Martin Stadium Martin Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pullman , Washington , United States , on the campus of Washington State University . It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pacific - 12 Conference , and is the smallest football stadium in the conference . The FieldTurf playing field runs an unorthodox east - west , at an elevation of above sea level . History . The stadium is named after Clarence D . Martin ( 1886 – 1955 ) , the governor of the state of Washington ( 1933 – 41 ) , and a former mayor of Cheney , and ironically , a graduate of the University of Washington . His son , Dan ( Clarence D . Martin , Jr . , 1916 – 1976 ) , made a $ 250 , 000 donation to the project in January 1972 . Martin Stadium opened on September 30 , 1972 , with a disappointing 19 - point loss to Utah , then a member of the WAC , with 20 , 600 in attendance . Two and a half years had passed since its predecessor , the wooden Rogers Field , was significantly damaged by fire , a suspected case of arson . The WSU Cougars played all of their home games at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane in 1970 and 1971 . As of 2006 , the stadium has a seating capacity of 35 , 117 . Since the renovation of Reser Stadium at Oregon State and the addition of Utah ' s Rice - Eccles Stadium to the Conference , Martin Stadium has fallen to last in seating capacity among Pac - 12 football stadiums . The current attendance record was set during the championship year of 1997 , when WSU beat Stanford in front of 40 , 306 fans on November 15 . ( The ' 97 Cougar team won the Apple Cup in Seattle the following week to win the Pac - 10 , and played in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 67 years . ) Despite the relatively small size of Martin Stadium , it has one of the highest ratios of seating capacity to population base ; almost 1 . 6 seats per every citizen in the city of Pullman , and a seat for everyone in Whitman County . 1979 Expansion . Martin Stadium was the first college football stadium to expand by removing its running track and lowering the playing field , in this case by . This modification in 1979 added over 12 , 000 new seats , most of which were closer to the field ( and the opponent ' s bench ) . The first game following the renovation was played in October 1979 , a victory over the UCLA Bruins . Following a 10 - 3 season and an undefeated home campaign in 2003 , Martin Stadium was ranked by " Sports Illustrated " as one of the toughest stadiums for visiting teams in college football . 2011 - 2013 Renovations . The proposed renovation of Martin Stadium consists of two separate projects . The first project , called the Southside Project , is an $ 80 million project to replace the old press box on the south stands with a new structure that includes a new press box , club seats , loge boxes , luxury suites and a club room . Approximately 1 , 900 new seats will be added to Martin Stadium in the premium seating area . The expansion will add 21 luxury suites ( four , 24 - person ; nine , 18 - person ; and eight , 12 - person ) , 42 loge boxes ( 27 , four - person and 15 , six - person ) and approximately 1 , 300 club seats ( 1 , 200 outdoor and 100 indoor ) . The old press box does not have the amenities necessary for " first class " game productions with respect to national television and radio broadcasts as provided for in the new PAC - 12 television and media contract . The Southside Project began demolition and construction in November 2011 and was completed by the first game of the 2012 season . The second project , called the West End - Zone Project , would provide a home for the Cougar football program , including new weight , lock , equipment and training rooms for players , in addition to meeting rooms and coaches ’ offices . It will also feature a WSU Football heritage area and a game - day home for Gray W former letter winners . The West End - Zone project was approved in November 2012 , and construction began on November 26 , 2012 . This project is projected to be completed by the 2014 - 2015 football season . Playing surface . The current playing surface is FieldTurf , first installed in 2000 and replaced in 2006 , it was preceded by the sand - filled Omniturf , installed in 1990 . The original playing surface at Martin Stadium in 1972 was AstroTurf , replaced by SuperTurf in 1979 . The playing surface at Rogers Field was natural grass . Goalposts . Martin Stadium is one of only three in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision ( formerly Division I - A ) which uses goalposts with two posts for all of its home games . The others are Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State and Tiger Stadium at LSU . For a period of the 1980s and 1990s , the NCAA banned the use of " offset " goalposts , but allowed them again in 1994 . Apple Cup . Washington State hosts the Apple Cup in even - numbered years . Except for 1954 , the Apple Cup was played at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane from 1950 – 80 , rather than in Pullman . The Cougars went 3 - 12 in these fifteen Spokane Apple Cups ( winning in 1958 , 1968 , and 1972 ) , while winning the previous games played at Rogers Field in Pullman ( 1948 , 1954 ) . Since 1982 , a Cougar victory , the rivalry game with UW has been played at Martin Stadium , with the Cougars winning just seven of the sixteen Pullman games . Sharing with a rival . For two and a half seasons , 1999 - 2001 , the Idaho Vandals of nearby Moscow borrowed Martin Stadium to use as its home field , as Idaho transitioned from Division I - AA back up to I - A . At the time , the Vandals ' Kibbie Dome was too small to support the NCAA ' s attendance requirements for Division I - A . The attendance criteria was changed and Idaho is now a member of the WAC in Division I FBS , and uses its own facility . Washington State and Idaho renewed their dormant football rivalry in 1998 , and matched up annually in the Battle of the Palouse for a decade . The game was played at Martin Stadium in September , although the 2003 game was curiously played far from the Palouse , west at CenturyLink Field in Seattle . After a ten year renewal , new Vandal head coach Robb Akey , a former WSU defensive coordinator , stated that he preferred the game not be played every year . The game was last played in 2007 and is scheduled to resume in 2013 . Fire at Rogers Field . At 10 : 30 p . m . on Saturday , April 4 , 1970 ( the first day of spring break ) , residents heard what they described as a gunshot at the football stadium . By 2 : 00 a . m . , the south grandstand and press box of the 1930s wooden venue had burned to the ground , witnessed by a thousand residents and firefighters . The exact cause , or offender , was never found , though there were several suspects . The Cougars played their entire home schedule for the 1970 and 1971 football seasons at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane . The fire also displaced the Idaho Vandals , whose wooden Neale Stadium was condemned before the 1969 season ( and set afire by arson that November ) . The Vandals had used WSU ' s Rogers Field for its three Palouse home games in 1969 and were planning to use it again in for four home games in 1970 . Without another suitable stadium in the Moscow - Pullman vicinity , Idaho played its 1970 home schedule at the reduced capacity Rogers Field , returning to its Moscow campus in October 1971 . The 1970 WSU - Idaho game in Spokane on September 19 was dubbed " The Displaced Bowl , " and was easily won by the Cougars , 44 - 16 , their only victory of the season . The name " Rogers Field " continues on campus , transferred to areas used for intramural sports and football practices , west of the stadium . Tradition . The public address announcer at Martin Stadium is WSU professor Glenn Johnson , who is also the mayor of Pullman . Johnson is known for his first - down call of " . . . and that ' s ANOTHER . . . " , to which the crowd responds by chanting " . . . COUGAR FIRST DOWN ! " in unison along with Johnson . The catchphrase has also inspired a dedicated website AnotherCougarFirstDown . com that is currently managed by Washington State University .