# 2016 Washington State Cougars football team

The 2016 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by fifth-year head coach Mike Leach and played their home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. They were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 7–2 in Pac-12 play to finish in second place in the North Division. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl where they were defeated by Minnesota.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 14 (FCS) Eastern Washington* | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | P12N | L 42–45 | 32,952 |
| September 10 | 7:15 pm | at Boise State* | | Albertsons StadiumBoise, ID | ESPN2 | L 28–31 | 36,163 |
| September 17 | 11:00 am | Idaho* | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse) | P12N | W 56–6 | 28,477 |
| October 1 | 6:30 pm | Oregon | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | P12N | W 51–33 | 33,528 |
| October 8 | 7:30 pm | at No. 15 Stanford | | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | ESPN | W 42–16 | 50,424 |
| October 15 | 7:30 pm | UCLA | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | ESPN | W 27–21 | 29,310 |
| October 22 | 7:00 pm | at Arizona State | | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ | P12N | W 37–32 | 50,582 |
| October 29 | 7:45 pm | at Oregon State | | Reser StadiumCorvallis, OR | ESPN2 | W 35–31 | 37,081 |
| November 5 | 1:00 pm | Arizona | No. 25 | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | P12N | W 69–7 | 33,547 |
| November 12 | 7:30 pm | California | No. 23 | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | ESPN | W 56–21 | 30,135 |
| November 19 | 12:30 pm | at No. 10 Colorado | No. 22 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | FOX | L 24–38 | 48,658 |
| November 25 | 12:30 pm | No. 5 Washington | No. 23 | Martin StadiumPullman, WA (109th Apple Cup) | FOX | L 17–45 | 33,773 |
| December 27 | 1:00 pm | vs. Minnesota* | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl) | ESPN | L 12–17 | 48,704 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||
Conference opponents not played this season: Utah, USC

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV |
| Coaches | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 25 | 23 | 22 | 23 | — | — | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #14 (FCS) Eagles | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Cougars | 14 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 42 |

### At Boise State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Broncos | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vandals | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Cougars | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 | 56 |

### Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ducks | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 33 |
| Cougars | 7 | 21 | 2 | 21 | 51 |

### At Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| #15 Cardinal | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |

### UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bruins | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| Cougars | 3 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 27 |

### At Arizona State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 0 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 37 |
| Sun Devils | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 32 |

### At Oregon State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 0 | 6 | 22 | 7 | 35 |
| Beavers | 14 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 31 |

### Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| #25 Cougars | 24 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 69 |

### California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| #23 Cougars | 14 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 56 |

### At Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #20 Cougars | 14 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| #12 Buffaloes | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 38 |

### Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #6 Huskies | 28 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 45 |
| #23 Cougars | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Minnesota–Holiday Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Gophers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Cougars | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 |

## Coaching staff

| Name | Title | Years at WSU | Alma mater |
| Mike Leach | Head coach | 6 | BYU, 1983 |
| Alex Grinch | Defensive coordinator/secondary coach | 3 | Mount Union, 2002 |
| Jason Loscalzo | Strength and conditioning coach | 6 | Humboldt State, 1999 |
| Roy Manning | Outside linebackers coach | 3 | Michigan, 2004 |
| Jim Mastro | Running backs coach | 6 | Cal Poly, 1994 |
| Clay McGuire | Offensive line coach | 6 | Texas Tech, 2004 |
| Eric Mele | Special teams coach | 3 | William Paterson, 2002 |
| Dave Nichol | Outside receivers coach | 2 | Texas Tech, 1999 |
| Ken Wilson | Linebackers coach | 4 | North Central, 1986 |
| Brian Odom | Defensive quality control coach | 2 | Southeastern Oklahoma State, 2004 |
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