Football

Spring 2003

Patient Doba pays his dues, realizes his dream

Washington State didn’t need to conduct a national search for a new head football coach when Mike Price resigned December 17. His successor was already on campus. He was familiar with WSU, Pullman, and the Pac-10.

Bill Doba, defensive coordinator at WSU since 1994, was introduced less than 24 hours after Price announced he had taken the top football coaching job at University of Alabama. Doba waited 41 years for his day to come.

“I could have gone to my grave and not missed a thing about my coaching experience, but this really is a coach’s dream,” Doba, 62, said at a campus media conference.

… » More …

Winter 2002

Lone Star Dietz left a football legacy

“That was the game which was to change the face of New Year’s Day in the years to come.”—Rose Bowl historian Rube Samuelsen

In the first four decades of the 20th century, hardly a week went by during football season when the name of William H. “Lone Star” Dietz’s didn’t appear in the nation’s sports pages. Today it’s rarely heard in Pullman, or anywhere else. In spite of that near silence for 60 years now, the one-time Washington State College football coach (1915-1917, 17-2-1 record) left a legacy that could land him in the College Football Hall of Fame next year.

He began his coaching … » More …

Summer 2004

WSU Hall of Fame adds 5 who excelled

Carol Gordon

On February 21, the day of her induction into Washington State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame, Carol Gordon offered a silent prayer. That evening she shared her petition with 180 guests at the induction banquet in the Compton Union Building.

“Please let me speak before George [Raveling],” the longtime WSU professor, coach, and administrator said. Her comment drew a rousing ovation from the audience, including Raveling himself. The charismatic Cougar basketball coach from 1972-83 would speak later. Olympic gold medallist Julius Korir; Linda Williams Sheridan, Spokane prep coaching legend; and football All-America Mike Utley were the other honorees.

Gordon championed women’s athletics at … » More …

Fall 2005

I never said thank you.

May 2005

Inside the First Samoan Congregational Church in Oceanside, California, the Rev. Junior Tupuola is addressing his congregation, when he notices a figure in white moving across the back of the sanctuary. To Tupuola, it resembles an angel.

As the figure reaches the end of the aisle, Tupuola can see that it’s clad in jeans, the blue color of which stands out against the brightly colored clothing of the islanders sitting in the pews.

The figure stops and turns toward Tupuola. The white resolves into a Washington State University jersey. Crimson numerals take shape.

No. 19. Rod Retherford’s jersey number.

From the pulpit, Tupuola … » More …

Fall 2005

Legends of the Palouse

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Fall 2009

A player to be reckoned with

On October 2, 1954, a day shy of his 21st birthday, fullback Carl Talmadge “Duke” Washington ’59 and his fellow Cougars played the University of Texas on a sweltering day at Memorial Stadium.

The result was a 40-14 Texas victory, a forgettable day in the annals of Cougar football; however, the day reaches far beyond the athletics history of Washington State and Texas.

Washington, the starting fullback for the Cougars, became the first African-American to play at Memorial Stadium. To the Texas players, however, Washington was not a player making history, but a player to be reckoned with.

“I’m sure it did make a difference … » More …

Fall 2007

A burning mystery

During spring break in April 1970 an arson fire destroyed the wood stands of Washington State University’s football stadium. The Cougars were forced to play off campus for two years while the University built a new stadium. To this day, the mystery of who started the fire and how they did it remains.

April 1970. Around 10 p.m. seven-year-old Joanna Law, asleep in her bed, is awakened by sounds in the living room. In her pajamas, she pads out of her bedroom to join her older brother and sister at a large picture window. Looking south over the Washington State University campus, they witness an … » More …

Winter 2007

Video: Apple Cup revisited

The state’s greatest rivalry hit a landmark November 2007, when the 100th game in 108 years was played between Washington State University and the University of Washington. For a glimpse of our history, we dipped into WSU’s archives and found photos, film, and colorful programs for this historic contest. See a touchdown from 1910 and film footage of a game in 1923. Check out the chilled cheerleaders of 1950 and the mustachioed players of 1970. And hear the Cougar fight song as you’ve never heard it before.

On the web

Read “One Hundred Apple Cups”

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Winter 2007

One Hundred Apple Cups

The first contest between cross-state rivals Washington State and the University of Washington took place on a muddy field in Seattle in November 1900. The Washington Agricultural College “Farmers,” as we were known then, made the 290-mile trek from Pullman to Seattle to play the UW “Sun Dodgers” in the pouring rain. The match ended in a five-to-five tie.

Because the two teams will play their 100th game together this year, we thought we’d take a look back at the history of that long relationship.

Meeting up with the UW just after the turn of the century was a spotty endeavor. After the first five … » More …

Winter 2008

Unstoppable Rueben Mayes

On a raw, wet fall afternoon in Eugene, Oregon, in late October 1984, Rueben Mayes’ feet carried him to what was at the time the greatest accomplishment of any NCAA running back.

Just a week earlier, Mayes ran for 216 yards at Stanford in a rally that brought Washington State University from a 28-point third quarter deficit to a 49-42 win.

“The game against Stanford was one of his greatest efforts as a college player,” says Mark Rypien, quarterback of the ’84 team. But then he did one better. “The numbers that he had against Oregon were unbelievable.”

It’s a performance that can be … » More …