1981 Washington State Cougars football team

1981 Washington State Cougars football
Conference Pacific-10 Conference
1981 record 8–3–1 (5–2–1 Pac10)
Head coach Jim Walden (4th season)
Home stadium Martin Stadium,
Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane, WA)
1981 Pacific-10 football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 10 Washington $ 6 –2 –0  10 –2 –0
No. 16 Arizona State 5 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 14 USC 5 –2 –0  9 –3 –0
Washington State 5 –2 –1  8 –3 –1
UCLA 5 –2 –1  7 –4 –1
Arizona 4 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Stanford 4 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
California 2 –6 –0  2 –9 –0
Oregon 1 –6 –0  2 –9 –0
Oregon State 0 –7 –0  1 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Jim Walden, the Cougars compiled an 8–3–1 record (5–2–1 against Pac-10 opponents), finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 297 to 197.[1][2]

The team's statistical leaders included Clete Casper with 939 passing yards, Tim Harris with 915 rushing yards, and Jeff Keller with 495 receiving yards.[3]

The Cougars entered the Apple Cup with an 8–1–1 record and a win over Washington at Husky Stadium would clinch the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth, their first in 51 years.[4][5]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 12Montana State*
W 33–21 23,721
September 19at Colorado*
W 14–10 35,277
September 26No. 18 Arizona State
W 24–21 24,481
October 3Pacific*
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 31–0 17,923
October 10at Oregon State
W 23–0 32,500
October 17UCLANo. 18
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
T 17–17 40,000
October 24at ArizonaNo. 16
W 34–19 50,265
October 31at No. 4 USCNo. 14
L 17–41 60,972
November 7Oregon
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 39–7 33,500
November 14CaliforniaNo. 17
  • Joe Albi Stadium
  • Spokane, WA
W 19–0 31,000
November 21at No. 17 WashingtonNo. 14
L 10–23 60,234
December 18vs. No. 14 BYU*No. 20
L 36–38 52,419
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

  1. ↑ "1981 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. ↑ "1981 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ Gerheim, Earl (November 21, 1981). "Cougs: Today's the day". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 17.
  5. ↑ Barrows, Bob (November 21, 1981). "WSU and Washington ready to pull the trigger". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
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