The 2002 Washington State Cougars football team represented

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

as a member of

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

the

2002 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a double overtime national championship game. Ohio State and Miami both came into the Fiesta Bowl undefeated. The underdog Buckeyes defeated the defending-champion Hurricanes 31–24, ...

. The team was led by

Mike Price Michael Bruce Price (born April 6, 1946) is an American former college football coach. He was the head football coach at Weber State College from 1981 to 1988, Washington State University from 1989 to 2002, and the University of Texas at El Pas ...

in his 14th and final season as head coach, and played its home games on campus at

Martin Stadium Martin Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the Northwestern United States, on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference. Its full n ...

Pullman, Washington Pullman is the most populous city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 32,901 at the 2020 census, and estimated to be 32,508 in 2022. Originally founded as ...

. Washington State finished the regular season with an overall record of 10–2 and mark of 7–1 in the conference play, sharing the Pac-10 title with

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. They defeated the Trojans in overtime in early October, but lost to unranked

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in triple overtime in the

Apple Cup The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. Both were members of the Pac-12 Conferen ...

at Pullman; WSU regrouped and beat

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

by three touchdowns two weeks later. The seventh-ranked Cougars were invited to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, but were soundly defeated by the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

, and dropped to tenth in the final rankings. The Rose Bowl was the final game for Price at Washington State. He left to become the head football coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, but never coached a game for the Crimson Tide. Bill Doba, longtime

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the cougars, was promoted to head coach for the 2003 season, and he led the Cougar program through

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Schedule

Roster

Coaching staff

* Head coach:

* Assistants: Robb Akey, Chris Ball, Bob Connelly, Bill Doba, Kasey Dunn, Mike Levenseller, Robin Pflugrad, Aaron Price, Mike Walker :

Game summaries

USC

Washington State's first win over

in Pullman in sixteen years.USA Today.
Retrieved April 24, 2013.

2002 Cougars in professional football

* Hamza Abdullah * Calvin Armstrong *

Erik Coleman Erik James Coleman (born May 6, 1982) is an American former professional football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft and also played for the Atl ...

* Devard Darling * Jason David * Rien Long * Karl Paymah * Marcus Trufant

References

{{Pac-12 Conference football champions

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

Washington State Cougars football seasons Pac-12 Conference football champion seasons

Washington State Cougars football The Washington State Cougars football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 ...