2005_Washington_State_Cougars_football_team
2005 Washington State Cougars football team
American college football season
The 2005 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Bill Doba, WSU played its home games at on campus Martin Stadium in Pullman, with one at Qwest Field in Seattle.
| 2005 Washington State Cougars football | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
| Record | 4–7 (1–7 Pac-10) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Mike Levenseller (5th season) |
| Offensive scheme | Spread |
| Defensive coordinator | Robb Akey (3rd season) |
| Base defense | 4–3 |
| Home stadium | Martin Stadium |
Seasons | |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 USC † $ | 8 | – | 0 | 12 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Oregon | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 UCLA | 6 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 California | 4 | – | 4 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Washington State was picked fifth in the pre-season Pac-10 conference poll. They were even classified by some[who?] as a sleeper pick for the national championship, with Alex Brink at the helm. They opened with three non-conference wins in September, but the results were different in league play. In the Pac-10 opener at Oregon State, Brink passed for over 500 yards, but WSU lost by eleven.[1]
The Cougars lost their next three games (Stanford, UCLA, Cal), by a combined ten points; their inability to close out games cost them. After a blowout loss in Los Angeles to top-ranked USC,[2] three-point setbacks at home to Arizona State and #11 Oregon followed, as the conference losing streak extended to seven games.[3] In the Apple Cup at Seattle, they defeated struggling rival Washington by four points to finish at 4–7 overall.[4]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 7:00 pm | Idaho* | FSNNW | W 38–26 | 28,339 | |
| September 9 | 7:00 pm | at Nevada* | ESPN | W 55–27 | 17,552 | |
| September 17 | 4:00 pm | Grambling State* |
| W 48–7 | 51,486 | |
| October 1 | 1:00 pm | at Oregon State | L 33–44 | 42,908 | ||
| October 8 | 2:00 pm | Stanford |
| L 21–24 | 33,442 | |
| October 15 | 3:30 pm | No. 11 UCLA |
| FSN | L 41–44 OT | 35,117 |
| October 22 | 7:15 pm | at No. 25 California | FSN | L 38–42 | 52,569 | |
| October 29 | 12:30 pm | at No. 1 USC | ABC | L 13–55 | 92,021 | |
| November 5 | 2:00 pm | Arizona State |
| L 24–27 | 31,054 | |
| November 12 | 7:15 pm | No. 11 Oregon |
| FSNNW | L 31–34 | 27,595 |
| November 19 | 12:15 pm | at Washington | FSN | W 26–22 | 70,713 | |
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Conference opponent not played this season: Arizona
Washington
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- Rodman, Bob (October 2, 2005). "OSU defense finally makes its case". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. D1.
- Nadel, John (October 30, 2005). "Trojans determine BCS stands for Beating Cougars Soundly". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. D4.
- Clark, Bob (November 13, 2005). "Ducks cool, collected". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. D1.
- Fox, Tom (November 21, 2005). "Not a bad Apple". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 1B.