1969 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1969 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. Under second-year head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 1–9 record (0–7 in Pac-8, last), and were outscored 339 to 143.[1][2] Two home games were played on campus in Pullman at Rogers Field, with two at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

1969 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
1969 record1–9 (0–7 Pac-8)
Head coach
Captains
  • Bob Ewen (FB)
  • Steve Shoun (LB)
Home stadiumRogers Field,
Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)
1969 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 USC $ 6 –0 –0  10 –0 –1
No. 13 UCLA 5 –1 –1  8 –1 –1
No. 19 Stanford 5 –1 –1  7 –2 –1
Oregon State 4 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Oregon 2 –3 –0  5 –5 –1
California 2 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
Washington 1 –6 –0  1 –9 –0
Washington State 0 –7 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Jack Wigmore with 876 passing yards, Richard Lee Smith with 485 rushing yards, and Fred Moore with 523 receiving yards.[3]

Washington State won their opener at Illinois by a point with a late field goal,[4] then lost nine straight. They did not play Palouse neighbor Idaho in 1969; outside of war years without teams (1943, 1944), it was the first break in the series since 1900. The game was dropped this season (and in 1971) to allow the Cougars to schedule all seven conference opponents.[5]

Both WSU and Washington entered the Apple Cup in Seattle winless (0–6) in conference play;[6][7] the Huskies won their only game of the season to avoid the Pac-8 cellar.[8][9][10] It was the first game of the series played on artificial turf.

This was the last football season for Rogers Field, as its south grandstand (and press box) suffered a suspicious fire the following April,[11] moving all home games in 1970 and 1971 to Joe Albi in Spokane. It was also the final year for natural grass on Cougar home fields (Rogers, Joe Albi). The game against Pacific on November 1 was the last on campus in Pullman for nearly three years, until the debut of Martin Stadium in September 1972.

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 20at Illinois*
W 19–18 40,345
September 27at Iowa*
L 35–61 43,321
October 4Oregon
L 24–25 21,092
October 11No. 11 UCLA
L 14–46 22,100
October 18at No. 18 Stanford
L 0–49 31,000
October 25California
  • Joe Albi Stadium
  • Spokane, WA
L 0–17 16,700
November 1Pacific*
  • Rogers Field
  • Pullman, WA
L 20–27 16,000
November 8at No. 6 USC
L 7–28 47,158
November 15at Oregon State
L 3–38 23,679
November 22at Washington
L 21–30 54,500
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster
1969 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
SE 42 Ed Armstrong Jr
T 73 Hank Bendix Sr
T 77 Buzz Brazeau So
G 66 Steve Busch So
SE 41 Johnny Davis Sr
FB 33 Bob Ewen (C) Jr
G 67 Jim Giesa So
T 76 Ty Hansell Sr
QB 10 Chuck Hawthorne So
G 62 Jim Hellyer Sr
TE 86 Hugh Klopfenstein Jr
C 53 Mike Lynch Jr
FB 32 Ken Lyday So
SE 88 Fred Moore Sr
QB 11 Rich Olson Sr
HB 21 Richard Lee Smith Sr
QB 13 Jack Wigmore Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DT 71 Dave Berger Sr
DT 75 Gary Branson Sr
DE 82 Dave Crema Sr
S 28 Eric Dahl So
LB 58 Terry Durst Jr
MG 55 Don Engler Sr
CB 25 Gerry Herron Jr
CB 27 Gary Kline So
DT 57 Brian Lange So
CB 40 Roger LeClerc So
CB 20 Mike Monahan So
LB 31 Jim Peterson Sr
LB 65 Joe Richer Jr
S 29 P.J. Shank Sr
LB 63 Steve Shoun (C) Sr
DE 91 Ernie Thomas Sr
CB 22 Lionel Thomas Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
PK, P 20 Mike Monahan So
PK 12 Paul Stensen So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt
Source:[12][13][14][15][16][17][6][18]

All-conference
Main article: 1969 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team

One Washington State defensive back, junior cornerback Lionel Thomas, was named to the All-Pac-8 team. On the second team (honorable mention) was senior defensive end Dave Crema.[19][20] From Ohio, Thomas played junior college football at Wenatchee; he had six interceptions to co-lead the Pac-8, with a leading return yardage of 156 yards, highlighted by a 93-yard touchdown against UCLA.[21]

NFL Draft

Three Cougars were selected in the 1970 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Jim Vest DE 15 374 New Orleans Saints
Fred Moore WR 15 388 Oakland Raiders
Richard Smith RB 17 422 Cincinnati Bengals
Vest was a former player (1967) who was with the Seattle Rangers of the Continental Football League.[22]

References
  1. "1969 Washington State Cougars Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  2. "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 76. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  3. "1969 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  4. "WSU edges Illini, 19-18". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 21, 1969. p. 2B.
  5. Missildine, Harry (September 19, 1970). "Battle of Palouse matches explosive offenses at Albi". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 14.
  6. Missildine, Harry (November 22, 1969). "Cougars vs. Huskies: At least finish could be happy". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 12.
  7. "WSU (1-8), Huskies (0-9) both after Apple trophy". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 22, 1969. p. 11.
  8. "Huskies snap losing streak; breeze past Cougars, 30-21". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 23, 1969. p. 2B.
  9. "Huskies beat Cougars 30-21". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 23, 1969. p. 1, sports.
  10. Ashmun, Chuck (November 23, 1969). "Cougars lose to Washington". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 12.
  11. "Fast blaze ruins Pullman stadium". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 6, 1970. p. 1.
  12. "WSU vs. Oregon: probable offensive starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 4, 1969. p. 11.
  13. "Bruins vs. Cougars: probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 11, 1969. p. 11.
  14. "WSU vs. California". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 24, 1969. p. 15.
  15. "WSU vs. U. of Pacific". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 31, 1969. p. 17.
  16. "Trojans heavily favored; some weak points noted". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 7, 1969. p. 15.
  17. Brown, Bruce (November 14, 1969). "Rugged task in prospect as Cougars face Beavers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 15.
  18. "2008 Football media guide" (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. 2008. pp. 172–191. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  19. "Bobby Moore all Pacific-8". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 30, 1969. p. 1B.
  20. "WSU's Lionel Thomas is one of four Northern players to make All Pacific-8 grid squad". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 30, 1969. p. 17.
  21. "Thomas gets all-star spot in Pac-8 picks". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 1, 1969. p. 22.
  22. "John Carlos, other trackmen go to late football draft rounds". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 29, 1970. p. 13.
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