1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 16 Washington $6–1–09–3–0
No. 13 UCLA5–2–09–2–0
No. 11 USC4–2–18–2–1
Arizona State5–3–07–4–0
Oregon4–3–16–3–2
Stanford3–4–06–5–0
Arizona3–4–05–6–0
Washington State3–4–04–7–0
California3–5–03–8–0
Oregon State0–8–00–11–0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third season under head coach Jim Walden, the Cougars compiled a 4–7 record (3–4 in Pac-10, tied for sixth), and outscored their opponents 287 to 271.[1][2]

The team's statistical leaders included Samoa Samoa with 1,668 passing yards,[3] Tim Harris with 801 rushing yards,[4] and Jim Whatley with 433 receiving yards.[5]

This year's Apple Cup is the most recent played at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane; since 1982, the Cougar home games in the series (even-numbered years) have been held on campus at Martin Stadium. From 1950 through 1980 (except 1954 in Pullman), the Cougars were 3–12 (.200) in Spokane Apple Cups, while winning five in Seattle.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 13San Jose State*
ABC (regional)L 26–3118,153[6]
September 20at Tennessee*
L 23–3593,520[7]
September 27Army*
W 31–1824,213[8]
October 4Pacific (CA)*
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 22–2418,123[9]
October 11at Arizona State
L 21–2764,333[10]
October 18at Arizona
W 38–1447,132[11]
October 25Stanford
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
L 34–4830,371[12]
November 1at Oregon
L 10–2030,083[13]
November 8Oregon Statedagger
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
W 28–715,651[14]
November 15at California
W 31–1730,000[15]
November 22No. 16 Washington
ABC (regional)L 23–3034,557[16][17]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Season summary

San Jose State

at Tennessee

Army

Army Cadets (2–0) at Washington State Cougars (1–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Army 0 10 2618
Washington St 14 7 7331

at Martin Stadium, Pullman, Washington

  • Date: September 27, 1980
  • Game attendance: 24,321
  • [18]
Game information

Pacific

at Arizona State

at Arizona

Stanford

at Oregon

Oregon State

at California

Washington

Personnel

1980 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 89 Pat Beach Jr
RB 20 Al Bowens So
QB 9 Clete Casper So
G 71 John Dreyer So
C 67 Eugene Emerson Sr
WR 87 Paul Escalera Jr
RB Doug Hall
RB 43 Tim Harris So
TE Rick Hedlund
OT 75 Steve Johnson Sr
WR 88 Jeff Keller Jr
OT 72 Allan Kennedy (C) Sr
OT 77 John Little Sr
RB 23 Mike Martin Jr
G 63 Gary Patrick So
WR Jeff Poppe
OL Greg Porter
RB Tom Ramberg
QB 11 Samoa Samoa (C) Sr
TE Tom Spencer
G 56 Greg Sykes Sr
QB Ricky Turner
RB 26 Mike Washington Sr
WR 21 Jim Whatley Sr
WR Chris Williams
RB 42 Robert Williams So
WR 22 Mike Wilson Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 96 Lee Blakeney Fr
CB 30 Nate Bradley Jr
DT 95 Ken Collins Jr
DT 73 Matt Elisara Jr
LB 34 Ken Emmil So
CB 41 Jeff Files Jr
NG 61 Brian Flones (C) Sr
CB 6 Bill Gribble Jr
LB Dirk Hunter
DL Ken Jacobsen
LB 47 Scott Pelluer (C) Sr
LB 38 Melvin Sanders Sr
S 48 Peter Shaw Jr
LB 10 Brian Sickler Sr
S 28 Paul Sorensen Jr
DB Joe Taylor
S 5 Gary Teague Sr
DE 62 Mike Walker Sr
S 44 John West Jr
LB Brent White
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 16 Tim Davey Jr
K 1 Mike DeSanto Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Dave Elliott (LB)
  • Gary Gagnon (RB)
  • Lindsay Hughes (OLB)
  • Rich Glover (DL)
  • Steve Morton (TE)
  • Bob Padilla (DC, DL)
  • Pat Ruel (OC, OL)
  • Ken Woody (WR)
  • Harold Wheeler (DB)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

[19][20][21][22][23]

NFL draft

Five Cougars were selected in the 1981 NFL draft.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Scott Pelluer LB 4 91 Dallas Cowboys
Samoa Samoa RB/QB 9 230 Cincinnati Bengals
Jim Whatley WR 9 236 Seattle Seahawks
Mike Wilson WR 9 246 Dallas Cowboys
Allan Kennedy T 10 267 Washington Redskins

[24][25]

References

  1. ↑ "1980 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. ↑ Emerson, Paul (September 25, 1980). "Learning to be No. 1 quarterback at WSU". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
  4. ↑ Gerheim, Earl (September 24, 1980). "Cougs' handyman Harris: A hustler with high hopes". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
  5. ↑ "1980 Washington State Cougars Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ "San Jose surges back, Cougars fall". The Spokesman-Review. September 14, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Cougars' comeback is short". The Tacoma News Tribune. September 21, 1980. Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Washington State routs Army, 31–18". South Idaho Press. September 28, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "'Ugly' loss for Cougs". The Columbian. October 5, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Late ASU pass holds off WSU". Statesman Journal. October 12, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Harris, Cougs rout Arizona, 38–14". The Olympian. October 19, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Stanford pyrotechnics burn Cougs". Tri-City Herald. October 26, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Defense key as Oregon tops Cougars". The Bellingham Herald. November 2, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Cougs skin Beavers 28–7". Tri-City Herald. November 9, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Cougars claw Cal, but bowl hopes die". The Sunday Oregonian. November 16, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Washington State makes Washington work for it, 30-23". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. November 23, 1980. p. 4B.
  17. ↑ Van Sickel, Charlie (November 24, 1980). "UW roars from behind". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. p. 17.
  18. ↑ "Cougs roll by Army, 31-18." Eugene Register-Guard. 28 Sep 1980. Retrieved 2026-Jun-28.
  19. ↑ "Probable starting lineups". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. September 13, 1980. p. 19.
  20. ↑ "Probable starters". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. September 27, 1980. p. 2C.
  21. ↑ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. November 1, 1980. p. 2B.
  22. ↑ "Probable starting lineups". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. November 7, 1980. p. 28.
  23. ↑ Van Sickel, Charlie (November 21, 1980). "UW pick, but Walden has it even". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. p. 21.
  24. ↑ Missildine, Harry (April 29, 1981). "Pelluer taken by Cowboys in 4th round". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. B1.
  25. ↑ "Bengals grab Samoa". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. April 30, 1981. p. 25.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Washington_State_Cougars_football_team