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Hardware handed out, on display during Washington State’s Pac-12 opener against UCLA

The AFCA Coaches’ Trophy is seen before the start of the first half of a college football game on Saturday, September 21, 2019, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Dan Thompson For The Spokesman-Review

PULLMAN – Saturday was a busy night for awards and trophies at Martin Stadium.

During the first quarter of the football game between Washington State and UCLA, Dennis Erickson, the former Washington State and Idaho football coach and 2019 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, was honored during an on-field presentation.

Erickson is one of four WSU coaches inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with William Dietz, Forest Evashevski and Orin “Babe” Hollingbery.

After starting his head coaching career at Idaho (1982-85), Erickson coached the Cougars in 1987 and 1988, when he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and the team won nine games for the first time since 1930. Erickson subsequently won two national titles at the University of Miami, in 1989 and 1991.

Shortly after Erickson’s appearance on the field, Sharon Leach accepted the 2018 AFCA National Coach of the Year award on behalf of Mike, her husband.

Finally, in the second quarter, the American Football Coaches Association Coaches’ Trophy made an appearance, with former WSU quarterback Gardner Minshew at its side. That trophy, a Waterford Crystal football, is given to the team that finishes the year ranked No. 1 in the Coaches’ Poll. It was on the fifth stop of its nationwide tour.