The 1986 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 Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth and final season under head coach the Cougars compiled a record in Pac-10, eighth place) and were outscored 312 to 221. The Cougars tied eventual Rose Bowl champion

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in Tempe in late then beat USC by twenty points in Pullman, but lost their final five games and dropped in the standings. WSU's statistical leaders in 1986 included senior quarterback Ed Blount with 1,882 passing yards, Kerry Porter with 921 rushing yards, and

Kitrick Taylor Kitrick Lavell Taylor (born July 22, 1964) is a former professional American football player. A wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) from 1988–1993, Taylor is probably best known for catching Brett Favre's first ever winning tou ...

with 523 receiving yards. Notable underclassmen included quarterback

Timm Rosenbach Timm Lane Rosenbach (born October 27, 1966) is an American college football coach and former professional gridiron football player. Rosenbach was the head football coach at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, taking the position at t ...

, guard

Mike Utley Michael Gerard Utley (born December 20, 1965) is a former American football player. He played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1989 through 1991, when he was paralyzed during a game. Early life and college career A gr ...

, and future head coach Walden departed for Iowa State in the Big Eight Conference in and was succeeded by

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho ...

, who returned to the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...

(four years at

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 after just one season

Schedule

Roster

Season summary

UNLV

Gainesville Sun. 1986 Sep 7. Retrieved 2018-Jan-15.

Washington

NFL draft

Four Cougars were selected in the 1987 NFL draft.

References

{{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