. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
20. "17th round ends draft". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 3, 1972. p. 15.