1985 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1985 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eighth season under head coach Jim Walden, the Cougars compiled a 4–7 record (3–5 in Pac-10, tied for seventh), and outscored their opponents 313 to 282.[1][2] Home games were played on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

1985 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1985 record	4–7 (3–5 Pac-10)
Head coach	Jim Walden (8th season)
Home stadium	Martin Stadium

1985 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 UCLA $	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Arizona	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Washington	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
USC	5	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Oregon	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
California	2	–	7	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Mark Rypien with 2,174 passing yards, Rueben Mayes with 1,236 rushing yards, and Kitrick Taylor with 489 receiving yards.[3]

This season's offense included the "RPM" backfield: Rypien at quarterback,[4] with Kerry Porter and Mayes at running back.[5] All three were previous first team all-conference selections (Porter as a sophomore in 1983), and expectations were high; injuries on defense took a toll and five of their losses were by a touchdown or less.[6][7]

In the Apple Cup, the Cougars won again in Husky Stadium for their third win over Washington in the last four years.[8][9][10] With frigid temperatures and snow on the Palouse prior to the game, the Cougars held indoor practices in the evening at the Kibbie Dome in neighboring Moscow.[6][7]

Mayes rushed for over 150 yards in each of the last four games and repeated as the Pac-10 offensive player of the year.[11][12] Defensive lineman Erik Howard and return specialist Kitrick Taylor were also named All-Pac-10.[11]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
August 31	Oregon	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 39–42	25,900
September 7	California	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 20–19	30,135
September 14	at Arizona	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	L 7–12	46,437
September 21	at Utah*	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	L 37–44	28,576
September 28	at No. 5 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 32–48	89,954
October 12	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 34–0	27,236
October 19	No. 18 UCLA	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 30–31	32,302
October 26	Arizona State	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 16–21	14,875
November 2	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 13–31	46,954
November 16	Montana State*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 64–14	15,000
November 23	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	W 21–20	60,197
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1985 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Ed Blount Jr WR 24 Rick Chase Jr OG 77 Mike Dreyer Sr OG 59 Peter Emsky Sr WR 88 Michael James So C 61 Curt Ladines Sr TE 83 Jeff Lamson So TE 89 Chris Leighton Jr OG 66 Ian Lindner Jr RB 36 Rueben Mayes Sr FB 30 Kerry Porter Jr QB 17 Mark Rypien Sr OT 67 Mike Schuster Sr WR 47 Cotton Sears Jr RB 38 Junior Tautalatasi Sr WR 8 Kitrick Taylor Jr OT 56 Bill Williams Sr OT 60 Mike Utley Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 97 Mike Beasley Sr CB 16 Cedrick Brown Jr LB 91 Ben Carrillo Sr DE 67 Rob Cleveland So S 25 Ron Collins Jr LB 35 Dave Fitzgerald Sr LB 57 Brian Forde So S 19 Artie Holmes Fr DT 73 Erik Howard Sr S 28 Steve Haub Sr LB 51 James Krakoski Jr LB 49 Jeff Loomis Jr LB 40 Maury Metcalf Fr DE Mike Nathlich Fr LB Bob O'Neal So DT 99 Tim Petek Fr CB 20 Ricky Reynolds Jr S 6 Kevin Thomasson Jr LB 27 Dean Turulja So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 1 Glenn Harper Sr K 4 John Traut Sr	Head coach Jim Walden (8th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Jim Burrow Dave Elliott Jon Fabris Gary Gagnon Lindsay Hughes Steve Morton Mel Sanders Del Wight Ken Woody Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:[7][13][14][15]

NFL Draft

Four Cougars were selected in the 1986 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Erik Howard	DT	2	46	New York Giants
Rueben Mayes	RB	3	57	New Orleans Saints
Mark Rypien	QB	6	146	Washington Redskins
Junior Tautalatasi	RB	10	261	Philadelphia Eagles

Source:[16]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

References

1. "1985 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. "1985 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
4. Grummert, Dale (November 22, 1985). "Rypien". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
5. Devlin, Vince (August 30, 1985). "Tooth and nail". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). p. 21.
6. Devlin, Vince (November 21, 1985). "Their Cup hardly runneth over". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
7. Grummert, Dale (November 23, 1985). "Cougars, Huskies in Apple Cup redemption matchup". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
8. "WSU stuns bowl-bound UW, 21-20". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 24, 1985. p. 6C.
9. Cour, Jim (November 25, 1985). "Loss didn't cost UW its Freedom". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B2.
10. Grummert, Dale (November 25, 1985). "It was inevitable Cougar players would prove their points to UW". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
11. "WSU's Mayes captures Pac-10 honor". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). staff and wire reports. November 27, 1985. p. 1C.
12. "Mayes earns Pac-10 player award again". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 27, 1985. p. C2.
13. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). August 31, 1985. p. 2B.
14. "WSU begins 'preseason' play". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 21, 1985. p. 1C.
15. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
16. Devlin, Vince (April 30, 1986). "An early start, late finish for WSU trio". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.