The 2005 Washington State Cougars football team 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 during the

2005 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on Dec ...

. Led by third-year head coach Bill Doba, WSU played its home games at on campus Martin Stadium in Pullman, with one at

Qwest Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Season

Washington State was picked fifth in the pre-season Pac-10 conference poll. They were even classified by some as a sleeper pick for the national championship, with

Alex Brink Alex Brink (born June 2, 1985) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. After playing college football at Washington State, Brink was drafted by the Houston Texans in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. In 2010, he joined the ...

at the helm. They opened with three non-conference wins in September, but the results were different in league play. In the Pac-10 opener at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, Brink passed for over 500 yards, but WSU lost by eleven. The Cougars lost their next three games ( Stanford,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, Cal), by a combined ten points; their inability to close out games cost them. After a blowout loss in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to top-ranked USC, three-point setbacks at home to

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 ...

and #11

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 ...

followed, as the conference losing streak extended to seven games. In the Apple Cup at

, they defeated struggling rival

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 ...

by four points to finish at 4–7 overall.

Schedule

Game summaries

Washington

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References

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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