1977 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1977 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their only season under head coach Warren Powers, the Cougars compiled a 6–5 record (3–4 in Pac-8, tied for fourth), and outscored their opponents 263 to 236.[1][2]

1977 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1977 record	6–5 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	Warren Powers (1st season)
Assistant coach	Jim Walden (Off. Backs)
Home stadium	Martin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)

1977 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Washington $		6	–	1					8	–	4
No. 15 Stanford		5	–	2					9	–	3
No. 13 USC		5	–	2					8	–	4
California		3	–	4					7	–	4
Washington State		3	–	4					6	–	5
Oregon		1	–	6					2	–	9
Oregon State		0	–	7					2	–	9
UCLA †		0	–	7					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion † – UCLA forfeited 7 wins (5 conference wins) due to ineligible players. Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Jack Thompson with 2,372 passing yards, Dan Doornink with 591 rushing yards, and Mike Levenseller with 736 receiving yards.[3]

The Cougars opened the season with an upset win at fifteenth-ranked Nebraska.[4][5]

Previously an assistant with the Huskers,[6][7][8] Powers left after just twelve months in Pullman for Missouri of the Big Eight Conference.[9][10][11] His predecessor in 1976, Jackie Sherrill, also lasted just one season with the Cougars. Offensive backfield coach Jim Walden was promoted to head coach less than a week later,[12][13][14] and led the WSU program for nine years.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 10	at No. 15 Nebraska*		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	W 19–10	75,922
September 17	at Michigan State*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, Michigan	W 23–21	50,263
September 24	at Kansas*	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas	L 12–14	44,540
September 30	at No. 2 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	L 7–41	61,809
October 8	No. 14 California		Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington	W 17–10	27,500
October 15	UCLA		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, Washington	L 16–20	37,750
October 22	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, California	L 29–31	47,500
October 29	Oregon		Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington	W 56–20	27,200
November 5	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, Oregon	W 24–10	22,657
November 12	Idaho*		Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington (Battle of the Palouse)	W 45–17	18,500
November 19	at No. 19 Washington		Husky Stadium Seattle, Washington (70th Apple Cup)	L 15–35	60,964
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^1 UCLA later forfeited the game due to fielding an ineligible player.

Roster

1977 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 79 Noel Barnes Sr SE 13 Bob Bratkowski Sr TE 88 Ron Bull Jr C 77 Mark Chandless Jr RB 11 Dan Doornink Sr RB 29 Tali Ena So G 71 Larry Finan Sr RB 25 Harold Gillum Jr QB 18 Steve Grant TE 81 Gus Hobus Jr FL 44 Brian Kelly Sr G 65 Tom Larsen Sr T 68 Dave Lemke Sr SE 21 Mike Levenseller Sr TE 83 Eason Ramson Sr QB 14 Jack Thompson Jr TB 26 Mike Washington Fr T 59 Barry Zanck	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 91 Terry Anderson Sr LB 96 Raleigh Fletcher Jr DT 63 Mike Galovich LB 98 Terry Gilmore CB 37 Ken Greene Sr FS 28 Bob Gregor So DT 76 Spud Harris So LB 57 Don Hover Sr LB 97 Jeff Jones Jr CB 15 Mark Patterson Sr LB 67 Dean Pedigo Sr LB 47 Scott Pelluer Fr DE 38 Mel Sanders So SS 48 Don Schwartz Sr DE 36 Tom Thompson Jr FS 16 John Troppman Sr NG 50 George Yarno Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 22 Paul Watson P 46 Gavin Hedrick Sr	Head coach Warren Powers (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Jim Walden Mike Price Dick Beechner Dave Walker Rich Glover John Faiman Michael Church Zaven Yaralian Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:[15][16][17]

NFL Draft

Eight Cougars were selected in the 1978 NFL Draft; Ken Greene was the first player from WSU taken in the first round in thirteen years.[18]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Ken Greene	DB	1	19	St. Louis Cardinals
Don Schwartz	DB	4	87	New Orleans Saints
Mike Levenseller	WR	6	164	Oakland Raiders
Dan Doornink	RB	7	174	New York Giants
Don Hover	LB	8	219	Washington Redskins
Gavin Hendrick	P	8	220	San Diego Chargers
Eason Ramson	TE	12	312	Green Bay Packers
Mark Patterson	DB	12	318	Detroit Lions

Source:[18][19]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

References

1. "1977 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. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
3. "1977 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
4. Missildine, Harry (September 11, 1977). "Confident Cougars upset Cornhuskers". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
5. Drosendahl, Glenn (September 11, 1977). "Cougs upset Huskers". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
6. Barrows, Bob (December 14, 1976). "WSU fills football job with Nebraska assistant". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
7. Missildine, Harry (December 14, 1976). "Warren Powers new Coug coach". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 19.
8. Brown, Bruce (December 14, 1976). "New challenge faces Powers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 19.
9. Brown, Bruce (December 13, 1977). "Powers takes Missouri job". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 23.
10. Missildine, Harry (December 14, 1977). "Line forms at Pullman". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
11. Drosendahl, Glenn (December 14, 1977). "Powers is gone - the search is on". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
12. Killen, John (December 19, 1977). "WSU hires Waldens, who plans to stay". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
13. Missildine, Harry (December 19, 1977). "Walden's players' choice at WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 19.
14. Brown, Bruce (December 19, 1977). "WSU makes Walden's dreams come true". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 25.
15. "Bears vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 8, 1977. p. 13.
16. "Vandals vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 12, 1977. p. 17.
17. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
18. Missildine, Harry (May 3, 1978). "Coug Greene first-round draftee". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 20.
19. Missildine, Harry (May 4, 1978). "Five more Cougs selected". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 33.