2020 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePac–12 Conference
DivisionNorth Division
Record1–3 (1–3 Pac-12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBrian Smith (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinatorCraig Stutzmann (1st season)
Offensive schemeRun and Shoot
Defensive coordinatorJake Dickert (1st season)
Base defense4–2–5
CaptainMax Borghi, Abraham Lucas, Liam Ryan, Jahad Woods
Home stadiumMartin Stadium
2020 Pac-12 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
North Division
Washington x  3 –1   3 –1  
Oregon y$  4 –2   4 –3  
Stanford  4 –2   4 –2  
California  1 –3   1 –3  
Washington State  1 –3   1 –3  
Oregon State  2 –5   2 –5  
South Division
No. 21 USC xy  5 –0   5 –1  
Colorado  3 –1   4 –2  
Utah  3 –2   3 –2  
Arizona State  2 –2   2 –2  
UCLA  3 –4   3 –4  
Arizona  0 –5   0 –5  
Championship: Oregon 31, USC 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • Note: Due to COVID-19, the Pac-12 suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on November 6. In addition to the title game on December 18, the conference seeded all remaining teams for a game during that weekend.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Nick Rolovich. The team played their home games in Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington, and competed as members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.

On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference initially canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

On September 24, the conference announced that a six-game conference-only season would begin on November 6, with the Pac-12 Championship Game to be played December 18. Teams not selected for the championship game would be seeded to play a seventh game.[3]

Schedule

Washington State had games scheduled against Utah State, Houston, and Idaho, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Original 2020 Washington State Cougars schedule
Date Opponent Site
September 3at Utah State*Maverik Stadium • Logan, UT
September 12Houston*Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA
September 19Idaho*Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)
September 26at Oregon StateReser Stadium • Corvallis, OR
October 3CaliforniaMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA
October 10UtahMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA
October 17at StanfordStanford Stadium • Stanford, CA
October 31Arizona StateMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA
November 7at ColoradoFolsom Field • Boulder, CO
November 14at UCLARose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
November 21OregonMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA
November 27WashingtonMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA (Apple Cup)
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
November 77:30 p.m.at Oregon State
FS1W 38–28—
November 144:00 p.m.No. 11 Oregon
FOXL 29–43—
November 217:30 p.m.at Stanford
FS1No Contest [5]
November 277:30 p.m.Washington
ESPNNo Contest [6]
December 64:30 p.m.at No. 20 USC
FS1L 13–38—
December 121:00 p.m.California
  • Martin Stadium
  • Pullman, WA
FOXNo Contest [7]
December 1910:30 a.m.at Utah
FS1L 28–45

[8]

#WeAreUnited controversy

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, student athletes of the Pac-12 Conference formed a unity group to negotiate with the conference to get more fair treatment for student athletes ranging from COVID-19 safety protocols to racial equality messages under the threat of opting out of the fall season with the hashtag #WeAreUnited.[9]

On August 2, 2020, Washington State wide receiver Kassidy Woods alleged that head coach Nick Rolovich threatened his status on the team, while also being removed from the team chats and being told to clear out his locker.[10] Woods also released an audio conversation between him and Rolovich to the Dallas Morning News, where Rolovich was understanding of Woods opting out due to COVID-19 but was still critical of the unity group.[11] Rolovich said in a statement that the said conversation between him and Woods occurred before the release of the #WeAreUnited group's article, and Washington State spokesman Bill Stephens clarified that Woods did not lose his scholarship or has been cut from the team, while ESPN reported that no one has been cut, but is not allowed to participate in team activities if they choose to opt out due to safety reasons.[12][13]

Personnel

Staff

Name Position Seasons at
Washington State		 Alma Mater
Nick Rolovich Head coach 1 Hawaii (2004)
Brian Smith Offensive coordinator / running backs 1 Hawaii (2005)
Jake Dickert Defensive coordinator / Linebackers 1 Wisconsin–Stevens Point (2007)
Michael Ghobrial Special teams coordinator 1 UCLA (2011)
Craig Stutzmann Co-offensive coordinator / quarterbacks 1 Hawaii (2002)
Andre Allen Wide receivers 1 Ashford (2014)
Mark Weber Offensive line 1 Cal Lutheran (1980)
A. J. Cooper Defensive ends 1 North Dakota State (2006)
Ricky Logo Defensive tackles 1 North Carolina State (1992)
Mark Banker Safeties 1 Springfield (MA) (1978)
John Richardson Cornerbacks / recruiting coordinator 1 North Dakota State (2010)
Dwain Bradshaw Head strength and conditioning coach 1 Arizona State (2014)
Jason Cvercko Chief of Staff 1 Connecticut (2011)

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP——————————
CoachesRV—————————
CFPNot releasedNot released

Game summaries

At Oregon State

Washington State Cougars (0–0) at Oregon State Beavers (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Cougars 7 7 141038
Beavers 0 7 71428

at Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon

Game information

Oregon

Oregon Ducks (1–0) at Washington State Cougars (1–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 11 Ducks 7 7 72243
Cougars 13 6 01029

at Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington

  • Date: November 14, 2020
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. PST
  • Game attendance: 0
  • Referee: Chris Coyle
  • TV announcers (FOX): Tim Brando (play-by-play) & Spencer Tillman (analyst)
Game information

At USC

Washington State Cougars (1–1) at USC Trojans (3–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Cougars 0 6 0713
No. 20 Trojans 28 7 3038

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

  • Date: December 6, 2020
  • Game time: 4:30 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: Scattered clouds, 64 °F (18 °C)
  • Game attendance: 0
  • Referee: Steven Strimling
  • TV announcers (FS1): Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis
  • Reference
Game information

At Utah

Washington State Cougars (1–2) at Utah Utes (2–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
Cougars 7 21 0028
Utes 0 7 142445

at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Date: December 19, 2020
  • Game time: 10:30 a.m. PST
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)
  • Game attendance: 0
  • Referee: Mark Duddy
  • TV: FS1
  • Reference
Game information

Awards

Player Award Date
Jayden de Laura Pac-12 Freshman of the Week[14] November 9, 2020
Ayden Hector Pac-12 Freshman of the Week[15] November 16, 2020

References

  1. ↑ Pac-12 Conference. "Pac-12 announces resumption of football, basketball & winter sports seasons". Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved September 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Pac-12 Conference postpones all sport competitions through end of calendar year". pac-12.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Pac-12 announces resumption of football, basketball & winter sports seasons". pac-12.com. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ Bromberg, Nick. "Pac-12 follows Big Ten's lead and won't play non-conference games in 2020". Yahoo News. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Washington State-Stanford Football Game Cancelled". wsucougars.com. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Boeing Apple Cup Update". wsucougars.com. November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Washington State-California Football Game Canceled". wsucougars.com. December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ "2020 Washington State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  9. ↑ Bumbaca, Chris. "Group of Pac-12 athletes unite, threaten opt out unless athletes' demands of conference are met". USA Today. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  10. ↑ Peter, Josh. "Washington State player says head coach threatened his status over Pac-12 unity group". USA Today. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ Blum, Sam. "Full transcript: Washington State coach Nick Rolovich critical of PAC-12 unity statement in conversation with WR Kassidy Woods". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ Evans, Jace. "Washington State coach Nick Rolovich attempts to clarify position on #WeAreUnited group". USA Today. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  13. ↑ Rittenberg, Adam. "Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich tells WR Kassidy Woods joining unity group would create 'an issue'". ESPN. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Pac-12 Football Players of the Week – Week 1" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Pac-12 Football Players of the Week – Week 2" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
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