Pac-12 Conference

2018 Football Media Guide

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33 2 0 1 8 P A C - 1 2 F O O T B A L L M E D I A G U I D E WA S H I N G T O N S T AT E C O U G A R S 2018 TEAM INFORMATION Returning Starters: 10/Starters Lost: 14 Offensive Starters Returning (4) Offensive Starters Lost (7) LT Andre Dillard (RSr., 6-5, 306) LG Cody O'Connell C Frederick Mauigoa (Jr., 6-3, 315) RG B.J. Salmonson WR Kyle Sweet (Sr., 6-0, 193) RT Cole Madison WR Renard Bell (RSo., 5-8, 162) WR Tavares Martin Jr. WR Isaiah Johnson-Mack RB Jamal Morros QB Luke Falk Defensive Starters Returning (5) Defensive Starters Lost (6) DE Nnamdi Oguayo (RJr., 6-3, 237) DT Hercules Mata'afa LB Jahad Woods (RSo., 6-0, 214) NT Daniel Ekuale NB Hunter Dale (RSr., 5-10, 190) LB Frankie Luvu CB Darrien Molton (Sr., 5-10, 185) LB Isaac Dotson SS Jalen Thompson (Jr., 6-0, 195) FS Robert Taylor CB Marcellus Pippins Starting Kickers Returning (1) Starting Kickers Lost (1) P Kyle Sweet (Sr., 6-0, 192) PK Erik Powell 2017 WASHINGTON STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS (returnees in italics) RUSHING Att Yds Avg TD Jamal Morrow 86 522 6.1 4 James Williams 92 395 4.3 1 Gerard Wicks 32 156 4.9 1 PASSING PC-PA-HI Pct Yds TD Luke Falk 357-534-13 .669 3,593 30 Tyler Hilinski 130-179-7 .726 1,176 7 RECEIVING No. Yds Avg TD James Williams 71 482 6.8 3 Tavares Martin Jr. 70 831 11.9 9 Isaiah Johnson-Mack 60 555 9.2 5 Jamal Morrow 60 506 8.4 5 Kyle Sweet 58 533 9.2 2 Renard Bell 40 538 13.4 3 Scoring: Erik Powell (106) Field Goals: Erik Powell (20-24) Punting: Kyle Sweet (38.4) Kickoff Returns: Renard Bell (17.5) Punt Returns: Jamal Morrow (3.6) Interceptions: Jalen Thompson (4) Tackles: Jalen Thompson (73) Tackles For Loss: Hercules Mata'afa (22.5) Quarterback Sacks: Hercules Mata'afa (10.5) A QUICK LOOK AT THE COUGARS After Luke Falk finished his career as the Pac-12's all-time leader in passing yards (14,486) and touchdown passes (119), the Cougars will need to reload their offense that returns just four starters from a year ago. Competing for snaps will be juniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon, and East Carolina transfer Gardner Minshew. Regardless of who earns the starting quarterback spot, he'll have a cast of veteran receivers in Kyle Sweet (58 receptions, 533 yards), Renard Bell (40 receptions, 538 yards) and running back James Williams (71 recep- tions, 482 yards). The versatile Williams also leads the rushing attack with 395 yards on 92 carries (4.3 ypg). Defensive back Jalen Thompson (73 tackles, four interceptions) and linebacker Jahad Woods (64 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss) paced the Cougar defense in tackles last season. Thompson, along with corner- back Darrien Molton (37 tackles) and nickelback Hunter Dale (46 tackles) were key in the Cougar secondary that led the Pac-12 in pass defense (170.9 yards). Woods and defensive end Nnamdi Oguayo (34 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss) will welcome the return of linebacker Pey- ton Pelluer. Pelluer was granted a sixth year after missing the final 10 games last season due to injury and looks to return to his 2016 form when he led the Cougars with 93 tackles. Only Stanford (21) and USC (21) have won more conference games over the last three seasons than Washington State (19). But in order to keep pace, the Cougars will need to find ways to put the ball in the end zone. Returning players accounted for just one rushing TD, no passing TDs and 18 of the team's 37 receiving TDs from a year ago. 2018 SCHEDULE (7 home, 5 away) Sept. 1 ......... at Wyoming ........................................WSU leads, 4-2-0 Sept. 8 ......... San Jose State ...................................WSU leads, 7-4-1 Sept. 15 ....... Eastern Washington............................WSU leads, 3-1-0 Sept. 21 ....... at USC ..........................................USC leads, 58-10-4* Sept. 29 ....... Utah ..................................................WSU leads, 8-7-0 Oct. 6 .......... at Oregon State .............................. OSU leads, 51-48-3 Oct. 20 ........ Oregon ............................................ORE leads, 47-41-7 Oct. 27 ........ at Stanford .................................... STAN leads, 40-27-1 Nov. 3 .......... California ........................................ CAL leads, 47-27-5 Nov. 10 ........ at Colorado .......................................COLO leads, 6-5-0 Nov. 17 ........ Arizona ..........................................ARIZ leads, 27-16-0 Nov. 23 ........ Washington .................................. WASH leads, 72-32-6 * Not including 1 USC win vacated due to NCAA penalty 2017 RESULTS (9-4, 6-3 in Pac-12 North, 3rd) W ............. 31-0 ............................................................Montana State W ............. 47-44 (3 OT) ....................................................Boise State W ............. 52-23 ............................................................ Oregon State W ............. 45-7 ...................................................................... Nevada W ............. 30-27 ................................................................No. 5 USC W ............. 33-10 ................................................................. at Oregon L .............. 3-37 ................................................................at California W ............. 28-0 .................................................................... Colorado L .............. 37-58 .................................................................at Arizona W ............. 24-21 ........................................................No. 21 Stanford W ............. 33-25 .....................................................................at Utah L .............. 14-41 ............................................... at No. 17 Washington L .............. 17-42 ................. vs. No. 16 Michigan State (Holiday Bowl) FOUR TO WATCH LT Andre Dillard RSr. 6-5 306 RB James Williams RJr. 5-11 195 SS Jalen Thompson Jr. 6-0 191 LB Peyton Pelluer RSr. 6-0 228

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