1951 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1951 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College during the 1951 college football season. Second-year head coach Forest Evashevski led the team to a 4–3 mark in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) and 7–3 overall.[1]

1951 Washington State Cougars football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 14
APNo. 18
Record7–3 (4–3 PCC)
Head coach
CaptainLaVern Torgeson
Home stadiumRogers Field, Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1950
1952 →
1951 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Stanford $ 6 1 0 9 2 0
No. 17 UCLA 4 1 1 5 3 1
No. 12 California 5 2 0 8 2 0
USC 4 2 0 7 3 0
No. 18 Washington State 4 3 0 7 3 0
Oregon State 3 5 0 4 6 0
Washington 1 5 1 3 6 1
Oregon 1 6 0 2 8 0
Idaho 0 3 0 2 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Three home games were played on campus in Pullman at Rogers Field, and two in Spokane, both at night.[2][3] The Cougars defeated rival Washington by two points for their first win in Seattle in 21 years,[4][5][6] and were in the top twenty in both final polls.

One of the stars of the 1951 Cougar team was Junior end Ed Barker, a future NFL first round draft pick.

After the season, Evashevski left for Iowa in early January,[7][8][9] and backs coach Al Kircher was promoted the following week.[10][11]

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 22at USCL 21–3128,876
September 29Santa Clara*W 34–2016,000[12]
October 5Oklahoma A&M*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Spokane, WA
W 27–1318,000
October 13No. 2 CaliforniaL 35–4217,500
October 20at Oregon StateW 26–1315,500[13]
October 27Oregon No. 18
  • Rogers Field
  • Pullman, WA
W 41–612,000
November 3at No. 11 StanfordNo. 16L 13–2149,000
November 10at IdahoNo. 17W 9–614,000[14][15]
November 17Montana*No. 17
  • Rogers Field
  • Pullman, WA
W 47–10  4,000
November 24at WashingtonNo. 17W 27–2552,000
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

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  1. ^ "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 74. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  2. ^ "Cougars stop Broncos 34-28". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 30, 1951. p. 8.
  3. ^ "Cougars trim air-minded Oklahoma A. & M." Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 6, 1951. p. 8.
  4. ^ "Second-half Washington State rally downs Huskies 27-25". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 25, 1951. p. 8.
  5. ^ "Roffler star of WSC's win; Bud hailed over M'Elhenny". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 26, 1951. p. 17.
  6. ^ Blake, Sherman (November 26, 1951). "Action is spectacular as Washington State wins from Washington 27-25". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). (photos). p. 19.
  7. ^ "Assistant coaches quit WSC with Evashevski; jobs open". Wpokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). January 7, 1952. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Evashevski leaves Washington State to take Iowa job". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. January 7, 1952. p. 16.
  9. ^ "Evashevski quits WSC to become Iowa coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. January 7, 1952. p. 2.
  10. ^ "Al Kircher accepts Washington State football post". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 15, 1952. p. 13.
  11. ^ "Kircher accepts head football position at Washington State on 5-year basis". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. January 16, 1952. p. 8.
  12. ^ Harry Borba (September 30, 1951). "Broncs Defeated, 34-20". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 35 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ United Press, "Cougars Take to Air, Crush OSC Beavers, 26–13," Fresno Bee, Oct. 21, 1951, p. 3-S (48).
  14. ^ Boren, Charlie (November 11, 1951). "Spirited Vandals hold powerful Cougars to 9-6 win". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 8.
  15. ^ "Idaho slows but cannot stop WSC, and Cougars win, 9 to 6". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 11, 1951. p. 1, sports.
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