1975 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	3–8 (0–7 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jim Sweeney (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jack Elway (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Larry Donovan (2nd season)
Home stadium	Martin Stadium, Joe Albi Stadium

The 1975 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their eighth season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (0–7 in Pac-8, last) and were outscored 295 to 262.^[1][2]

The team's statistical leaders included John Hopkins with 1,022 passing yards, Vaughn Williams with 662 rushing yards, and Brian Kelly with 371 receiving yards.^[3]

With two wins to open the season,^[4][5][6] followed by seven consecutive losses,^[7] the Cougars took out their frustrations on over-matched neighbor Idaho in the Battle of the Palouse on November 15, scoring eight touchdowns in the first half on the way to an 84–27 rout.^[8][9][10] The next week at Husky Stadium in Seattle, WSU led rival Washington 27–13 with three minutes left in Don James' first Apple Cup, but gave up two long touchdowns to lose by a point.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Sweeney resigned a week later,^[15][16][17] and was promptly hired at Fresno State.^{[18][19][20][21]}

This was the first season for the concrete north grandstand at Martin Stadium; the student section, it was formerly a wooden grandstand constructed in the 1930s as part of Rogers Field.^[22][23][24] (1975 aerial photo)^[25]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 13	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	W 18–14	33,378
September 20	at Utah*	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 30–14	19,622
September 27	California	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 21–33	24,500
October 4	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 21–27	51,060
October 11	at No. 3 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 10–28	47,408
October 18	No. 18 UCLA	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 23–37	28,500
October 25	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford CA	L 14–54	35,000
November 1	Oregon	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 14–26	18,100
November 8	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 0–7	13,489
November 15	Idaho*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	W 84–27	17,300
November 22	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	L 27–28	57,100
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

Game summaries

NFL Draft

Four Cougars were selected in the 1976 NFL Draft

^[34][35]

References

External links

• Game program: WSU at Utah – September 20, 1975
• Game program: California at WSU – September 27, 1975
• Game program: Oregon at WSU – November 1, 1975
• Game program: Idaho at WSU – November 15, 1975