2016 Washington State Cougars football team

2016 Washington State Cougars football
2016 Washington State Cougars football
Holiday Bowl, L 12–17 vs. Minnesota
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
	North Division
Record	8–5 (7–2 Pac-12)
Head coach	Mike Leach (5th season);
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Alex Grinch (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4 multiple
Home stadium	Martin Stadium
	Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

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.

2016 Pac-12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 4 Washington x$^	8	–	1	12	–	2
Washington State	7	–	2	8	–	5
No. 12 Stanford	6	–	3	10	–	3
California	3	–	6	5	–	7
Oregon State	3	–	6	4	–	8
Oregon	2	–	7	4	–	8
South Division
No. 17 Colorado x	8	–	1	10	–	4
No. 3 USC	7	–	2	10	–	3
No. 23 Utah	5	–	4	9	–	4
Arizona State	2	–	7	5	–	7
UCLA	2	–	7	4	–	8
Arizona	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Washington 41, Colorado 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	5:00 pm	No. 14 (FCS) Eastern Washington*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	L 42–45	32,952
September 10	7:15 pm	at Boise State*		Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID	ESPN2	L 28–31	36,163
September 17	11:00 am	Idaho*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	P12N	W 56–6	28,477
October 1	6:30 pm	Oregon		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 51–33	33,528
October 8	7:30 pm	at No. 15 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN	W 42–16	50,424
October 15	7:30 pm	UCLA		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 27–21	29,310
October 22	7:00 pm	at Arizona State		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	P12N	W 37–32	50,582
October 29	7:45 pm	at Oregon State		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	ESPN2	W 35–31	37,081
November 5	1:00 pm	Arizona	No. 25	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	W 69–7	33,547
November 12	7:30 pm	California	No. 23	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ESPN	W 56–21	30,135
November 19	12:30 pm	at No. 10 Colorado	No. 22	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	FOX	L 24–38	48,658
November 25	12:30 pm	No. 5 Washington	No. 23	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (109th Apple Cup)	FOX	L 17–45	33,773
December 27	1:00 pm	vs. Minnesota*		Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	L 12–17	48,704
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to game All times are in Pacific time

Conference opponents not played this season: Utah, USC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:^[1]