2009 Washington State Cougars football team

The 2009 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Head coach Paul Wulff was in his second season, and the team played its home games on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. The Cougars finished the season with a record of 1–11 (0–9 Pac-10).

2009 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	1–11 (0–9 Pac-10)
Head coach	Paul Wulff (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Todd Sturdy (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Co-defensive coordinators	Chris Ball (2nd season) Jody Sears (2nd season)
Base defense	Multiple
Home stadium	Martin Stadium (Capacity: 35,117)
Uniform
Seasons ← 2008 2010 →

2009 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Oregon $		8	–	1					10	–	3
Arizona		6	–	3					8	–	5
Oregon State		6	–	3					8	–	5
Stanford		6	–	3					8	–	5
No. 22 USC		5	–	4					9	–	4
California		5	–	4					8	–	5
Washington		4	–	5					5	–	7
UCLA		3	–	6					7	–	6
Arizona State		2	–	7					4	–	8
Washington State		0	–	9					1	–	11
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:00 p.m.	Stanford	Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington	FSNNW	L 13–39	22,386[1]
September 12	4:00 p.m.	vs. Hawaii*	Qwest Field Seattle, Washington (Cougar Gridiron Classic)		L 20–38	42,912[2]
September 19	2:00 p.m.	SMU*	Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington		W 30–27 OT	22,319[3]
September 26	7:15 p.m.	at No. 10 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	FSN	L 6–27	75,216[4]
October 3	6:15 p.m.	at No. 25 Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, Oregon	CSNNW	L 6–52	57,378[5]
October 10	2:00 p.m.	Arizona State	Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington		L 14–27	26,010[6]
October 24	1:30 pm	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, California		L 17–49	54,738[7]
October 31	4:30 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Notre Dame*	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas	NBC	L 14–40	53,407[8]
November 7	12:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Arizona	Arizona Stadium Tucson, Arizona	FCS	L 7–48	50,242[9]
November 14	2:00 p.m.	UCLA	Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington	FCS	L 7–43	25,661[10]
November 21	2:00 p.m.	No. 19 Oregon State	Martin Stadium Pullman, Washington		L 10–42	16,167[11]
November 28	3:30 p.m.	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle (102nd Apple Cup)	FSNNW	L 0–30	68,697[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and BCS Rankings after October 18 released prior to game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	8	14	7	10	39
Cougars	0	3	10	0	13

See also: 2009 Stanford Cardinal football team

Toby Gerhart rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck made his collegiate debut by throwing for 193 yards and a touchdown pass to Chris Owusu as Stanford defeated Washington State in Pullman. The Cardinal dominated the first half, but as the second half began, the Cougars took the early momentum, driving 80 yards and scoring on a 5-yard pass from Kevin Lopina to Jared Karstetter. However, Owusu answered immediately for the Cardinal with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to keep the game out of reach.^[13]

Hawaii

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warriors	21	14	0	3	38
Cougars	0	6	7	7	20

See also: 2009 Hawaii Warriors football team

Southern Methodist

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Mustangs	7	10	7	3	0	27
Cougars	0	7	6	14	3	30

See also: SMU Mustangs football

USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	0	6	6
Trojans	20	0	0	7	27

See also: 2009 USC Trojans football team

Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	6	0	6
Ducks	21	21	3	7	52

See also: 2009 Oregon Ducks football team

Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sun Devils	7	6	6	8	27
Cougars	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2009 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	3	14	0	0	17
Golden Bears	28	7	7	7	49

See also: 2009 California Golden Bears football team

In the first quarter, passes from Kevin Riley to Jahvid Best and Marvin Jones gave Cal a 14-point lead. Jeremy Ross returned Washington State punter Reid Forrest's 42-yard punt for a 76-yard touchdown. After Nico Grasu kicked a 24-yard field goal to put the Cougars on the scoreboard, Riley completed another pass for Cal for another touchdown, this time to Shane Vereen.

Jahvid Best rushed for 61 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Bears a 32-point lead and again in the third quarter with a 2-yard run. The final Cal score came in the fourth quarter when Vereen rushed for a 7-yard touchdown.

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	7	0	7	14
Fighting Irish	9	21	3	7	40

See also: 2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Nick Tausch kicked a 29-yard field goal to put Dotre Dame on the scoreboard. Then Jimmy Clausen passed to Duval Kamara for a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Golden Tate scored on a 16-yard run for a touchdown and Robert Hughes rushed for a 1-yard for another touchdown.

Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	0	7	7
Wildcats	24	10	7	7	48

See also: 2009 Arizona Wildcats football team

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	14	12	3	14	43
Cougars	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2009 UCLA Bruins football team

The Bruins scored on their first offensive play after an interception, a Kevin Prince to Taylor Embree touchdown pass.

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	14	7	7	14	42
Cougars	3	7	0	0	10

See also: 2009 Oregon State Beavers football team

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	0	0	0	0
Huskies	3	10	7	10	30

See also: 2009 Washington Huskies football team