1969 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1969 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. Under second-year head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 1–9 record (0–7 in Pac-8, last), and were outscored 339 to 143.^[1][2] Two home games were played on campus in Pullman at Rogers Field, with two at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

1969 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	1–9 (0–7 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jim Sweeney (2nd season)
Captains	Bob Ewen Steve Shoun
Home stadium	Rogers Field, Joe Albi Stadium
Seasons ← 1968 1970 →

1969 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 USC $	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	1
No. 13 UCLA	5	–	1	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
No. 19 Stanford	5	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Oregon State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Oregon	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
California	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Washington	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Washington State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Jack Wigmore with 876 passing yards, Richard Lee Smith with 485 rushing yards, and Fred Moore with 523 receiving yards.^[3]

Washington State won their opener at Illinois by a point with a late field goal,^[4] then lost nine straight. They did not play Palouse neighbor Idaho in 1969; outside of World War II years without teams, it was the first break in the series since 1900. The game was dropped this season to allow the Cougars to schedule all seven Pacific-8 Conference opponents.^[5]

Both Washington State and Washington entered the Apple Cup in Seattle winless (0–6) in conference play;^[6][7] the Huskies won their only game of the season to avoid the Pac-8 cellar.^[8][9][10] It was the first game of the series played on artificial turf.

This was the last football season for Rogers Field, as its south grandstand (and press box) suffered a suspicious fire the following April,^[11] moving all home games in 1970 and 1971 to Joe Albi in Spokane. It was also the final year for natural grass on Cougar home fields (Rogers, Joe Albi). The game against Pacific on November 1 was the last on campus in Pullman for nearly three years, until the debut of Martin Stadium in September 1972.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 20		at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 19–18	40,345
September 27		at Iowa*	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 35–61	43,321
October 4		Oregon	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 24–25	21,092
October 11		No. 11 UCLA	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 14–46	22,100
October 18		at No. 18 Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 0–49	31,000
October 25	1:30 p.m.	California	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 0–17	16,700
November 1	1:30 p.m.	Pacific (CA)*	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 20–27	16,000
November 8		at No. 6 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 7–28	47,158
November 15		at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 3–38	23,679
November 22		at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	L 21–30	54,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1969 Washington State Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class SE 42 Ed Armstrong Jr OT 73 Hank Bendix Sr OT 77 Buzz Brazeau So G 66 Steve Busch So SE 41 Johnny Davis Sr FB 33 Bob Ewen (C) Jr G 67 Jim Giesa So OT 76 Ty Hansell Sr QB 10 Chuck Hawthorne So G 62 Jim Hellyer Sr TE 86 Hugh Klopfenstein Jr C 53 Mike Lynch Jr FB 32 Ken Lyday So SE 88 Fred Moore Sr QB 11 Rich Olson Sr HB 21 Richard Lee Smith Sr QB 13 Jack Wigmore Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 71 Dave Berger Sr DT 75 Gary Branson Sr DE 82 Dave Crema Sr S 28 Eric Dahl So LB 58 Terry Durst Jr MG 55 Don Engler Sr CB 25 Gerry Herron Jr CB 27 Gary Kline So DT 57 Brian Lange So CB 40 Roger LeClerc So CB 20 Mike Monahan So LB 31 Jim Peterson Sr LB 65 Joe Richer Jr S 29 P.J. Shank Sr LB 63 Steve Shoun (C) Sr DE 91 Ernie Thomas Sr CB 22 Lionel Thomas Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK, P 20 Mike Monahan So PK 12 Paul Stensen So	Head coach Jim Sweeney (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Sam Jankovich (AHC, DL) Pinky Erickson (freshmen) Jim Erkenbeck (OL) Jim Shanley (DB) Don Lindsey (OB) Bob Simpson (WR) Walt Cubley (DL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][6][18]}

All-conference

Main article: 1969 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team

One Washington State defensive back, junior cornerback Lionel Thomas, was named to the All-Pac-8 team. On the second team (honorable mention) was senior defensive end Dave Crema.^[19][20] From Ohio, Thomas played junior college football at Wenatchee; he had six interceptions to co-lead the Pac-8, with a leading return yardage of 156 yards, highlighted by a 93-yard touchdown against UCLA.^[21]

NFL draft

Three Cougars were selected in the 1970 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Jim Vest	DE	15	374	New Orleans Saints
Fred Moore	WR	15	388	Oakland Raiders
Richard Smith	RB	17	422	Cincinnati Bengals

Vest was a former player (1967) who was with the Seattle Rangers of the Continental Football League.^[22]