A Grip on Sports: WSU’s football season ended poorly, sure, but the record was better than the turnstile support showed

A GRIP ON SPORTS • So much happened yesterday that the inglorious end in Pullman – game and season – seemed like an afterthought. In many ways. That game itself, a 15-14 loss to a Wyoming team that won three times all season? I’ll let others debate its import. There is another number that concerns me: 134,480.

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• That’s how many folks passed through the Martin Stadium turnstiles for the six home games this season. For those of you keeping score at home, that is just 22,413 for each game on Gesa Field, five of which the Cougars won. That is a little over two-thirds of the stadium’s listed capacity of 32,952.

Is this Cougar football’s future? Sad to say, it’s hard to argue the answer isn’t yes. Of all the changes conference realignment has wrought, fan disillusionment might be the worst of them. And the most debilitating in the long run.

Having lost the traditional matchups the old Pac-12 provided, and the natural draws each brought to the table, Washington State had to scramble this season. Behind quarterback John Mateer, the football team did just that, winning eight of its first nine games – and all five of those that were at home. If Cougars fans were going to shell out the bucks to see their football team, they were almost guaranteed an exciting, fun contest – and a WSU victory. The product on the field was just about everything a college football fan could ask for – except the traditional rivalry part.

Sorry, but traditional matchups like UCLA or Stanford or even Arizona State won’t be coming back. They are gone, replaced with Utah State and Fresno State and, yes, Boise State, a college football playoff contender this season. It’s not the schedule the Cougars once had. But it is their future. And that’s important.

Every person who passes through the ticket scanners means revenue for the athletic department. Not as much, say, as what the TV contracts might offer, but crucial to a school that was already dealing with a negative cash flow. A drop of more than 5,000 per game – the change from 2023 – hurts. A lot.

And hurts the city of Pullman, which is also important for the school writ large.

Last season Washington State hosted Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Colorado in conference play. Had a Power conference team come to Pullman for a visit (Wisconsin), a rare nonconference occurrence. Played Colorado State (Mountain West) and Northern Colorado (Big Sky). Drew 168,138 folks, or an average of 28,023 for the six contests.

This season every home game was a nonconference one. A Power conference school (Texas Tech) visited again. So did a Big Sky one (Portland State). The rest were from the Mountain West. And 33,658 fewer fans showed up. If each means $30 in revenue, that’s over a million that disappeared from an already taxed budget.

The Wazzu faithful has been proselytizing for more than a year across the social media world about contributing to the school’s NIL collective. It’s needed to keep the roster intact. There have been a million words written about the Pac-12 and its future media revenue. The top dollar is also needed to keep the athletic department humming. But somehow the idea of attending games, in a season when the starting times were almost always available earlier than in the past, with most decent ones in decent weather, fell away, like the Cougars’ home winning streak.

Yesterday’s game, the first in Pullman in three weeks, was played in front of a depleted crowd of 17,088, barely half of the stadium’s capacity.

There are explanations, chief among them it is Thanksgiving weekend. There always are explanations. Last season the Cougars met the Huskies on Thanksgiving weekend in Seattle. The game before, with the students free to blow town as they always are pre-break, Colorado walked onto Gesa Field, also on Senior Day. There were 27,869 in the stands to root on WSU, despite Jake Dickert’s team dealing with a six-game losing streak. Washington State handed the Buffs a 56-14 defeat. The crowd played a part.

Saturday? The (lack-of-a) crowd played a part too. The place was, at least as it came over The CW broadcast, lacking in energy. The Cougars jumped ahead, seemed in control and yet a viewer had the right to wonder if the Holland/Terrell library complex was a more happening place.

Forget the financial part of it. Focus on the experience. That’s been robbed from this generation of Cougars by the Pac-12’s disintegration. It may return as the rebuilt conference finds its footing, but it will take a while. If it happens at all.

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WSU: OK, to the on-the-field debacle. For the second consecutive season, the Cougars finished November with a single win. Greg Woods delves into that storyline in his analysis of the game. … Greg put together the difference makers and worked with the folks in the office on the recap with highlights. … Jacob Thorpe was in Pullman and has this column on the future of the program. … I did some research throughout the week, watched The CW’s broadcast and had some thoughts on the network’s oversell of Mateer’s outstanding season in my TV Take. Many things can be true at once and we tried to cover them all. He is having a great year, has a lot of work to do to reach his potential and was not in the Heisman conversation because he didn’t belong. … Geoff Crimmins had the photography assignment and produced this gallery. … At least Wyoming was happy. … The WSU women’s basketball team lost 79-68 to Drake to close out its Puerto Rico visit. … Elsewhere in the (new, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the regular season ended yesterday. I have already switched to the future mode (if you noticed in the label of this subsection). But before delving into the regional items, thought I better pass along the conference title game news after Saturday’s results. There is news from the Big Ten, more from the SEC, where Texas has a shot to win the title in its first season, a lot about the chaos in the Big 12 and, finally, Cam Ward and Miami lost, so the ACC game features Clemson once more. … There is also a bunch of other news from around the country, mainly covering yesterday’s CFP implications. … Jon Wilner has his usual Saturday Night Five column in the Mercury News. … The biggest game on the best coast? No. 1 Oregon’s domination of a Washington program that played for the national title less than a year ago. The Huskies’ Jedd Fisch showed his loyalty, benching his all-season starting quarterback for a more mobile freshman. The Ducks sacked him 10 times. And won going away. With Ohio State’s loss to Michigan, Oregon will play Penn State with a chance to enter the CFP as the undefeated top seed. John Canzano has a column from Eugene as does Christian Caple. … Want to know why I don’t pick games? Here’s a small snippet of what I wrote yesterday about Arizona State’s Territorial Cup matchup with host Arizona. “We’re picking the Wildcats in the day’s biggest upset.” Ya, that was a good one. The Sun Devils rolled 49-7. Nice job Vince. … California was without its quarterback due to illness. SMU is really good. The unsurprising result? A 38-6 win for the ninth-ranked Mustangs. … Notre Dame is ranked even higher. The Irish don’t need any help. USC decided to anyway, throwing a 100-yard and 99-yard pick sixes. Two field goals in those possessions and the mediocre Trojans win a game they lost 49-35. … UCLA ended its season with a 20-13 win over Fresno State in the Rose Bowl. … Colorado won’t play for a Big 12 title but will have a Heisman finalist. … Andrew Luck is returning to Stanford. Joining the football staff. … In the Mountain West, the conference title game Friday night will pit host Boise State against UNLV after the Rebels defeated rival Nevada on Saturday. … San Diego State lost its final six games after dropping another against Air Force. … Utah State had an up-and-down season with an interim coach. … With change looming, Colorado State needs a more talented roster to compete. … Colorado State won the Mountain West volleyball title, ending a San Jose State season that was unfair to everyone on the Spartans roster. … In basketball news, the Oregon State men rolled over UC Davis. … Oregon handed No. 9 Alabama a last-second 83-81 defeat to win the first – though certainly not the last – NIL-based tournament in Las Vegas. … San Diego State upset No. 6 Houston in the same tournament.

Gonzaga: Ryan Nembhard doesn’t strike an imposing figure during warmups. In fact, you might think he’s a backup or a manager. But put the ball in his hands during the game or try to post him up and you find out quickly he’s a bulldog. Theo Lawson has that and more about the Bulldogs in this look back at their Battle 4 Atlantis performance. …The women’s tropical adventure finished with three losses, including Saturday’s 95-54 blowout defeat against Florida State. Greg Lee has the coverage.

EWU: Is Eastern Washington football at a crossroads? Dan Thompson delves into that question today. … The men’s basketball team played Utah tough but fell 88-80 on the road. Dan put together that story as well. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Montana special teams were more than special in the FCS first-round home win over Tennessee State. … Northern Arizona never scored and was eliminated by Abilene Christian. … Montana State found out who it will host next week. … In basketball news, the Montana State men lost to Cal State Northridge. … Weber State won again. As did Portland State. … Sacramento State lost. … The Northern Colorado women rolled.

Idaho: The Vandal men hosted UC Riverside and defeated the Highlanders 80-68.

Whitworth: A first-play pick-six set the tone and the Pirates were never able to change it in a 42-17 NCAA Division III second-round loss to top-seeded North Central of Illinois. Whitworth ends its season 10-2.

Preps: It was another busy football Saturday. Dave Nichols has a story that covers Gonzaga Prep’s and Freeman’s losses in the 4A and 2B semifinals. … Dave also put together a roundup of basketball action.

Chiefs: Another busy day for Dave, who covered Spokane’s easy 5-1 win over visiting Portland.

Seahawks: Seattle is starting a rookie right guard against the Jets today. Why? He had a great week of practice. … Aaron Rodgers can still strike fear in an opponent’s heart.

Mariners: I can pass along a Times story in the S-R on the bullpen, one I linked earlier in the week.

Kraken: November ended poorly, with Seattle’s third consecutive loss, the last two to San Jose. … Vince Dunn returned to the lineup.

Sounders: A late L.A. Galaxy goal was the only scoring in the Western Conference final. Seattle had multiple chances to take a lead but was unable to finish. Now their season is finished.

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• One last thought. Put yourself in Mateer’s cleats. If he had free time Friday, he may have watched some college football. Maybe he glanced at Georgia’s eight-overtime win over visiting Georgia Tech. Ole Miss’ Egg Bowl victory. Colorado’s destruction of Oklahoma State. Heck, maybe he saw a bit of Boise State’s rout of Oregon State. Saw the atmosphere in those places. Thought back to the Apple Cup and the noise 57,567 in Lumen Field made. Maybe wondered what it would be like to play in front of an Apple Cup-like crowd – or better – every home game. And then he went out Saturday afternoon and played in front of, well, not that. Forget NIL. Forget wins and losses. College football is also about memories and experiences. Who could blame Mateer, handed his freedom due to his talent, from searching for better one? Not me. Until later …