CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

California vs. Washington State

California and Washington State have 84 meetings on file, the first in 1919; California leads the series 49–⁠30–⁠5 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s even at 5–⁠5.

California wins
49
Washington State wins
30
Ties
5
Earliest on file
1919
Longest streak
8 California
Current streak
1 California
Last 10 meetings
even at 5–⁠5
Most recent
2023

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1910s0–⁠1
1920s8–⁠0
1930s4–⁠3–⁠1
1940s4–⁠2–⁠1
1950s5–⁠2–⁠1
1960s2–⁠0–⁠1
1970s8–⁠2
1980s3–⁠6–⁠1
1990s2–⁠6
2000s5–⁠3
2010s7–⁠3
2020s1–⁠2
Average margin
15.1 points; 26 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At California
36–⁠13–⁠3 California’s record at home
At Washington State
17–⁠13–⁠1 Washington State’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠0–⁠1 California first
Shutouts
12

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. California’s biggest win2008: California 66, Washington State 3by 63 points
  2. Washington State’s biggest win2016: Washington State 56, California 21by 35 points
  3. Upset1989: California 38, Washington State 26California had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1977: Washington State 17, California 10Washington State had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1959: California 20, Washington State 6California had a 33% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsCaliforniaSeriesWashington State
1919–⁠1922Andy Smith3–⁠1Gus Welch
1923–⁠1925Andy Smith3–⁠0Albert Exendine
1928–⁠1930Nibs Price2–⁠1O.E. Hollingbery
1931–⁠1933William Ingram1–⁠1–⁠1O.E. Hollingbery
1936–⁠1941Stub Allison3–⁠3O.E. Hollingbery
1947–⁠1949Pappy Waldorf3–⁠0Phil Sarboe
1952–⁠1955Pappy Waldorf2–⁠0–⁠1Alton Kircher
1957–⁠1959Pete Elliott2–⁠1Jim Sutherland
1969–⁠1971Ray Willsey3–⁠0Jim Sweeney
1972–⁠1975Mike White3–⁠1Jim Sweeney
1978–⁠1981Roger Theder2–⁠2Jim Walden
1982–⁠1986Joe Kapp2–⁠3Jim Walden
1993–⁠1995Keith Gilbertson1–⁠2Mike Price
1997–⁠2001Tom Holmoe1–⁠4Mike Price
2005–⁠2007Jeff Tedford3–⁠0Bill Doba
2008–⁠2011Jeff Tedford4–⁠0Paul Wulff
2013–⁠2016Sonny Dykes2–⁠2Mike Leach
2017–⁠2019Justin Wilcox2–⁠1Mike Leach

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from California’s side (Smith 3–⁠1 against Welch). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of California and Washington State, 1919 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Connor Halliday Washington State49 of 70, 734 yards, 6 TD2014 Passing
Jared Goff California37 of 53, 527 yards, 5 TD2014 Passing
Connor Halliday Washington State41 of 67, 521 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT2013 Passing
Jared Goff California33 of 59, 504 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT2013 Passing
Alex Brink Washington State18 of 39, 423 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT2005 Passing
Jared Goff California33 of 45, 390 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT2015 Passing

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

From the newspapers

  • The East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current's story of the 1921 game: CALIFORNIA TEAMS NICTORS OVER OLD COAST GRID RIVALS o. A. G. Loses to Stanford and Defeat IS Lot Of Washington State With California.

    1921 · East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, Oregon, Oct 31, 1921

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1923 game: 2 Worried Teams In California AS Result of Games

    1923 · Imperial Valley press, California, Oct 29, 1923

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1928 game: GRID GAMES ON SATURDAY

    1928 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 15, 1928

  • The Evening star's story of the 1930 game: Washington State JOlts California

    1930 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 5, 1930

  • The Imperial Valley press's story of the 1931 game: GOLDEN BEAR In BAD SHAPE FOR TROJAN ELEVEN

    1931 · Imperial Valley press, California, Oct 21, 1931

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Nov 11, 2023California 42, Washington State 39at California
Oct 1, 2022Washington State 28, California 9at Washington State
Oct 2, 2021Washington State 21, California 6at California
Nov 9, 2019California 33, Washington State 20at California
Nov 3, 201810Washington State 19, California 13at Washington State
Oct 13, 2017California 37, 8Washington State 3at California
Nov 12, 201623Washington State 56, California 21at Washington State
Oct 3, 201524California 34, Washington State 28at California
Oct 4, 2014California 60, Washington State 59at Washington State
Oct 5, 2013Washington State 44, California 22at California
Oct 13, 2012California 31, Washington State 17at Washington State
Nov 5, 2011California 30, Washington State 7at California
Nov 6, 2010California 20, Washington State 13at Washington State
Oct 24, 2009California 49, Washington State 17at California
Sep 6, 2008California 66, Washington State 3at Washington State
Nov 3, 2007California 20, Washington State 17at California
Oct 14, 200610California 21, Washington State 3at Washington State
Oct 22, 200525California 42, Washington State 38at California
Sep 28, 200216Washington State 48, California 38at California
Sep 22, 2001Washington State 51, California 20at Washington State
Sep 30, 2000Washington State 21, California 17at California
Oct 2, 1999Washington State 31, California 7at Washington State
Sep 26, 1998California 24, Washington State 14at California
Oct 18, 199713Washington State 63, California 37at Washington State
Oct 19, 1996Washington State 21, 19California 18at Washington State
Nov 4, 1995California 27, Washington State 11at California
Oct 29, 199422Washington State 26, California 23at California
Oct 16, 1993Washington State 34, 21California 7at Washington State
Sep 22, 1990Washington State 41, California 31at Washington State
Nov 11, 1989California 38, Washington State 26at California
Oct 8, 1988Washington State 44, California 13at Washington State
Nov 28, 1987Washington State 17, California 17Neutral site
Sep 20, 1986California 31, Washington State 21at California
Sep 7, 1985Washington State 20, California 19at Washington State
Nov 10, 1984Washington State 33, California 7at California
Nov 12, 1983Washington State 16, California 6at Washington State
Nov 13, 1982California 34, Washington State 14at California
Nov 14, 198117Washington State 19, California 0at Washington State
Nov 15, 1980Washington State 31, California 17at California
Nov 10, 1979California 45, Washington State 13at Washington State
Nov 11, 1978California 22, Washington State 14at California
Oct 8, 1977Washington State 17, 14California 10at Washington State
Nov 13, 1976California 23, Washington State 22at California
Sep 27, 1975California 33, Washington State 21at Washington State
Nov 16, 197419California 37, Washington State 33at California
Nov 17, 1973Washington State 31, California 28at Washington State
Sep 16, 1972California 37, Washington State 23at California
Oct 16, 1971California 24, Washington State 23at Washington State
Oct 24, 1970California 45, Washington State 0at California
Oct 25, 1969California 17, Washington State 0at Washington State
Sep 17, 1966California 21, Washington State 6at Washington State
Oct 8, 1960California 21, Washington State 21at California
Sep 19, 1959California 20, Washington State 6at Washington State
Oct 4, 1958California 34, Washington State 14at California
Sep 28, 1957Washington State 13, California 7at Washington State
Nov 17, 1956Washington State 14, California 13at California
Oct 8, 1955California 20, Washington State 20at California
Oct 16, 1954California 17, Washington State 7at California
Nov 15, 1952California 28, Washington State 13at California
Oct 13, 19512California 42, Washington State 35at Washington State
Nov 5, 19494California 33, Washington State 14at California
Nov 13, 19484California 44, Washington State 14at California
Oct 18, 19474California 21, Washington State 6at California
Nov 2, 1946California 47, Washington State 14at California
Nov 3, 1945California 7, Washington State 7at California
Oct 4, 1941Washington State 13, California 6at Washington State
Oct 12, 1940Washington State 9, California 6at California
Oct 21, 1939California 13, Washington State 7at California
Oct 1, 1938California 27, Washington State 3at Washington State
Oct 9, 1937California 27, Washington State 0at California
Oct 31, 1936Washington State 14, California 13at California
Oct 21, 1933Washington State 6, California 6at Washington State
Oct 15, 1932Washington State 7, California 2at California
Oct 17, 1931California 13, Washington State 7at California
Oct 4, 1930Washington State 16, California 0at California
Oct 12, 1929California 14, Washington State 0at California
Oct 13, 1928California 13, Washington State 3at California
Nov 7, 1925California 35, Washington State 0at California
Oct 25, 1924California 20, Washington State 7at California
Oct 27, 1923California 9, Washington State 0at California
Nov 4, 1922California 61, Washington State 0at California
Oct 29, 1921California 14, Washington State 0at California
Nov 6, 1920California 49, Washington State 0at California
Oct 25, 1919Washington State 14, California 0at California

Every game is listed as played on the field.