1981 Washington State Cougars football team

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]

1981 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1981 record	8–3–1 (5–2–1 Pac10)
Head coach	Jim Walden (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Pat Ruel (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Padilla (2nd season)
Home stadium	Martin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)

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 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] and lost a close, entertaining game to Brigham Young of the WAC, led by consensus All-American quarterback Jim McMahon,[11][12][13][14] the fifth overall selection of the 1982 NFL Draft.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 12	Montana State*		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 33–21	23,721
September 19	at Colorado*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 14–10	35,277
September 26	No. 18 Arizona State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 24–21	24,481
October 3	Pacific*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 31–0	17,923
October 10	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 23–0	32,500
October 17	UCLA	No. 18	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	T 17–17	40,000
October 24	at Arizona	No. 16	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	W 34–19	50,265
October 31	at No. 4 USC	No. 14	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 17–41	60,972
November 7	Oregon		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 39–7	33,500
November 14	California	No. 17	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 19–0	31,000
November 21	at No. 17 Washington	No. 14	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	L 10–23	60,234
December 18	vs. No. 14 BYU*	No. 20	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	L 36–38	52,419
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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 T 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 T 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 Jim Walden (4th year) 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 Redshirt

Source:[15][16][17][18][19][20]

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

Source:[21][22][23][24]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

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. 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. 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. "McMahon makes Holiday happy one for BYU, 38-36". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1981. p. 2B.
12. Barrows, Bob (December 19, 1981). "Washington State almost has a curtain call". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
13. Van Sickel, Charlie (December 19, 1981). "BYU survives on strong finish". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 13.
14. Robinson, Doug (December 19, 1981). "Y. wins another Holiday heart stopper". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
15. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 7, 1981. p. 5B.
16. "Probable lineups: WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 21, 1981. p. 17.
17. "Probable lineups". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 21, 1981. p. 2C.
18. "WSU roster". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 18, 1981. p. 22.
19. "Starting lineups". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). December 18, 1981. p. 12B.
20. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
21. Barrows, Bob (April 28, 1982). "Sorenson, Beach drafted". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
22. "NFL teams take best local talent". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 29, 1982. p. 27.
23. "Two more Cougars drafted in NFL". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 29, 1982. p. 1C.
24. "Four Cougars, two Vandals picked". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). April 29, 1982. p. 35.