WSU Football Schedule Change
Thanks to ABC, the Arizona game, originally Scheduled to be played October 2nd, has been moved to September 25th. That's a fair trade when it means national exposure, it only moves the game forward a week. Hopefully Arizona will be as weak as last year and we'll roll. ABC loves the Cougs
WSU to face Colorado, Arizona, USC, and Washington on ABC.
PULLMAN, Wash. --- ABC Sports announced Friday it will televise at least four Washington State football games during the 2004 season, including the Cougars' Sept. 11 matchup with Colorado in Seattle and the Nov. 20 Apple Cup against Washington in Pullman.
"That's fantastic. Being on ABC means great exposure for our kids and for recruiting," WSU Head Coach Bill Doba said. "I believe we have a good product and people like to watch us. Having four selections by ABC reflects our popularity."
In addition to the Colorado and Washington games, ABC will broadcast WSU's road game at Arizona Sept. 25 and a Dads' Day clash with defending national champion USC at Martin Stadium Oct. 30.
ABC picked up four games featuring Washington State and USC, while no other Pac-10 team was scheduled for more than two. An additional five conference games will be selected 12 or six days prior to the contest.
"It's a credit to what the football program has accomplished and where we think we are headed in the future," WSU Director of Athletics Jim Sterk said.
Fox Sports Net and Turner Sports will announce their early Pac-10 selections June 1.
WSU's 2004 ABC Schedule
Sept. 11 Colorado at Seattle 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 25 Arizona at Tucson 12:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 USC at Pullman 4 p.m.
Nov. 20 Washington at Pullman 5 p.m.
2004 Cougar Clam Bake
Thank you Mrs. Clift (the director of alumni programs for people living on the Olympic peninsula) for making the 2004 Cougar clam bake a huge success! Most of the current and a couple former coaches were there, along with hundreds of alumni and current students. Along with celebrating 10 wins 3 years in a row we all wanted to know what Coach Doba thinks about this year.
He was very positive, especially about backup quarter back Alex Brink, who is giving Josh Swogger a run for his money. Don't be surprised if Alex ends up the starting quarterback in September. Is that a good thing? Probably not. Experience (even a little) really helps at the helm of the offense. Even the really great quarterbacks are much better after they have played a couple years at the college level.
Hey, want to see the Cougar clam bake in all of its glory? Check out the Cougar Clam Bake Photo Gallery
Worried about this year? remind yourself that:
WSU finished #9 in AP and Coaches Poll
The WSU Cougars finished the year ranked just about where they deserved to be, #9. All of the top 10 teams in the country that don't go undefeated can always point to a few key plays during the season and say "what if". We were a few key plays from being 12 and 1 this year, and next year we're bringing a lot of good players back. We'll still have to get past the USC Trojans, who will be ranked in the top 3 in all of the pre-season polls, but I doubt that we will be picked to finish 7th in the Pac 10, like we were last year. Everyone should thank Bill Doba, Mike Price, Dennis Erickson for helping to establish a winning tradition here at Washington State University. The lower classman at WSU have no idea how "Chicago Cubs" being a cougar fan used to be. This is better, much better.
An update to this comment - We were picked to finish around 7th again - some things never change.
In other news the UW football team has STILL not been invited to a post season bowl game - but they are hopeful. . . We'll keep you posted.
WSU Cougars Win
2003 Holiday Bowl!
The Eyes of Texas are shocked! WSU 28 Texas 20
How quickly we forgot our 1st half angst in that amazing 3rd quarter! After 2 quarters in which our beloved cougars fought hard but were looking up at a 10-7 deficit, Bill Doba rallied the troups (Or slapped some people around?) and the fire was evident in the 3rd quarter. The offense moved the ball and the defense was overpowering in its' pursuit of both Texas quarterbacks - the QB's feet were doing that "oh God oh God they're going to hit me any second" dance.
The vaunted Texas running game was slowed to a crawl as the Cougars packed the box with up to 9 blitzing defenders and dared them to throw the ball.
"They were coming from everywhere,'' Chance Mock said.
When Texas did throw it was obvious that they couldn't count on their passing game. Roy Williams was the only Texas receiver who ever seemed to catch a pass - 9 catches for 96 yards - but 76 yards of that came on two long plays right at the end of the game. Both other Williams (USC and UW) were MUCH better. The few times Texas threw the ball in bounds in the 3rd and early 4th quarter the receivers couldn't catch it, dropping balls that were thrown right at them. The game was closer than it should have been as Texas finally connected on two huge pass plays to Roy Williams late in the 4th quarter that kept them in the game. Right when we were beginning to celebrate! That was irritating. About then I started thinking of the missed field goal and two missed extra points and hoping they wouldn't prove our undoing. We all did our part by crossing our fingers and yelling loudly at the Texas offense.
Our fears were unfounded, as the defense stepped up again as they have so many times this year and turned away several Texas threats. It was fitting that the final play of the game was a sack of Chance Mock by D.D. Acholonu as time expired. WSU emerged victorious, 28-20 and the celebrations began.
By the way, I thought that last year the Oklahoma fans were much more fun and friendly than these Texans were. And that was BEFORE the game. They were strangely silent after the final gun.
The stars of the special teams were Sammy Moore and Kyle Basler. Kyle's stellar punts (He's a sophomore, by the way) pinned Texas to their own end zone consistently through out the game, and led directly to a safety when the Texas offense committed a holding penalty while they were in the end zone. That put tremendous pressure on the Texas offense. On the opposite side of the ball Sammy Moore was ensuring that the cougars had pretty good field position all day, with one huge return and no mistakes.
GO COUGS! I've got some great pictures of the game as well, take a look, you might see yourself! We were sitting in the 200 level up behind the band. If you have any good stories or pictures email them to me. In particular I only was able to sneak away to the game from my home in Boise in the last week or so, so I didn't get tickets to any of the pre-game parties. Let me know how they went! I'll even have a fun story about a cougar fan who ended up in handcuffs before the game (not me).
"I told him [Mack Brown] he won the press conference and the luncheon, but I told him we were going to win the game." WSU coach Bill Doba
News Flash - Huskies still suck.
So, it's the silicon Valley bowl for the Huskies - If UCLA doesn't want it, of course. How bad has it gotten for the lowly Huskies?
1. They beat us and still can't even sniff a national ranking.
2. The emails I've been receiving from Huskies have been full of "yeah, well we were really good in the 80's!" Tell it to VH1. Little do they know how much fun it is to read those emails.
3. They are HOPING to get a call from the silicon valley bowl - bet you can't name who was in it last year (They did play it last year, didn't they?)
4. All those drugs still left them with their worst record in decades.
5. The Huskies beat us and we STILL might go to the Rose Bowl.
6. Not even beating us can save their season.
Even ESPN has been taking shots of them, check out this really great nomination of the UW as turkeys of the year on ESPN page 2. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they didn't even win that Poll, coming in 2nd.
Things Cougs Never Forget about Cougar football:
1: How the huskies made us feel last year after the Apple Cup.
2: Ted Bundy was a Husky
3: The Snow Bowl - a glorious slide into a snow bank, followed by a "Coug Pile"
4: Drew Bledsoe, the patron saint of Cougar football (Gesser needed another YEAR to
pass him, by the way so don't even go there!)
5. Holding Roses high in the air in Husky stadium - and done with much more class than
the Huskies in our stadium this year.
6. Did we mention Ted Bundy was a Husky?
7. For us old guys, Beating Washington in those great blood red uniforms IN PULLMAN,
after way too many defeats in a row and a lost Rose Bowl opportunity the prior year.
8. The goal post stuck in the ceiling of the Coug (from game above, youngster).
9. "Today we got run over by a moped." (Jim Walden, for giving us heart!)
10. The Aloha Bowl, did anyone ever ask Jason Gesser if he saw that game?
11. The fearlessness that teams under Dennis Erickson had. Uh, both of them?
12. Paul Sorenson, for saying the things that we would have said if anyone would have
been stupid enough to give us a microphone.
13. Sneaking in to Martin Stadium with a pony keg - OK, that's personal, but I'm sure
my friends and I weren't the ONLY ones to ever accomplish it.
14. Bob Robertson for all those years, and years, and years.
So what's your favorite Cougar moment?
(Sexual conquests aside, of course!)
Let me know. Here are some moments I remember, but need to get the details of:
1. The name of the WSU kicker that kicked a punt in a driving wind storm in Spokane
that actually landed behind him! (I didn't say I was proud, just curious).
2. That really cool picture of the skier flying off of the roof of that frat, who was he
and which frat was it? Anyone have a copy I can post here?
Thanks to Jim "Tiger" Engstrom for this answer to one of my favorite cougar moments:
"Cougar punter Glenn Harper in the 1983 Apple cup is the one who "ballderdashed " Husky return man Danny Greene. Glenn went on to play many years in the CFL. "
If you didn't see it, you missed one of the funniest moments in cougar football history. In a special "where are they now" segment, I heard that Danny Greene went on to a 7 year career as a soprano for the Vienna boys choir.
If You are a Washington State University Cougar
here are some great football and volleyball sites - Go Cougs!
I've tried to only include sites I go to myself - no junk links allowed
Football:
Official WSU athletic site: WSU Athletic department
Follow the game: Yahoo Official WSU page
Sporting News: Sporting News WSU Page
Pullman:
WSU web cam: Downtown Pullman Cougcam
Pictures and screensavers: Pullman photos maps etc.
Pullman chamber - weather, local hotels, etc VERY helpful: Pullman_chamber_Visitor Info
Want to read something new EVERY day about your Cougs?
#1 - the best. I read it every day. After all, its' Paul Sorensons' Site Don't know who he is? Freshman!
We're disappointed in their subscription thing, but I guess everyone has to make a living.
Cougzone.com Interesting but not always timely
foxsports Fox Sports WSU page articles, video PAC 10 roundup.
WSU Cougars multimedia Really cool - radio interviews by Cougs, all in one place!
(weekly press conferences by the football team).
Cougar clubs by city: - Let us know so we can list you!
Vancouver http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu
Other Coug sites:
Fox Volleyball: WSU volleyball site
Campus map: campusmap
University sponsored alumni Site: alumni.wsu.edu
Cougar Alumni band - Cougaralumniband
If you have a ticket or tickets you want to sell for the Apple Cup click here
WSU Cougar football information about Washington State University
Everything WSU from Ferdinand's to Football (and the rest of the alphabet too!)
