1955 Washington State Cougars football team

The 1955 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State College during the 1955 college football season. In his fourth and final year, head coach Al Kircher led the team to a 1–7–2 record, 1–5–1 in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC).^[1] They played their three home games on campus at Rogers Field in Pullman.

1955 Washington State Cougars football
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Record	1–7–2 (1–5–1 PCC)
Head coach	Al Kircher (4th season)
Home stadium	Rogers Field
Seasons ← 1954 1956 →

1955 Pacific Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 UCLA $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Oregon State	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
No. 16 Stanford	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Oregon	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
No. 13 USC	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
California	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
Washington State	1	–	5	–	1			1	–	7	–	2
Idaho	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The Cougars' sole victory was in the Battle of the Palouse over neighbor Idaho in Moscow; the Vandals had won the previous year in Pullman,^[2] which was their first win in the series in 29 years.^[3]

Days after the season ended, Kircher was relieved of his duties with a year remaining on his five-year contract, at $12,500 per year.^[4][5][6] He opted to stay in Pullman and acquired a motel-restaurant, the Hilltop Lodge, in early 1956.^[7][8][9] His successor was Jim Sutherland,^[10][11] the Cougars' head coach for eight seasons, through 1963.^[12][13][14]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 17	at No. 13 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 12–50	35,051
September 24	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 0–13	19,000
October 1	No. 7 UCLA	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 0–55	20,000
October 8	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	T 20–20	33,000
October 15	at Idaho	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID (Battle of the Palouse)	W 9–0	13,000	[15][16][17]
October 22	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 6–14	17,000
October 29	at Pacific*	Pacific Memorial Stadium Stockton, CA	L 0–30	12,000
November 5	Oregon	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	L 0–35	9,000
November 12	San Jose State*	Rogers Field Pullman, WA	T 13–13	1,600	[18]
November 19	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (rivalry)	L 7–27	30,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

NFL Draft

Two Cougars were selected in the 1956 NFL draft, which was thirty rounds (360 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Arnie Pelluer	End	16	192	Los Angeles Rams
Al Paulson	Back	23	276	Los Angeles Rams

^[19]

References

1. "2016 Media Guide" (PDF). WSUCougars.com. Washington State Cougars Athletics. p. 74. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
2. Boni, Bill (October 24, 1954). "Idaho thumps WSC, 10 to 0". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
3. ""Win made us ball club", says Skip Stahley". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 25, 1954. p. 17.
4. "WSC may revise policy on gridiron contracts". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 22, 1955. p. 19.
5. Boni, Bill (November 23, 1955). "WSC opens coach hunt". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 15.
6. "Cougars fire Kircher after miserable year". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 22, 1955. p. 3B.
7. Boni, Bill (August 2, 1960). "When Kircher scored all the points". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 2.
8. "Kircher to run Pullman motel". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 26, 1956. p. 17.
9. "Kircher has more at 'steak' now". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. March 13, 1956. p. 4, part 2.
10. "Sutherland named WSC coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 18, 1956. p. 21.
11. "WSC hires Sutherland". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 18, 1956. p. 2B.
12. Johnson, Bob (December 6, 1963). "WSU in market for new coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 16.
13. "Sutherland out as grid coach". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 6, 1963. p. 2B.
14. "Sutherland out as football coach at Washington State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). December 6, 1963. p. 14.
15. "Cougars beat Idaho 9–0 in bruising Palouse battle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 16, 1955. p. 10.
16. Boni, Bill (October 16, 1955). "Sarno sparks Cougars to 9–0 win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
17. "WSC to face Oregon State next, Vandals blanked 9–0 at Moscow". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 17, 1955. p. 31.
18. Boni, Bill (November 13, 1955). "Cougars get tie in freezer". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
19. "Al Paulson is picked by Rams in draft". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 18, 1956. p. 15.

External links

• Game program: UCLA at WSC – October 1, 1955
• Game program: Oregon at WSC – November 5, 1955
• Game program: San Jose State at WSC – November 12, 1955