The 1966 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 wi ...

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 uni ...

in the

Athletic Association of Western Universities The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

(AAWU) during the

1966 NCAA University Division football season The 1966 University Division football season was marked by some controversy as the year of "The Tie", a famous 10–10 game between the two top-ranked teams, Michigan State and Notre Dame on November 19. Both teams were crowned national champions ...

. Led by third-year head coach

Bert Clark Robert B. Clark Jr. (February 12, 1930 – December 13, 2004) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Washington State University for four seasons, from 1964 through 1967. Early life and playing career Born in Wichita ...

, the Cougars compiled a record (1–3 in AAWU, tie for sixth), and were outscored 211 to 132. Two home games were played on campus at Rogers Field in Pullman, and three at Joe Albi Stadium in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

. The team's statistical leaders included Jerry Henderson with 989 passing yards, Ammon McWashington with 298 rushing yards, and Doug Flansburg with 613 receiving yards. The trip to the

Houston Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

in September included a jet flight, the first for Cougar It was the first college football game played on artificial turf, the majority (baseball outfield) of the AstroTurf was installed two months earlier in July. After consecutive losses in the

Battle of the Palouse The Battle of the Palouse refers to an athletic rivalry in the northwest United States, between the Vandals of the University of Idaho and Cougars of Washington State University. The two land-grant universities are less than apart on the ...

, WSU scored two late touchdowns to defeat

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in the chilly mud at

Neale Stadium Neale Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Opened in 1937 for college football, it was used for over three decades, through the 1968 football sea ...

on October 22; the Cougars have not played in neighboring

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

since. Washington State defeated

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in the final varsity football game at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

. In the rivlary game with

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

at Spokane, the Cougars lost for the eighth straight year.

Schedule

Roster

NFL/AFL Draft

Three Cougars were selected in the

1967 NFL/AFL Draft The 1967 National Football League draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft with the AFL, part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of June 1966. This draft was delayed as new guide ...

References

External links

Game program: California vs. WSU at Spokane
– September 17, 1966
Game program: Baylor vs. WSU at Spokane
– October 1, 1966
Game program: Arizona State at WSU
– October 8, 1966
Game program: WSU at Utah
– October 15, 1966
Game program: Oregon State at WSU
– October 29, 1966
Game program: Washington vs. WSU at Spokane
– November 19, 1966 {{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