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No. 21 Cougars head to San Diego for Holiday Bowl

Courtesy of Washington State Athletics


No. 21 Washington State (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) will be making their 14th Bowl appearance in program history when they meet No. 18 Michigan State (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl, Thursday, Dec. 28. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. with coverage starting at 4p.m. on KPUG 1170AM and 97.9FM.
HOLIDAY BOWL HISTORY
Washington State, who owns a 7-6 record in 13 bowl games, will be making their second straight and fourth overall appearance in the Holiday Bowl, matching the Rose Bowl for the most of any Bowl in program history. The Cougars own a 1-2 mark in the Holiday Bowl, falling to BYU in 1981, beating Texas in 2003 before falling to Minnesota last season. Head coach Mike Leach will be making his 14th career bowl game appearance and third career appearance in the Holiday Bowl, leading Texas Tech to a 45-31 win over California in 2004 before taking Cougars to the Holiday Bowl last season.
WSU VS. BIG TEN, MICHIGAN STATE HISTORY
Michigan State and WSU will meet for the first time since 1976 with the Spartans leading the all-time series 5-2. WSU claimed the last meeting, a 23-21 in East Lansing in 1976. WSU also owns a 1-2 mark when facing Big Ten Conference teams in bowl games, Michigan won the 2003 Rose Bowl 21-16, WSU beat Purdue in the 2001 Sun Bowl 33-27 and Minnesota won last year’s Holiday Bowl 17-12.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State is 9-3 for the first time since 2003 and is looking for its fifth 10-win season in program history (1997, 2001, 2002, 2003). WSU entered the Holiday Bowl ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press Top-25, No. 18 in the College Football Playoff Rankings and No. 21 in the Coaches Poll. The Cougars are making their third straight bowl appearance (2015 Sun Bowl, 2016 Holiday Bowl, 2017 Holiday Bowl), doing so for the first time since 2001-03 (2001 Sun Bowl, 2003 Rose Bowl, 2003 Holiday Bowl). WSU owns the nation’s second-rated passing attack and the country’s No. 15-rated defense that has forced 27 turnovers, sixth-most in the country.
MIKE LEACH AMONG NATION’S BEST
Head coach Mike Leach owns a 122-80 record in his 16-year coaching career including a 38-37 mark in his sixth seasons at WSU, the fourth-most wins by a Cougar head coach. Leach was the first coach in school history to lead WSU to three bowl games in his first five seasons and joins Mike Price as the only Cougar head coaches to take WSU to three straight bowl games. In the last three seasons, the Cougars are tied with Washington for the 3rd-most conference wins (19) in the Pac-12, trailing only Stanford and USC each with 21. Leach, the 2015 Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year and a George Munger Coach of the Year semifinalist the past two seasons, has seen the Cougar Air Raid lead the Pac-12 in passing in four of the five seasons, only finishing second behind Cal and Jared Goff in 2013. Earlier this season Leach was named The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week after beating No. 5 USC.
MIKE LEACH BOWL GAMES
Cougar head coach Mike Leach is making his 14th bowl game appearance and fourth with the Cougars. Leach owns a 6-6 career bowl game record (Leach did not coach Texas Tech in their 2009 Alamo Bowl win) and led Washington State to a 20-14 win over Miami in the 2015 Sun Bowl.
19 SENIORS EARN DEGREES
By the summer of 2018, 19 Cougar seniors will have earned their degrees. Seven (Dimry, Dotson, Falk, Lewis, Morrow, Pelluer and Salmonson) already walked and earned their degrees last Spring or Winter, nine more (DeRider, Ekuale, Hanser, Madison, McBroom, O’Connell, Parker, Powell and Wicks finished this fall and three more (Luvu, Pippins and Taylor) will have earned their degrees by next summer.
NINE COUGARS EARN ALL-PAC-12 ACCOLADES
Nine Cougars received All-Pac-12 Conference recognition led by first-team selections offensive lineman Cody O’Connell and defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa. WSU put multiple players on the first team for the third straight year, three in 2015 and two last season. Offensive lineman Cole Madison, safety Jalen Thompson and kicker Erik Powell were all named to the second team while offensive lineman Andre Dillard, quarterback Luke Falk, linebacker Frankie Luvu and running back Jamal Morrow all received honorable mention.
10 COUGARS EARN PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS (FULL BREAKDOWN ON PAGE 12)
Nine Ten Cougars received Pac-12 Conference All-Academic honors. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point-average and appear in at least 50 percent of their team’s games. The 10 selections are tied for the most in program history (2009) and WSU has had at least five players earn all-academic recognition every season under Mike Leach. Wideout Brandon Arconado and linebacker Peyton Pelluer were both named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team, the first career honor of Arconado and fourth career accolade for Pelluer who has earned his third straight second-team honor. Eight Cougars received honorable mention; Nick BeggTristan BrockKyle CelliTaylor ComfortIsaac DotsonLuke FalkDezmon Patmon and Trey Tinsley.
FRIENDLY CONFINES OF MARTIN STADIUM
Washington State went 7-0 at home this season, the first, the most home wins in a season in program history and the first perfect home mark since going 6-0 in 2003. WSU’s season-opening five-game homestand was a first in program history, sweeping all five contests. The only other time WSU  opened the season with more than three-straight home games was in 1907, with four.
COUGARS APPEAR AT No. 21 IN ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP-25
WSU enters the Holiday Bowl ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press and Coaches Top-25 Polls and No. 18 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. WSU was ranked as high as eighth prior to the game at California, the highest ranking since entering the 2003 Apple Cup No. 8 in the AP Poll. The Cougars opened the 2017 season ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press Preseason Top-25, the first time appearing in a preseason poll since 2002 (No. 11).
SENIOR CLASS LEAVES THEIR MARK
The 2017 senior class has left their mark on the Cougar football program over the last four seasons. The 20-member class has tallied 29 wins, made three bowl games, earned 14 All-Pac-12 Conference honors including five first or second team selections, set Pac-12 records for passing yards and passing touchdowns, and had two running backs finish among the WSU all-time leaders in total TDs, rushing yards, all-purpose yards and receptions.
YOUNG COUGS TAKE THE FIELD
WSU has seen 27 players make their debuts this season. 19 freshmen have made their first career appearance including six true freshmen, Jamire Calvin (WR), George Hicks III (CB), Tay Martin (WR), Zaire Webb (ST), Dominick Silvels (LB) and Will Rodgers III (DL). Three freshmen have recorded starts; Renard Bell (WR), Jahad Woods (LB), Justus Rogers (LB) and eight sophomores have started a game in 2017.
CALIFORNIA COUGS RETURN HOME
Washington State’s roster features 37 players from southern California including seven from the San Diego area led by starting cornerback Darrien Molton (Temecula’s Chaparral HS) and starting WIL linebacker Jahad Woods (Helix HS). Other San Diego area Cougs: OL Cedric Bigge-Duren (Oceanside HS), WR C.J. Dimry (La Costa Canyon HS), WR Dezmon Patmon (Patrick Henry HS), LB Dominick Silvels (Patrick Henry HS) and RUSH Mason Vinyard (Helix HS).
AIR RAID NUMBERS ADD UP
Washington State enters the Holiday Bowl with the nation’s second-best passing attack (374.8), tied for seventh  with 35 passing touchdowns and No. 21 in the country with 286 first downs. Against Arizona, WSU tallied 646 yards of total offense, 602 passing yards and tied the school record with 58 completions on 84 pass attempts. In the win over Stanford, WSU tallied 430 yards of total offense and tossed three touchdowns. The Cougars opened the season with 30+ points in six straight games for the first time since the 2001 team reached that mark seven times. Last season, WSU finished third in the country in passing offense (362.5) and set a program single-season records for the most touchdowns scored (67) and points (496). The Cougar passing attack led the country in passing in 2015 (389.5) and 2014 (477.7), was fourth in 2013 (368.4) and eighth in 2012 (330.4).
COUGARS CHASING SEASON MARKS (Season Records PageS 25-27)
The Air Raid and Speed D enter the Holiday Bowl having produced some of the top marks in WSU single-season history. The 35 passing touchdowns are tied for the fifth-most in program history while the 374.8 passing yards-per-game is the third-highest average. Defensively, the Speed D is tied for the fifth-most tackles-for-loss (98) in WSU season history while the 37 sacks are seventh-most and the 27 takeaways and 14 interceptions sit just outside the Top-10. Individually, quarterback Luke Falk has thrown the sixth-most touchdowns (30) and thrown for the seventh-most yards (3,593) while defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa is tied for second in single-season Top-10 for tackles-for-loss (21.5) and tied for 10th in sacks (9.5) and kicker Erik Powell owns the fourth-most 50+yard field goals (3), fifth-most field goals (19) and tied for the sixth-most total points (101) in WSU single-season history. The Cougars are looking to post wins over three Top-25 opponents in a season for the first time since 2003 (at No. 17 Colorado, at No. 10 Oregon, vs. No. 5 Texas).
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND
Washington State has averaged a national-best 9.8 receivers catching a pass per game this season, according to an unofficial survey from sports information directors. 10 (Montana State, Boise State, Oregon State), 13 (Nevada), 9 (USC), 8 (at Oregon), 10 (at Cal, Colorado), 11 (at Arizona), 9 (Stanford, at Utah) and 8 (at Washington). Last season, the Air Raid saw 10+ players catch a pass in 11 of the 13 games, highlighted by the 14 against Arizona, the most under Mike Leach at WSU. In 2015, WSU was the only team in the country with 10 players with 20+ receptions and was the only Power-5 Conference team with two players owning double-digit touchdown receptions. Last season, the Cougars were the only team in the country with five players owning 40+ catches last year. This season, WSU owns eight players with 25+ catches, tied for the most in the country (New Mexico State).
FALK WINS BURLSWORTH TROPHY, NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR DAVEY O’BRIEN
Redshirt-senior Luke Falk entered the 2017 season named to the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell Award (Player of the Year), Davey O’Brien (Top Quarterback), Johnny Unitas Golden Arm (Top QB – senior or 4th year junior) and Walter Camp Player of the Year. Falk was later named a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award and after being named a finalist for the third-straight year for the Burlsworth Award (top former walk-on), won the award December 4 at a banquet in Fayetteville. Falk is the first Cougar to win a national award since safety Deone Bucannon was named the Elite Defensive Back Award by the College Football Performance Awards in 2013. Falk finished the regular season leading the Pac-12 Conference with 30 touchdown passes and sixth in the country with 3,593 passing yards and earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors twice.
FALK SETS PAC-12 AND WSU RECORDS (Page 27)
Quarterback Luke Falk opened his redshirt-senior season completing his first 20 passes and going 33-for-39 for 311 yards and three touchdowns against Montana State. His second touchdown pass, a six-yard strike to Tavares Martin Jr. in the second quarter, was his 91st career touchdown pass, breaking Connor Halliday’s WSU touchdown passing touchdown record. Against Boise State, Falk passed Halliday’s WSU record for passing yards and Alex Brink’s WSU record for total offense. Falk followed with a 6-TD game in the win over Oregon State and then threw for 478 yards and five touchdowns against Nevada. He earned Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Week after throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns in the win over No. 5 USC and added three more touchdowns in the win at Oregon, passing Marcus Mariota for the second-most passing touchdowns in Pac-12 history. During the Colorado win, Falk broke Mariota’s Pac-12 record for career total offense and also became WSU’s all-time winningest quarterback, breaking Jason Gesser‘s previous record of 24. In the win over Stanford, Falk threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, breaking Sean Mannion’s (OSU) Pac-12 passing yards record on a short swing pass to Jamal Morrow in the second quarter. In the win at Utah, Falk threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns and his one-yard touchdown throw to Kyle Sweet in the second quarter, broke Matt Barkley’s (USC) Pac-12 career touchdown record of 116. Falk enters the Holiday Bowl with Pac-12 career records for passing touchdowns (119), passing yards (14,486), total offense (14,086), plays (2,306), completions (1,404) and attempts (2,055). The Logan, Utah native is the nation’s active leader in passing yards and passing yards-per-game (336.9), good for sixth-best in NCAA FBS history and his 14,486 career passing yards are seventh-most in NCAA FBS history while his 119 career touchdown passes are tied for 10th-most.
Courtesy of Washington State Athletics

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