2016 Washington State Cougars football team

2016 Washington State Cougars football
Holiday Bowl, L 12–17 vs. Minnesota
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Division	North Division
2016 record	8–5 (7–2 Pac-12)
Head coach	Mike Leach (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Alex Grinch (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4 multiple
Home stadium	Martin Stadium (Capacity: 32,952)
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Pac-12 Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
No. 4 Washington x$^		8	–	1					12	–	2
Washington State		7	–	2					8	–	5
No. 12 Stanford		6	–	3					10	–	3
California		3	–	6					5	–	7
Oregon State		3	–	6					4	–	8
Oregon		2	–	7					4	–	8
South Division
No. 17 Colorado x		8	–	1					10	–	4
No. 3 USC		7	–	2					10	–	3
No. 23 Utah		5	–	4					9	–	4
Arizona State		2	–	7					5	–	7
UCLA		2	–	7					4	–	8
Arizona		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Washington 41, Colorado 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by fifth-year head coach Mike Leach and played their home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 7–2 in Pac-12 play to finish in second place in the North Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they were defeated by Minnesota.

Previous season[]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	5:00 pm	No. 14 (FCS) Eastern Washington*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	L 42–45	32,952
September 10	7:15 pm	at Boise State*		Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID	ESPN2	L 28–31	36,163
September 17	11:00 am	Idaho*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	P12N	W 56–6	28,477
October 1	6:30 pm	Oregon		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 51–33	33,528
October 8	7:30 pm	at No. 15 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 42–16	50,424
October 15	7:30 pm	UCLA		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 27–21	29,310
October 22	7:00 pm	at Arizona State		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	P12N	W 37–32	50,582
October 29	7:45 pm	at Oregon State		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	ESPN2	W 35–31	37,081
November 5	1:00 pm	Arizona	No. 25	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 69–7	33,547
November 12	7:30 pm	California	No. 23	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 56–21	30,135
November 19	12:30 pm	at No. 12 Colorado	No. 20	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	FOX	L 24–38	48,658
November 25	12:30 pm	No. 6 Washington	No. 23	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (109th Apple Cup)	FOX	L 17–45	33,773
December 27	1:00 pm	vs. Minnesota*		Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	L 12–17	48,704
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	25	23	20	23	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	25	23	20	23	RV	RV	RV
CFP	Not released									25	23	22	23	NR	NR	Not released

Game summaries[]

Eastern Washington[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 (FCS) Eagles	7	17	14	7	45
Cougars	14	14	0	14	42

at Boise State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	7	7	14	28
Broncos	14	3	7	7	31

Idaho[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	3	0	3	0	6
Cougars	7	14	7	28	56

Oregon[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ducks	7	7	6	13	33
Cougars	7	21	2	21	51

at Stanford[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	7	14	14	42
#15 Cardinal	0	3	7	6	16

UCLA[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	0	0	7	14	21
Cougars	3	7	14	3	27

at Arizona State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	17	14	6	37
Sun Devils	7	7	7	11	32

at Oregon State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	6	22	7	35
Beavers	14	10	0	7	31

Arizona[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
#25 Cougars	24	14	14	17	69

California[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	0	7	7	7	21
#23 Cougars	14	14	7	21	56

at Colorado[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Cougars	14	3	7	0	24
#12 Buffaloes	7	7	14	10	38

Washington[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Huskies	28	7	0	10	45
#23 Cougars	3	7	7	0	17

Minnesota–Holiday Bowl[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	3	7	7	17
Cougars	3	3	0	6	12

Coaching staff[]

Name	Title	Years at WSU	Alma mater
Mike Leach	Head Coach	6	BYU, 1983
Alex Grinch	Defensive Coordinator/Secondary Coach	3	Mount Union, 2002
Jason Loscalzo	Strength and Conditioning Coach	6	Humboldt State, 1999
Roy Manning	Outside Linebackers Coach	3	Michigan, 2004
Jim Mastro	Running Backs Coach	6	Cal Poly, 1994
Clay McGuire	Offensive Line Coach	6	Texas Tech, 2004
Eric Mele	Special Teams Coach	3	William Paterson, 2002
Dave Nichol	Outside Receivers Coach	2	Texas Tech, 1999

Source:^[1]

References[]