1968 Washington State Cougars football team

1968 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1968 record	3–6–1 (1–3–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jim Sweeney (1st season)
Home stadium	Rogers Field, Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane)
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

The 1968 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. In their first season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 3–6–1 record (1–3–1 in Pac-8, seventh), and outscored their opponents 189 to 188.^[1][2] The final two games were shutout victories.^[3][4][5]

The team's statistical leaders included Jerry Henderson with 1,586 passing yards, Richard Lee Smith with 326 rushing yards, and Johnny Davis with 421 receiving yards.^[6]

The Cougars won a second straight Apple Cup from rival Washington, shutting out the Huskies 24–0 in Spokane.^[4][5][7] This was the last time that this rivalry game was played on natural grass.^[8] WSU played only five conference games, missing California and USC. Of the Cougars' five home games, three were played in Spokane.

Sweeney was hired in early January; he was previously the head coach for five seasons at Montana State in Bozeman.^[9][10][11] He retained alumnus Laurie Niemi on the staff, but Niemi lost his twelve-year battle with cancer at age 42 in February.^[12][13][14]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 21	vs. Idaho*	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	W 14–7	23,612
September 28	at No. 8 UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 21–31	41,759
October 5	Utah*	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 14–17	16,503
October 12	at Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 14–41	36,226
October 19	No. 14 Stanford	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	T 21–21	15,700
October 26	Oregon State	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 8–16	20,781
November 2	at Arizona*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	L 14–28	31,400
November 9	at Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 13–27	23,000
November 16	at San Jose State*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 46–0	8,450
November 23	Washington	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA (Apple Cup)	W 24–0	31,986
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

Source:^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

NFL/AFL draft[]

One Cougar was selected in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft.

^[24][25]

References[]

External links[]

• Game program: Idaho vs. WSU at Spokane – September 21, 1968
• Game program: Utah at WSU – October 5, 1968
• Game program: Stanford vs. WSU at Spokane – October 19. 1968
• Game program: Oregon State at WSU – October 26, 1968
• Game program: Washington vs. WSU at Spokane – November 23, 1968