# 1973 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1973 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their sixth season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 5–6 record (4–3 in Pac-8, fourth), and were outscored 290 to 250.
The team's statistical leaders included Chuck Peck with 1,023 passing yards, Andrew Jones with 1,059 rushing yards, and Tim Krause with 384 receiving yards.
The Cougars won their last four games, all in conference, which included a sweep of the three Northwest teams; the season concluded with a second consecutive win in the Apple Cup over Washington, this time a 52–26 rout on the road in Seattle.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 15 | at Kansas* | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | L 8–29 | 39,687–39,750 |
| September 22 | at No. 13 Arizona State* | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ | L 9–20 | 51,252 |
| September 29 | Idaho* | Martin StadiumPullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse) | W 51–24 | 22,500 |
| October 6 | at No. 1 Ohio State* | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | L 3–27 | 87,425 |
| October 13 | at No. 4 USC | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | L 35–46 | 50,975 |
| October 20 | No. 13 UCLA | Joe Albi StadiumSpokane, WA | L 13–24 | 32,200 |
| October 27 | at Stanford | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | L 14–45 | 48,000 |
| November 3 | Oregon | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | W 21–14 | 19,800 |
| November 10 | at Oregon State | Parker StadiumCorvallis, OR | W 13–7 | 17,336 |
| November 17 | California | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | W 31–28 | 13,082 |
| November 24 | at Washington | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA (Apple Cup) | W 52–26 | 56,500 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game ||||||

## Game summaries
### At Ohio State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Washington State | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 27 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: October 6
* Game weather: Sunny, 65 °F (18 °C)
* Game attendance: 87425
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
OSU – Bruce Elia 17-yard run (kick failed), 7:14. Ohio State 6–0. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards.
OSU – Archie Griffin 6-yard pass from Cornelius Greene (pass good), 3:20. Ohio State 14–0. Drive: 9 plays, 77 yards.
WSU – Joe Danelo 41-yard field goal, 0:22. Ohio State 14–3. Drive: 40 yards.
Third quarter
OSU – Archie Griffin 26-yard run (kick blocked), 9:21. Ohio State 20–3. Drive: 12 plays, 84 yards.
OSU – Bruce Elia 9-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 5:13. Ohio State 27–3. Drive: 3 plays, 33 yards.
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Top passers
WSU – Wally Bennett – 7/11, 50 yards, int
OSU – Cornelius Greene – 3/6, 62 yards, TD, int
Top rushers
WSU – Andrew Jones – 17 rushes, 64 yards
OSU – Archie Griffin – 15 rushes, 128 yards, TD
Top receivers
WSU – Fritz Brayton – 6 receptions, 45 yards
OSU – Dave Hazel – 1 reception, 49 yards :

### At Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Washington St | 14 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 52 |
| Washington | 0 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 26 |
* Chuck Peck 9/17, 249 yds
* Andrew Jones 139 rush Yds
* Most points ever scored against Washington

## All-conference

Three Washington State players were named to the All-Pac-8 team: senior linebacker Tom Poe, junior guard Steve Ostermann, and junior center Geoff Reece. Ostermann was a repeat selection; he and Reece returned to the first team the next year.

## NFL draft

Three Cougars were selected in the 1974 NFL draft
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | Franchise |
| Robin Sinclair | DB | 6 | 152 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Ken Grandberry | RB | 8 | 190 | Chicago Bears |
| Tom Wickert | G | 9 | 212 | Miami Dolphins |