1976 Washington State Cougars football team
The 1976 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their only season under head coach Jackie Sherrill, the Cougars compiled a 3–8 record (2–5 in Pac-8, sixth), and were outscored 331 to 240.
| 1976 Washington State Cougars football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Pacific-8 Conference |
| Record | 3–8 (2–5 Pac-8) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Bob Leahy (1st season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Howard Tippett (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Martin Stadium, Kingdome (Seattle), Joe Albi Stadium (Spokane) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 USC $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 UCLA | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The team's statistical leaders included Jack Thompson with 2,762 passing yards, Dan Doornink with 422 rushing yards, and Mike Levenseller with 1,124 receiving yards.
Senior quarterback John Hopkins injured a knee in the second game making a tackle; sophomore Thompson relieved him and again the following week, then became the starter for the rest of the season.
A home game was played in Seattle at the newly-opened Kingdome, against eleventh-ranked USC. Previous home games in Seattle in 1972 and 1974 were at Husky Stadium. The sole game at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane was the Apple Cup, which was also under consideration as the Kingdome game.
Previously the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh, Sherrill was hired in late December 1975, but coached just one season in Pullman, leaving in early December to return to the Panthers as head coach. A week later, he was succeeded at WSU by Warren Powers, the defensive backfield coach at Nebraska.