The 1961 Washington State Cougars football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

as an independent during the

1961 NCAA University Division football season During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" ( AP and UPI) ...

. In their sixth season under head coach

Jim Sutherland James Swanson Sutherland (August 20, 1914 – June 21, 1980) was an American football player and coach. the head coach at Washington State University in Pullman from 1956 to 1963, with a record in eight seasons. An innovator, Sutherland ...

, the Cougars compiled a 3–7 record and were outscored 213 to 163. The team's statistical leaders included Mel Melin with 814 passing yards, George Reed with 489 rushing yards, and

Hugh Campbell Hugh Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is a former American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different professional gridiron football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Uni ...

with 723 receiving yards.

Schedule

Roster

NFL draft

Three Cougars were selected in the

1962 NFL draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

, which was twenty rounds (280 selections).

References

External links

Game program: Utah State vs. WSU at Spokane
– September 30, 1961
Game program: Idaho at WSU
– October 14, 1961
Game program: San Jose State vs. WSU at Spokane
– October 28, 1961
Game program: Oregon at WSU
– November 11, 1961 {{Washington State Cougars football navbox

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Washington State Cougars football seasons

Washington State Cougars football The Washington State Cougars football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac- ...