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
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record4–7 (3–5 Pac-10)
Head coach
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
Seasons
← 1984
1986 →
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][6] 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.[7][8]

In the Apple Cup, the Cougars won again in Husky Stadium for their third win over Washington in the last four years.[9][10][11][12] 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, Idaho.[7][8]

Mayes rushed for over 150 yards in each of the last four games and repeated as the Pac-10 offensive player of the year.[13][14] Defensive lineman Erik Howard and return specialist Kitrick Taylor were also named All-Pac-10.[13]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
August 31OregonL 39–4225,900
September 7California
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 20–1930,135
September 14at ArizonaL 7–1246,437
September 21at Utah*L 37–4428,576
September 28at No. 5 Ohio State*L 32–4889,954
October 12at Oregon StateW 34–027,236
October 19No. 18 UCLA 
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 30–3132,302
October 26Arizona State
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 16–2114,875
November 2at USCL 13–3146,954
November 16Montana State*
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 64–1415,000
November 23at WashingtonW 21–2060,197
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

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1985 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 10 Ed Blount Jr
WR 24 Rick Chase Jr
G 77 Mike Dreyer Sr
G 59 Peter Emsky Sr
WR 88 Michael James So
C 61 Curt Ladines Sr
TE 83 Jeff Lamson So
TE 89 Chris Leighton Jr
G 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
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

[6][8][15][16][17]

Game summaries

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At Washington

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1985 Washington State game film vs. Washington (silent) on YouTube

NFL Draft

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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

[18]

References

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  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. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. 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. ^ a b "WSU begins 'preseason' play". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 21, 1985. p. 1C.
  7. ^ a b Devlin, Vince (November 21, 1985). "Their Cup hardly runneth over". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  8. ^ a b c Grummert, Dale (November 23, 1985). "Cougars, Huskies in Apple Cup redemption matchup". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  9. ^ Devlin, Vince (November 23, 1985). "Apple Cup's lost some appeal". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  10. ^ "WSU stuns bowl-bound UW, 21-20". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 24, 1985. p. 6C.
  11. ^ Cour, Jim (November 25, 1985). "Loss didn't cost UW its Freedom". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B2.
  12. ^ Grummert, Dale (November 25, 1985). "It was inevitable Cougar players would prove their points to UW". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  13. ^ a b "WSU's Mayes captures Pac-10 honor". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). staff and wire reports. November 27, 1985. p. 1C.
  14. ^ "Mayes earns Pac-10 player award again". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 27, 1985. p. C2.
  15. ^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). August 31, 1985. p. 2B.
  16. ^ "The lineups". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 23, 1985. p. C4.
  17. ^ "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  18. ^ Devlin, Vince (April 30, 1986). "An early start, late finish for WSU trio". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
  NODES
Note 1