American college football season
The 2018 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played their home games in Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were led by 7th-year head coach Mike Leach and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.[1]
The 2018 season was one of the greatest in Washington State history. The Cougars won a school record-tying ten games, the first time they had won that many in the regular season since the Rose Bowl year of 2002. They also surged as high as seventh in major polling and went into the Apple Cup with a chance to clinch the Pac-12 North title and a shot at the Rose Bowl, but lost 28–15 to rival Washington in the snow in Pullman, a sixth consecutive loss to the Huskies. The 10–2 Cougars were invited to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio to play the Iowa State Cyclones. They won 28–26 for a school record 11th win.
Mike Leach's air raid offense was led by grad transfer quarterback Gardner Minshew, who led FBS in passing completions and attempts, and finished second in passing yards.[2] Minshew was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and was the recipient of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He and offensive tackle Andre Dillard were named first-team all-conference. Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Abraham Lucas was named to several national all-freshman teams, and was joined on the all-conference second-team by defensive end Logan Tago. Mike Leach was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second time of his career.
Preseason
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released
Pac-12 media days
The 2018 Pac-12 media days were held July 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Mike Leach (HC), Kyle Sweet (WR/P) & Jalen Thompson (S) represented Washington State at this event. The Pac-12 media poll was released with the Cougars predicted to finish in fifth place at Pac-12 North division.[8]
Schedule
Conference opponents not played this season: Arizona State, UCLA
Rankings
Game summaries
At Wyoming
Washington State at Wyoming – Game summary
at War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, WY
- Date: September 1
- Game time: 12:30 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C); Partly cloudy
- Game attendance: 24,131
- Referee: Kevin Hassell
- TV announcers (CBSSN): Rich Waltz, Aaron Murray, A.J. Ross
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
San Jose State
San Jose State at Washington State – Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: September 8
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. PDT
- Game attendance: 26,141
- TV announcers (P12N): Guy Haberman, Ryan Leaf, Cindy Brunson
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington at Washington State – Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: September 15
- Game time: 5:00 p.m. PDT
- Game attendance: 32,952
- Referee: Steve Strimling
- TV announcers (P12N): Guy Haberman, Ryan Leaf, Cindy Brunson
- wsucougars.com Game Notes Box Score
At USC
Utah
Utah at Washington State – Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: September 29
- Game time: 3:07 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C); partly cloudy
- Game attendance: 30,088
- Referee: M. Mothershed
- TV announcers (P12N): Ted Robinson, Yogi Roth, Jill Savage
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
At Oregon State
Washington State at Oregon State – Game summary
at Reser Stadium, Corvallis, OR
- Date: October 6
- Game time: 6:10 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); mostly clear
- Game attendance: 34,429
- Referee: Kevin Mar
- TV announcers (P12N): Ted Robinson, Yogi Roth, Jill Savage
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
Oregon
Oregon at Washington State – Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: October 20
- Game time: 4:35 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C); clear
- Game attendance: 33,152
- Referee: Mark Duddy
- TV announcers (FOX): Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Holly Sonders
- wsucougars.com Box Score
At Stanford
Washington State at Stanford – Game summary
at Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
- Date: October 27
- Game time: 4:35 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C)
- Game attendance: 39,596
- Referee: Mike McCabe
- TV announcers (P12N): Ted Robinson, Yogi Roth, Jill Savage
- gostanford.com Box Score
California
California at Washington State– Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: November 3
- Game time: 7:50 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C); cloudy, rain
- Game attendance: 32,952
- Referee: Kevin Mar
- TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
At Colorado
Arizona
Washington
Washington at Washington State– Game summary
at Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
- Date: November 23
- Game time: 5:45 p.m. PDT
- Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C); snow
- Game attendance: 32,952
- Referee: Steve Strimling
- TV announcers (FOX): Joe Davis, Brady Quinn, Bruce Feldman
- wsucougars.com Game Notes wsucougars.com Box Score
Vs. Iowa State (Alamo Bowl)
Awards
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year: Gardner Minshew II
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Mike Leach[12]
NFL draft
References
- ^ "Cougars Announce 2018 Football Schedule". wsucougars.com. November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
- ^ "2018 College Football Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- ^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ^ "Semifinalists for 2018 Davey O'Brien Award announced". November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- ^ "Washington picked as Pac-12 favorite in preseason media poll". July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.[dead link]
- ^ "Pac-12 Football Players of the Week - Week 3" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Pac-12 Football Players of the Week - Week 3" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Pac-12 Football Players of the Week - Week 12" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- ^ Pac-12.com. Retrieved 2018-Dec-27.