1987 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	3–7–1 (1–5–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Dennis Erickson (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Bratkowski (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Single-back spread
Defensive coordinator	John L. Smith (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Martin Stadium
Seasons ←  1986 1988 →

The 1987 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Dennis Erickson, the Cougars compiled a 3–7–1 record (1–5–1 in Pac-10, ninth), and were outscored 356 to 238. ^{[1] [2]} Home games were played on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

The team's statistical leaders included Timm Rosenbach with 2,446 passing yards, Richard Calvin with 822 rushing yards, and Steve Broussard with 701 receiving yards. ^[3]

After nine years as WSU head coach, Jim Walden departed for Iowa State in the Big Eight Conference in late 1986, ^{[4] [5] [6]} and was succeeded by Erickson, who returned to the Palouse in January 1987 after just one season at Wyoming; he had led neighboring Idaho for the previous four years. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Wyoming visited Pullman in the second week of the season, a fifteen-point Cougar victory. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Fresno State*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 41–24	22,971
September 12	Wyoming*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 43–28	24,151	[10] [11] [12]
September 19	at No. 19 Michigan*	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 18–44	103,521
September 26	at Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 17–26	43,527
October 10	Stanford	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 7–44	31,538
October 17	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 7–38	70,341
October 24	Arizona	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 45–28	22,269
October 31	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 7–42	24,834
November 14	Oregon	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 17–31	14,089
November 21	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA ( Apple Cup)	L 19–34	74,038
November 28	vs. California	National Olympic Stadium Tokyo, Japan ( Coca-Cola Classic)	T 17–17	54,000	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

^{[14] [15]}

NFL Draft

Two Cougars were selected in the 1988 NFL Draft.

^{[16] [17]}

References