November 8, 1997
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State cruised to a 77-7 victory over Southwestern Louisiana in front of 32,345 at Martin Stadium.
The 70-point margin of victory ranked third on WSU's all-time list, the largest spread since 1907, while USL felt their worst defeat since 1936. The Cougars sported a multi-dimensional attack with ten players scoring touchdowns.
Michael Black put the Cougars on the board first with a four-yard touchdown run that completed a 10 play, 74 yard drive to open the game. On the following kickoff, Bryant Thomas picked up a USL fumble and ran 15 yards for the score.
Up 14-0, the Cougars regained possession with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter. In seven plays, WSU marched 72 yards for the score as Ryan Leaf found Chris Jackson for the seven-yard touchdown connection.
Before the first quarter expired, Leaf would add two more touchdown strikes: a 26 yarder to Kevin McKenzie and an 18 yard hook-up with Love Jefferson. At the end of the first quarter, the Cougars led 35-0.
Washington State plowed into the second quarter with the same scoring efficiency as the first. Leaf fired his fourth touchdown pass of the day to John Kincaid.
Black followed with his second scoring scamper, this time for 22 yards. Leaf completed his performance with a one-yard touchdown run with 3:36 remaining in the first half.
With the game in hand 56-0, Leaf took his 13-of-21 passing for 305 yards to the sideline. Without Leaf at the helm, the Washington State offense was slowed but still speeding.
Jason Clayton broke loose for 31 yards and a touchdown to complete WSU's four-play, 74-yard drive to open the second half.
Down 63-0, USL put together its most impressive drive of the day, going 83 yards on eight plays. Eric Lindsey scored the only Ragin' Cajun touchdown of the day on a 12-yard run from scrimmage.
A LeJuan Gibbons interception and 20-yard return with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter gave the Cougars possession at USL's 32 yard-line. Four plays later, quarterback David Muir, in the game after Steve Birnbaum left with an injury, sprinted into the endzone to put the Cougs up 70-7.
In the fourth quarter of play, WSU added one more score. Alvan Arzu dashed 23-yards to bring the game to its final score of 77-7.
The Cougar defense allowed only 152 Ragin' Cajun yards on 60 plays (77 passing, 75 rushing), while the offense accumulated 588 yards on 64 plays. Steve Gleason finished the game with 10 tackles to lead the WSU defense.
WASHINGTON STATE 35 21 14 7 77
SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA 0 0 7 0 7
TEAM QTR TIME SCORING PLAY (Yards/Plays/Drive Time/How Gained Possession)
WSU 1 11:34 Black 4 run (Lindell kick) (10/74/3:39/kickoff)
WSU 1 11:21 Thomas 15 fumble recovery (Lindell kick)
WSU 1 8:07 C. Jackson 7 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (7/72/1:49/punt)
WSU 1 2:33 McKenzie 26 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (2/14/0:47/downs)
WSU 1 0:25 Jefferson 18 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (3/39/1:02/punt)
WSU 2 12:47 Kincaid 6 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (5/48/2:13/punt)
WSU 2 7:12 Black 22 run (Lindell kick) (5/87/1:59/punt)
WSU 2 3:36 Leaf 1 run (Lindell kick) (3/39/1:08/punt)
WSU 3 11:25 Clayton 31 run (Lindell kick) (4/74/1:47/punt)
USL 3 7:32 Lindsey 12 run (Deach kick) (8/83/3:53/kickoff)
WSU 3 3:40 Muir 6 run (Lindell kick) (4/32/1:52/interception)
WSU 4 11:21 Arzu 23 run (Lindell kick) (5/45/2:11/fumble)
TOTAL OFFENSE - WSU 64/588/9.2. USL 60/152/2.5.
RUSHING - WSU 38/268/19/249/6/31: Clayton 4/58, Black 12/69, Hawkins 5/44, Arzu 2/28, Muir 3/18, Leaf 3/17, Taylor 1/15, Mencke 2/7, DeMackas 2/6, Dixon 2/5, Klein 1/1, Gecas 1/0. USL 38/101/26/75/1/12: Lindsey 24/78, Rogers 9/21, Joseph 3/2, Williams 1/0, Shaw 1,0.
PASSING - WSU 26/16/0/339/4/47: Leaf 21/13/0/305/4/47, Mencke 2/1/0/5/0/5, Muir 2/1/0/5/0/5, Birnbaum 1/1/0/24/0/24. USL 22/8/1/77/0/25: Folse 13/7/1/69/0/25, Domec 9/1/8/0/8.
RECEIVING - WSU: Taylor 3/72, Jackson 3/59, McKenzie 2/65, Tims 2/55, Kincaid 2/36, Woody 1/24, Jefferson 1/18, LeBlanc 1/5, Shaw 1/5. USL: Smith 3/35, Dozier 2/6, Sandusky 1/25, Wilridge 1/8, Freeman 1/3.
INTERCEPTIONS - WSU: Gibbons 1/20. USL: none.
PUNTING - WSU: Banks 1/34/34.0/34. USL: Shaw 9/435/48.3/55.
PUNT RETURNS - WSU: Tims 5/167, Muir 1/19. USL: none.
KICKOFF RETURNS - WSU: Taylor 1/13, Moronkola 1/20. USL: Wilridge 1/17, Terrell 1/13, Schumack 5/81, Juul 1/24.
SCORING - WSU: Black 12, Lindell 11, Thomas 6, C. Jackson 6, McKenzie 6, Jefferson 6, Kincaid 6, Leaf 6, Clayton 6, Muir 6, Arzu 6.
FIRST DOWNS - WSU: 26/10/12/4. USL: 12/4/5/3.
FUMBLES/LOST - WSU: 3/1. USL 2/2.
PENALTIES/YARDS - WSU: 9/89. USL: 7/73.
POSSESSION TIME - WSU: 27:22. USL 32:38.
THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS - WSU: 4/8. 5/15.
ATTENDANCE - 32,345.
WSU TACKLERS (T-P-A) -- Gleason 10/9/1, Thompson 6/5/1, Hollimon 6/4/2, Lawson 4/3/1, DeCambra 4/3/1, Nance 4/2/2, Nance 4/2/2, Nelson 4/2/2, Nelson 4/2/2, Emerson 3/3/0, Price 3/3/0, Meier 3/2/1, Salausa 3/2/1, Blash 2/2/0, Morais 2/1/1, Moronkola 2/1/1, Bender 1/1/0, Noble 1/1/0, Schaaf 1/1/0, Matson 1/1/0, R. Jackson 1/1/0, Doyle 1/1/0, Dobbins 1/1/0, Thomas 1/1/0, Wagner 1/1/0, Dixon 1/0/1, Philley 1/0/0.
WSU SACKS -- None.
WSU TFL - Hollimon 2/-10, Gleason 2/-9, Bender 1/-4, Lawson 1/-3, Nelson 1/-2.
