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1988 Washington State

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Dennis Erickson, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Washington State in 1988, game by game: won at Illinois 44–7; won at Minnesota 41–9; lost vs. Oregon 28–43; won at Tennessee 52–24; won vs. California 44–13; lost at Arizona 28–45; lost vs. Arizona State 28–31; won at No. 1 UCLA 34–30; won at Stanford 24–21; won vs. Oregon State 36–27; won vs. Washington 32–31; won vs. No. 14 Houston 24–22+37−17Won 44–7 at Illinois+37IllinoisWon 41–9 at Minnesota+32MinnesotaLost 28–43 vs. Oregon-15OregonWon 52–24 at Tennessee+28TennesseeWon 44–13 vs. California+31CaliforniaLost 28–45 at Arizona-17ArizonaLost 28–31 vs. Arizona State-3Arizona StateWon 34–30 at No. 1 UCLA+4No. 1 UCLAWon 24–21 at Stanford+3StanfordWon 36–27 vs. Oregon State+9Oregon StateWon 32–31 vs. Washington+1WashingtonWon 24–22 vs. No. 14 Houston+2No. 14 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atIllinoisW 44–⁠741%
Sep 10atMinnesotaW 41–⁠940%
Sep 17vsOregonL 28–⁠4357%
Oct 1atTennesseeW 52–⁠2437%
Oct 8vsCaliforniaW 44–⁠1361%
Oct 15atArizonaL 28–⁠4540%
Oct 22vsArizona StateL 28–⁠3160%
Oct 29at1UCLAW 34–⁠3015%
Nov 5atStanfordW 24–⁠2143%
Nov 12vsOregon StateW 36–⁠2776%
Nov 19vsWashingtonW 32–⁠3155%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvs14HoustonAloha BowlW 24–⁠2242%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Houston 24–⁠22 in the Aloha Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 111 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 20
  2. Wk 13: 19
  3. Wk 14: 18
  4. Wk 15: 17
  5. Wk 16: 18
  6. Final: 16

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1988.

Led the nationTimm Rosenbach: passer rating (162.0)

Consensus All-AmericanMike Utley, OG

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-10
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 16
Points
415–⁠303
Coach
Dennis Erickson
Elo
1599 +164 this season
SP+ rating
18.1 No. 16 of 102; offense No. 5, defense No. 58
SRS
15.7 No. 15 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Bratkowski
Defensive coordinator
John L. Smith
Captains
Ivan Cook and Timm Rosenbach
Offense
Single-back spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 3Mike Utley OGDetroit Lions

All-Pac-10

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC8–⁠010–⁠27
UCLA6–⁠210–⁠26
Washington State5–⁠39–⁠316
Arizona5–⁠37–⁠4
Arizona State3–⁠46–⁠5
Washington3–⁠56–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠56–⁠6
Oregon State2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Stanford1–⁠5–⁠23–⁠6–⁠2
California1–⁠5–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.