1987 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1987 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Dennis Erickson, the Cougars compiled a 3–7–1 record (1–5–1 in Pac-10, ninth), and were outscored by their opponents 356 to 238.[1][2]

1987 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1987 record	3–7–1 (1–5–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Dennis Erickson (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bratkowski
Defensive coordinator	John L. Smith
Home stadium	Martin Stadium

1987 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 18 USC +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 9 UCLA +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
No. 20 Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Oregon	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Arizona	2	–	3	–	3			4	–	4	–	3
California	2	–	3	–	2			3	–	6	–	2
Washington State	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Timm Rosenbach with 2,446 passing yards, Richard Calvin with 822 rushing yards, and Steve Broussard with 701 receiving yards.[3]

After nine years as WSU head coach, Jim Walden departed for Iowa State in the Big Eight Conference in late 1986,[4][5][6] and was succeeded by Erickson, who returned to the Palouse in January 1987 after just one season at Wyoming; he had led neighboring Idaho for the previous four years.[7][8][9]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 5	Fresno State*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 41–24	22,971
September 12	Wyoming*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 43–28	24,151
September 19	at No. 19 Michigan*	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 18–44	103,521
September 26	at Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 17–26	43,527
October 10	Stanford	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 7–44	31,538
October 17	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 7–38	70,341
October 24	Arizona	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 45–28	22,269
October 31	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 7–42	24,834
November 14	Oregon	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 17–31	14,089
November 21	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	L 19–34	74,038
November 28	vs. California	National Olympic Stadium Tokyo, Japan (Coca-Cola Classic)	T 17–17	54,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1987 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 31 Steve Broussard So FB 22 Richard Calvin Sr T 68 Chris Dyko Jr QB 12 Brad Gossen Fr T 73 John Husby Jr TE 89 Chris Leighton Sr G 74 Jim Michalczik Jr WR 88 William Pellum Jr QB 3 Timm Rosenbach So WR 2 Tim Stallworth So RB 33 Rich Swinton Fr WR 36 Elmer Thomas Jr G 60 Mike Utley Jr TE 82 Doug Wellsandt So WR 13 Victor Wood Jr C 56 Paul Wulff So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 87 Marvin Adams Sr LB 55 Tuineau Alipate Jr DE 76 Ivan Cook Jr DT 97 Tim Downing So LB 57 Brian Forde Sr DE 96 Randy Gray So CB 41 James Hasty Sr DE 93 Chris Hiller Sr SS 19 Artie Holmes Jr CB 18 Shawn Landrum Jr DB 10 Jay Languein So SS 42 Ron Lee Jr LB 40 Maury Metcalf Jr DB 37 Roosevelt Noble So DT 75 Tony Savage So LB 21 Neti Ulaga'ono FS 29 Vernon Todd Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 4 Kevin Adams Sr P 45 Rob Myers So	Head coach Dennis Erickson (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Bob Bratkowski – (OC) John L. Smith – (DC) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:[10]

NFL Draft

Two Cougars were selected in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
James Hasty	CB	3	74	New York Jets
Brian Forde	LB	7	190	New Orleans Saints

Source:[11][12]

• List of Washington State Cougars in the NFL Draft

References

1. "1987 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. "1987 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
4. "Walden denies seeking job". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). November 21, 1986. p. 21.
5. Devlin, Vince (December 16, 1986). "It's official: Walden's gone". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.
6. Condotta, Bob (December 15, 1986). "Iowa State hires WSU's Walden". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1.
7. Grummert, Dale (January 8, 1987). "Erickson sets lofty goals for Cougars". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. C1.
8. Condotta, Bob (January 7, 1987). "Denny's dream comes true". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1.
9. Weaver, Dan (January 8, 1987). "Erickson followed his heart to WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
10. "Oregon outlook: matchups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 14, 1987. p. 4C.
11. "WSU's Hasty taken by Jets in 3rd round". Idahonian. (Moscow). staff and wire reports. April 25, 1988. p. 3B.
12. "New Orleans takes Forde in 7th". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). staff and wire reports. April 26, 1988. p. C3.