So where, exactly, would you rank that upset win? At least in more recent times, it has to be top-5, right? I would put beating #5 Texas in the Holiday Bowl in ’03 up there, as well as the ’97 and ’92 Apple Cups, and finally, the ’02 win over UCLA to put the team back in the Rose Bowl for the second time in five years.
Why look back at this? Well, because we’re playing UCLA, and it is good to look back at some historical moments here. But more importantly, as down in the dumps as we’ve been the last two seasons? It’s good to remember that good things are possible here. It’s bleak right now, we all know that. But don’t forget that there IS history here. Good things have, in fact, happened in Pullman!
We did a post about this last year on our old site, but I thought I would re-run it now. Here you go, complete with the last minute or so of video from the WSU – UCLA upset:
1988 was a big-time breakthrough season for WSU. After a disappointing 3-7-1 first year at WSU in ’87, Dennis Erickson’s second season was a rousing success, a 9-3 year capped by an Aloha Bowl victory. But what many people forget about that season is that when the UCLA game rolled around, the Cougars needed a victory. They were coming in off a two-game losing streak, including a bitter home loss to ASU the week before, and they looked like they were starting to stagger. After a hot 4-1 start, including huge wins at Illinois (44-7), Minnesota (41-9) and Tennessee (52-24), and at home against #19 Cal (44-13), suddenly they had fallen to 4-3 and some doubt was setting in. Perhaps they weren’t for real after all?
On the other side, you had Troy Aikman and company as the number-one team in the land. Aikman was a legit Heisman candidate, thriving under the bright lights of the LA market, on his way to being the number one choice in the NFL draft the following spring. So the task was monumental, no question about it. I don’t know what the exact Vegas number was heading in, but it had to be UCLA by at least a couple of TD’s, maybe even more like 21 points? More?? I really have no idea.
The Cougs got off to a slow start as UCLA sprinted out to a 20-6 halftime lead. But WSU rallied, big-time, behind Timm Rosenbach, Tim Stallworth, Rich Swinton, Mike Utley, Chris Dyko, and oh yeah, the current head coach of your Cougars, Paul Wulff, for a stunning 34-30 comeback win. Check out the waning moments, plus the on-the-field interview from Dennis Erickson after the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqzIc4AU5ZU&w=445&h=364]Once again, scary special teams! The broadcast mentions how WSU was “one of the worst in the nation in special teams coverage”, and wow, they nearly blew it on that punt return. And even in the situation where UCLA had all the momentum (1st and goal on the 6?), the Cougar D still ATTACKED. Those last two pass plays saw blitzes, and Aikman took some heat. No scaling back at that point, might as well force the issue. But man, the joy Erickson had at the end of that game, with his Dad, then jumping into the arms of some of the players, how cool was that? Talk about pure joy!
I was too young to be at WSU at the time, but our own Hooty McBoob was a mulleted-up true FROSH in the fall of ’88. He said that, while watching the game in Pullman on TV, when that last 4th-down pass was batted down in the corner of the end zone to seal the deal, you could hear a collective roar all across campus. And imagine the parties that night in Pullman? Those days, WSU and partying, uh, yeah, that was the REAL THING. We’re talking beer slides, hazing, you name it, Animal-House style.
Anyway, what a moment. Here’s hoping we’ll experience something similar, again….someday. GO COUGS!
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