1956 Washington State Cougars football team

1956 Washington State Cougars football
1956 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Record	3–6–1 (2–5–1 PCC)
Head coach	Jim Sutherland (1st season);
Home stadium	Rogers Field, Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1955 1957 →

1956 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Oregon State $	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
No. 18 USC	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
UCLA	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Washington	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	3	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
California	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Idaho	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1956 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College during the 1956 college football season. Led by first-year head coach Jim Sutherland, the team posted a 3–6–1 overall record, and were 2–5–1 in the Pacific Coast Conference.^[1]^[2]

Hired in January, Sutherland was previously an assistant at rival Washington for a season under head coach John Cherberg, preceded by two years at California under Pappy Waldorf. His initial contract with the Cougars was for three years, estimated at $12,000 per year,^[3]^[4] and he led the program for eight seasons, through 1963.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 22	No. 14 Stanford	Memorial Stadium Spokane, WA	L 26–40	23,500
September 29	San Jose State*	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	W 33–18	9,000
October 6	at Idaho	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID (Battle of the Palouse)	W 33–19	16,300	^[8]^[9]^[10]
October 13	at UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–28	27,192
October 20	Oregon State	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 0–21	14,500
October 27	at Pacific (CA)*	Pacific Memorial Stadium Stockton, CA	L 12–33	23,500
November 3	No. 20 USC	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 12–28	13,000
November 10	at Oregon	Hayward Field Eugene, OR	T 7–7	13,200
November 17	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 14–13	32,000
November 24	Washington	Memorial Stadium Spokane, WA (rivalry)	L 26–40	20,700
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

NFL draft

One Cougar was selected in the 1957 NFL draft, which was 30 rounds and 360 selections.

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Don Gest	End	30	360	New York Giants

^[11]

References

^ Boni, Bill (November 25, 1956). "Hammering Huskies, 40 to 26". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
^ "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
^ "Sutherland named WSC coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 18, 1956. p. 21.
^ "WSC hires Sutherland". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 18, 1956. p. 2B.
^ Johnson, Bob (December 6, 1963). "WSU in market for new coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 16.
^ "Sutherland out as grid coach". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 6, 1963. p. 2B.
^ "Sutherland out as football coach at Washington State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). December 6, 1963. p. 14.
^ "Idaho, WSC set for tilt". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 5, 1956. p. 13.
^ Boni, Bill (October 7, 1956). "Police by gas, WSC by 33-19". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
^ "WSC gridders beat Vandals 33-19; students battle to draw". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 7, 1956. p. 11.
^ "Pickings and pickets at NFL draft meet". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. February 1, 1957. p. 15.