Washington State University Athletics
Cougars Seek Quick Start in Pac-10 Race
August 25, 1997
FOOTBALL: ABC To Show WSU-UCLA Opener
WHO: WSU Cougars (0-0-0, 0-0-0) vs. UCLA Bruins (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
WHAT: Pacific-10 Conference Football - Season Opener For Both Teams
WHEN: Saturday, August 31; Kickoff 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Martin Stadium (37,600, OmniTurf), Pullman, Wash.
TV: Live on ABC-TV; Fox Sports Northwest will replay the game Sunday at 9 a.m.
1997 WSU RESULTS
Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 [OPP REC] 8/30 UCLA [0-0-0] 9/6 Bye 9/13 @ USC [0-0-0] 9/20 @ Illinois [0-0-0] 9/27 Boise State [0-0-0] 10/4 @ Oregon [0-0-0] 10/11 Bye 10/18 California [0-0-0] 10/25 Arizona [0-0-0] 11/1 @ Arizona State [0-0-0] 11/8 SW Louisiana [0-0-0] 11/15 Stanford [0-0-0] 11/22 Washington [0-0-0]
WSU THIS WEEK: UCLA
Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 8/30 @ Washington State 9/6 Tennessee 9/13 @ Texas 9/20 Bye 9/27 Arizona 10/4 Houston 10/11 @ Oregon 10/18 Oregon State 10/25 California 11/1 @ Stanford 11/8 Bye 11/15 Washington 11/22 @ Southern California
WSU'S NEXT GAME: USC
Record: 0-0-0, 0-0-0 9/6 Florida State 9/13 Washington State 9/20 Bye 9/27 @ California 10/4 UNLV 10/11 @ Arizona State 10/18 @ Notre Dame 10/25 Oregon 11/1 @ Washington 11/8 Stanford 11/15 @ Oregon State 11/22 UCLA
THE COACHES: WSU - Mike Price (Puget Sound '69) has a 43-47-0 (.478) record at WSU in eight years and a career mark of 89-91-0 (.494) in 16 seasons at Weber State (1981-88; 46-44-0) and WSU (1989-present). UCLA - The Bruins are coached by Bob Toledo, starting his second year with UCLA...Toledo enters the season with a 5-6 mark at UCLA and a career record of 32-42 in seven seasons.
WSU VS. UCLA: While the Bruins hold a commanding 33-11-1 advantage in the series, dating back to the first game in 1928 (won by WSU 38-0), each team has won four games in the last eight meetings between the two teams...The Cougars have won two of the last three, with UCLA winning 38-14 last year at Pasadena...WSU's last home win over UCLA was 24-15 in 1994, while UCLA's last win in Pullman was 40-27 in 1993.
PRICE VS. UCLA: Mike Price is 3-4 against UCLA, winning in 1992, 1994 and 1995...UCLA head coach Bob Toledo is 1-0 against WSU following last year's win.
ABC TV: Saturday's national ABC telecast of WSU's battle with UCLA will provide a homecoming of sorts for Keith Jackson, a 1954 graduate of WSU and for more than three decades ABC's voice of college football. While Jackson has returned to WSU many times and called the action of several WSU games shown by ABC, he has never called a game from Pullman for ABC. The last time Jackson did a Cougar game from Pullman, 1958, he was doing WSU's television replays. Among the WSU games Jackson has called for ABC was the Cougars' upset of then number one UCLA in 1988 and then at the end of the same season WSU's win over Houston in the Aloha Bowl.
LAST MEETING: (Nov. 9, 1996, Pasadena) UCLA's Skip Hicks ran for one touchdown and caught two scoring passes from Cade McNown as the host UCLA Bruins pulled away from a 7-7 first quarter tie to hand the Washington State Cougars a 38-14 loss before a crowd of 40,421 at the Rose Bowl. The two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, with Hicks busting loose on a 38-yard run for UCLA's opening score. Michael Black evened the score for the Cougars later in the same period when he broke over the goal line from one yard out to complete a 52-yard WSU drive that was set up by Dee Moronkola's first interception of the season. From that point on the Bruins were in control, with WSU's only answer a late third-period scoring pass from Ryan Leaf to Shawn Tims. By that time the Bruins were on top 28-7. After the Cougars pulled to within 28-14, UCLA added a field goal and a late touchdown in the final 15 minutes to secure the win. James Darling and Brandon Moore led the Cougar defense with 11 tackles each, while Duane Stewart also picked off a Bruin pass. Black nearly had his fifth 100-yard game, finishing with 97 net yards rushing. Meanwhile Hicks became the first back of the season to top the 100 yard mark against WSU, ending the game with 116 yards. Leaf finished the afternoon hitting 20 of 46 passes for 195 yards and one score. He did not throw an interception. UCLA's McNown completed 16 of his 32 passes for 230 yards and four scores, plus two interceptions. Chad Carpenter led WSU with five receptions for 74 yards.
CAPTAINS: WSU - C Cory Withrow (71) and DE Dorian Boose (90). UCLA - The Bruin captains are
SCORING STREAK ALIVE AT 143: The Washington State Cougars have scored in a record 143 straight games. The current streak started with a 16-14 win over Ball State in the fourth game of the 1984 season and came on the heels of a 44-0 blanking at the hands of Ohio State. The following is a breakdown of WSU scoring by game since 1980:
YR RECORD 0 1-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50> PT/PPG
1980 4-7-0 1 6 4 287/26.1
1981 8-3-1 5 2 5 297/24.8
1982 3-7-1 1 1 6 2 1 170/15.5
1983 7-4-0 1 5 3 1 1 237/21.5
1984 6-5-0 1 1 5 2 1 1 317/28.8
1985 4-7-0 1 2 2 5 1 313/28.5
1986 3-7-1 1 4 4 2 221/20.1
1987 3-7-1 3 5 3 238/21.6
1988 9-3-0 5 3 3 1 415/34.6
1989 6-5-0 1 1 3 2 3 1 351/31.9
1990 3-8-0 4 3 2 1 1 266/26.0
1991* 4-7-0 1 4 2 1 2 1 280/25.4
1992 9-3-0 1 1 4 4 1 1 337/28.1
1993 5-6-0 3 2 2 1 1 2 271/24.6
1994 8-4-0 3 3 6 192/16.0
1995 3-8-0 1 4 3 2 1 236/21.5
1996 5-6-0 2 6 1 2 314/28.5
90-97-4 2 17 50 59 36 17 11 4895/25.6
* = TD RECORD: WSU scored at least one touchdown in 82 consecutive games between 1984 and 1991...the streak ended with a 44-3 loss to UCLA in 1991.
PAC-10 SCORING STREAK AT 164: In addition to having scored in 143 consecutive games, WSU also has scored in 164 straight Pac-10 Conference games, by far the longest active scoring streak in the league.
COUGS STINGY IN FIRST QUARTER: WSU's defense has allowed 158 first quarter points in the last 45 games over the past four years...WSU allowed 41 points in 1993, then just 29 first quarter points in 1994 and 45 in 1995...in 1996 WSU allowed 43 first-quarter points.
PRICE FOURTH IN WINS: WSU coach Mike Price is fourth among the current Pacific-10 coaches with 89 wins...Arizona's Dick Tomey has 128, followed by ASU's Bruce Snyder, 100, and USC's John Robinson, 98.
PRICE THIRD ON WSU'S WIN LIST: Mike Price's 43 wins as a Cougar football coach ranks third on the school's all-time victory list, ONE WIN SHORT OF SECOND PLACE...he trails O.E. "Babe" Hollingbery, 93 (1926-42) and Jim Walden, 44 (1978-86).
MIKE PRICE AMONG WSU'S BEST: Only two Washington State football coaches with tenure of five years or longer at WSU have put together a better record than Mike Price...Price, in his eight seasons at WSU, is 43-47-0 (.478), while his career mark is now 89-91-0...Babe Hollingbery was 93-53-14 (.625) during his 1926-42 (17 years) tenure...Jim Sutherland's eight-year record (1956-63), was 37-39-4 (.488).
NOTHING LIKE HOME: The Washington State Cougars love to play at home and after looking at the team's home and away records during Mike Price's eight-year tenure, its easy to see why team's don't enjoy their trip to Pullman...Price at home has a 24-17 record, including an 18-8 mark the past five years...on the road, WSU is 19-30:
YEAR HOME AWAY OVERALL
1989 3-2 3-3 6-5
1990 1-4 2-4 3-8
1991 2-3 2-4 4-7
1992 5-1 4-2 9-3
1993 4-1 1-5 5-6
1994 3-2 5-2 8-4
1995 3-2 0-6 3-8
1996 3-2 2-4 5-6
TOTALS: 24-17 19-30 43-47
1997 COUGARS A VETERAN SQUAD: Few times has WSU started a season boasting as many senior letterwinners as will lineup for the Cougs against UCLA Aug. 30...Among the 42 letterwinners on this year's roster are 22 seniors...not since the 1988 squad coached by Dennis Erickson has WSU bosted as many senior letterwinners...that year, with 24 seniors among 51 returning letterwinners, WSU went to the Aloha Bowl and finished 9-3-0...in 1991 Price's Cougar squad had 48 letterwinners, including 20 seniors...he also had 20 senior letterinners on his first Cougar club in 1989...here's a look as letterwinners and seniors on each WSU team since 1988:
YEAR # LETTER WINNERS # SENIORS
1988 51 24
1989 39 20
1990 40 16
1991 48 20
1992 43 18
1993 35 19
1994 35 16
1995 35 15
1996 33 10
1997 42 22
RUSHING TOTALS UNDER 100: In the last four years WSU has held 24 of 45 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing...the lows include Montana State's -35 and Pacific's -6 in 1993 and Montana's -6 in 1995...in those 45 games, WSU has held opponents to 50 or less yards 10 times:
1993 - Games WSU Allowed 100 Yards Rushing - 3/11
Michigan 179, USC 104, Washington 302.
1994 - Games WSU Allowed 100 Yards Rushing - 3/12
Tennessee 149, Oregon State 178, Washington 102.
1995 - Games WSU Allowed 100 Yards Rushing - 5/11
UCLA 137, Nebraska 428, California 134, Stanford 131,
Washington 222.
1996 - Games WSU Allowed 100 Yards Rushing - 10/11
Colorado 192, Temple 125, Oregon 118, SJSU 100,
Arizona 145, OSU 141, California 44, USC 148,
UCLA 164, Stanford 102, Washington 213.
WSU DEFENSE HALTS LONG RUSHES: WSU's defense just doesn't allow long runs...in the last four years WSU has allowed just 33 runs of 20 yards or longer in 45 games:
1993 Plays Allowed 20 Yards or Longer - 8
1994 Plays Allowed 20 Yards or Longer - 7
1995 Plays Allowed 20 Yards or Longer - 12
1996 Plays Allowed 20 Yards or Longer - 6
1994 Plays Allowed 10-19 Yards - 15
1995 Plays Allowed 10-19 Yards - 24
1996 Plays Allowed 10-19 Yards - 33
TURNOVERS: The Cougars were -9 in turnovers last year with WSU turning the ball over 32 times, the opponents 23 times...in 1995 WSU was even in turnovers, each team committing 21 turnovers...in 1994 WSU was +9, losing the ball just 23 times...opponents that year turned the ball over 32 times.
------ W S U ----- -- OPPONENTS --
OPP +/- F FL PI TOT F FL PI TOT
UCLA
TOTAL
PRACTICE SCHEDULE CHANGE: The Cougars will change their weekly practice schedule slightly once the season begins...the Cougs will not be involved in any football related activities each Monday...Sunday afternoon's schedule will include running and weight lifting, video review of the previous day's game, dinner and academic sessions...WSU will practice in pads Tuesday and Wednesday, beginning at 3:00 p.m...Thursday's practice, a non-contact session, also begins at 3:00 p.m...in the past Sunday was the off-day for the team, with an evening practice held each Monday.
WSU AMONG WIN LEADERS SINCE '92: The Washington State Cougars have won 30 games since the start of the 1992 season, ranking seventh in wins by any Pacific-10 team...the Cougars' 18 conference wins ranks eighth when totaling league victories...here's a look at the records for Pac-10 teams, 1992-96:
OVERALL PACIFIC-10
1992-96 W L T W L T
Washington 38 16 1 27 11 1
USC 36 20 3 26 12 2
Arizona 34 21 1 22 15 1
Oregon 35 23 0 22 18 0
Arizona State 31 21 0 21 16 0
UCLA 31 24 0 20 19 0
Washington State 30 27 0 18 22 0
Stanford 29 23 2 19 21 0
California 25 31 0 13 26 0
Oregon State 12 41 1 5 34 1
RUSHING TD'S HARD TO COME BY: The Cougar defense doesn't like to give up touchdowns on the ground but recent figures have fallen off since the Palouse Posse of 1994 allowed just four rushing TDs...since the beginning of the 1994 season WSU has allowed just 31 touchdowns on the ground in 34 games, still less than one per game:
1994 [4] - Tennessee 1, California 1, OSU 1, Washington 1
1995 [12] - Nebraska 3, Washington 3, Arizona 2,
Stanford 2, OSU 1, California 1
1996 [18] - Temple 4 (most since UCLA's 5 in 1991),
Washington 3, Oregon 2, Arizona 2, USC 2, Stanford 2,
Colorado 1, Cal 1, UCLA 1 [none by SJSU, OSU]
100-YARD RUSHERS FEW: Only 10 running backs have been able to crack the 100-yard mark in the last four years against WSU's defense...only two did so in 1996, UCLA's Skip Hicks with 116 and Washington's Corey Dillon, 155:
1993 - Players Gaining 100+ Yards vs. WSU - 2
Tyrone Wheatley, Michigan, 117
Napoleon Kaufman, Washington, 181
1994 - Players Gaining 100+ Yards vs. WSU - 1
J.J. Young, Oregon State, 100
1995 - Players Gaining 100+ Yards vs. WSU - 5
Karim Abdul-Jabar, UCLA, 125
Ahman Green, Nebraska, 176
Reynard Rutherford, California, 124
Anthony Bookman, Stanford, 123,
Rashaan Shehee, Washington, 212
1996 - Players Gaining 100+ Yards vs. WSU - 2
Skip Hicks, UCLA, 116
Corey Dillon, Washington, 155
LEAF LEADS SOPHS: Ryan Leaf set a WSU sophomore record in 1996, topping the campaigns of some of the Cougars' best ever, including Drew Bledsoe, Timm Rosenbach, Chad Davis and Jack Thompson...Leaf threw for 2,811 yards during the 11-game season to top Thompson's sophomore record of 2,762 set in 1976...here's a look at the top sophomore performances by Cougar quarterbacks:
SOPHOMORE TOTALS BY WSU QBs PLAYER YEAR PA PC PI YDS PCT TD Leaf 1996 373 194 12 2822 .520 21 Thompson 1976 335 203 14 2762 .586 20 Bledsoe 1991 358 199 15 2741 .556 17 Rosenbach 1987 390 222 24 2446 .569 11 Davis 1994 339 197 6 2299 .581 10
LEAF ON A TEAR: Junior Ryan Leaf has put up some impressive numbers since taking over at quarterback in the tenth game of 1995...during his last 13 games, Leaf has averaged 259.6 yards passing and WSU's total offensive average has been 377.9 yards...Leaf did not start against Stanford in 1995, but was pressed into duty early in the game and has been the starter since then...his career-best 355 yards passing against San Jose State was just three yards short of a spot in WSU's top 10 passing list for a single game...here's Leaf's totals for his last 13 games:
RYAN LEAF - LAST 13 GAMES WSU
GAME PA PC PI YDS TD LG TO
'95 STAN 44 26 1 273 3 33 416
'95 WASH 33 22 0 291 1 30 411
'96 COLO 33 13 1 163 1 50 168
'96 TMPLE 29 19 0 273 4 40 437
'96 OREG 27 16 1 225 4 30 459
'96 SJSU 25 16 0 355 4 68 564
'96 ARIZ 37 22 2 348 2 38 390
'96 OSU 28 13 2 219 0 36 326
'96 CAL 34 16 1 218 1 35 420
'96 USC 44 27 3 314 2 48 369
'96 UCLA 46 20 0 195 1 23 356
'96 STAN 38 18 2 250 1 25 311
'96 WASH 34 14 0 251 1 47 286
'97 UCLA
TOTAL 452 242 13 3375 25 68 4913
COUGARS VS. RANKED TEAMS: WSU, in 1995, suffered losses to three nationally ranked teams: No. 2 Nebraska, at No. 5 USC and at No. 12 Oregon...in 1996 WSU lost at No. 5 Colorado, defeated No. 25 Oregon and No. 19 California and lost to No. 12 Washington.
LEAF THIRD ON WSU PASSING: Ryan Leaf finished his sophomore season with the third best passing total ever by a Cougar quarterback and the best ever for an 11-game season...the only two WSU quarterbacks with better seasons, Drew Bledsoe's record 3,246 yards in 1992, and Timm Rosenbach's 3,097 yards in 1988, came during bowl years when the Cougars played in 12 games, allowing each QB the benefit of an additional game...Bledsoe's 11-game total during his record-breaking season was 2,770 and Rosenbach's 11-game total was 2,791 yards...Rosenbach threw for 306 yards against Houston in the Aloha Bowl and Bledsoe threw for a school record 476 yards against Utah in 1992 in the Copper Bowl.
BLACK RUSHED FOR 214 LAST SEASON: Michael Black rushed for 214 yards against California last year, the fifth best one-game total ever by a Cougar...only Rueben Mayes (357 at Oregon and 216 at Stanford, 1984), Bernard Jackson (261 against Oregon, 1971) and Tali Ena (218 against OSU, 1984) had better games running the football.
WEIGHT ROOM NOTES: Ryan Leaf (Russel High, Great Falls, Mont.) set three WSU QB records in the weight room with his 35-inch vertical jup, 320-pound bench press and his pro bench (225 pounds as many times as possible) of 13 lifts...Shawn McWashington (Garfield High, Seattle) set WR records with his 350-pound bench press and 18 pro bench lifts...Shawn Tims (Vallejo High, Vallejo, Calif.) set two WR records when he posted a 37-inch vertical jump and lifted 525 pounds in the squat...Leon Bender (Santana High, Santee, Calif.) set a all-position record when he lifted 720 pounds in the squat...Eboni Wilson (Jefferson High, Los Angeles, Calif.) set a DL record with his 475-pound bench press...walkon Joe Gecas (Pullman High, Pullman) set a RB record with his 24 pro bench lifts...so far 14 players have benched 400 pounds or more.
LINEUP ADJUSTED: Senior defensive tackle Leon Bender, who started 10 games last season, will not be allowed to start WSU's opener with UCLA because of disciplinary reasons, although he will play against the Bruins, according to WSU head coach Mike Price. "Leon is being disciplined because of an inappropriate verbal discussion he had with officials following the last play of last year's final game against Washington," Price commented. "All of us were disappointed when Chad Carpenter's overtime catch against Washington was ruled out of bounds, but Leon chose to express those frustrations to an official after the game, which is not proper conduct for any Cougar player. Because of that he will not be allowed to start our opener, but he will play.
INJURY UPDATE: Medical update by Dir. Of Athletic Medicine Mark Smaha Monday, Aug. 25: LB Tom Wagner (knee scoped; will not play); SS Bryant Thomas (left ring finger, surgery, will play); DT Delmar Morais (knee surgery last season, will play); CB Dee Moronkola (shoulder, will play); DE Ebony Wilson (knee scoped, will not play); TE Jon Kincaid (broken ankle, surgery last year, will not play); DT Gary Holmes (back surgery last winter, will play); OT Ryan McShane (shoulder surgery last spring, will play).
MIKE PRICE OPENERS: Mike Price, beginning his ninth year as WSU's head coach, is 4-4 in season openers and 6-2 in home openers...WSU has not opened the season at home since a 1992 victory over Montana...WSU has won five straight home openers...when WSU has opened the season at home under Price, the Cougars are 2-0, while in openers on the road WSU is 2-4...here's the breakdown of Price's openers:
YEAR HOME OPENER SEASON OPENER
1989 W Idaho W Idaho
1990 L Wyoming W @ TCU
1991 L Fresno State L @ Oregon
1992 W Montana W Montana
1993 W Montana State L @ Michigan
1994 W Fresno State W @Illinois
1995 W Montana L @ Pitt
1996 W Oregon L @ Colorado
NOTES ABOUT TOP 1996 ACHIEVEMENTS: Among the most notable achievements by last year's seniors were: Tony Truant finished his career ranked fourth in WSU scoring with 167 points, third in career PAT kicks (86) and third in scoring by a kicker...receiver Chad Carpenter caught 107 passes in his 44-game career to rank tenth on WSU's all-time list...James Darling made 136 tackles last year to rank eighth on WSU's one-season list...he had 258 career tackles to rank eleventh on WSU's all-time list.
PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENTS: Roger Scharnhorst, WSU's director of physical development, recently compared freshman and senior weight room achievements for several Cougar seniors, including linemen Leon Bender, Dorian Boose, Shane Doyle, Jason McEndoo and Cory Withrow. Five others were also included in the 10-player study. Boose, since enrolling at WSU as a junior in 1995, has put on 70 pounds, increased his squat total from 305 to 555 pounds and his bench press from 340 to 405. Bender, who has gained 60 pounds in his career, went from 400 in the squad to a WSU record 720. Doyle improved his squat effort by 250 pounds to 615. All but two of the 10 players improved their squats by over 100 pounds...McEndoo had the best bench press total at 460 pounds, up 135 pounds from his freshman year...four other players also gained over 100 pounds on their bench press totals...in addition each of the 10 players improved in their 40-yard dash performance despite major weight gains...receiver Shawn Tims, who went from 315 to 525 in the squad and 230 to 325 in the bench, improved from 4.89 seconds to 4.53 seconds in the 40.
SCHEDULING: Coaches often talk about who an upcoming opponent faces the week before or the week after the two teams collide...here's a look at WSU opponents and who they play before and after meeting the Cougars:
DATE BEFORE WSU WSU OPP AFTER WSU
8/30 --- UCLA Tennessee
9/13 Florida St. @ USC @ California
9/20 @ Louisville @ ILLINOIS @ Iowa
9/27 Weber State BOISE STATE New Mexico St.
10/4 @ Stanford @ OREGON UCLA
10/18 Washington CAL @UCLA
10/25 Washington ARIZONA Oregon State
11/1 @ Stanford @ ASU @ Cal
11/8 Tulane USL Louisiana Tech
11/15 @ USC STANFORD Cal
11/22 @UCLA @ WASHINGTON ---
LEAF SPARKS OFFENSE: WSU's offensive totals in 1996, with Ryan Leaf at quarterback, were the best in since 1992 when Drew Bledsoe quarterbacked WSU to the Copper Bowl:
YEAR TDs PASS RUSH T-OFFENSE
1992 39 289.8 135.4 425.3
1993 28 251.8 118.2 370.0
1994 20 201.1 87.2 281.0
1995 29 240.3 114.6 354.9
1996 36 266.5 105.0 371.5
