It's always hard to say goodbye... especially when you're not the one making the decision to leave.
But last Friday night under the lights at Martin Stadium in Pullman, the Washington State Cougars said a farewell of sorts as they played their final home game in the Pac-12.
Well, at least in the Pac-12 as we've long known it. The conference essentially began to unravel right before the start of the season, with every Pac-12 university except WSU and Oregon State recruited to join another football power conference next year. While WSU and OSU still hold the Pac-12 rights (now colloquially known as the Pac-2), the conference won't be the same even if the two schools try to rebuild it by scooping up lower division Western football teams.
Against that depressing backdrop, WSU hosted its Senior Night game against Colorado. At the start of the season, this felt potentially like a big deal matchup. Colorado was the national darling of the first three weeks of college football thanks to braggadocious NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders leading his team to a 3-0 start. Meanwhile, the Cougs were using the idea of being unwanted conference outcasts as motivation. "Cougs vs. Everybody" became a rallying cry as WSU started the season 4-0 (including ranked wins over Wisconsin and Oregon State). But both the Cougars' and the Buffaloes' seasons fell apart in Pac-12 play, making the special Friday night tilt a meaningless matchup between two four-win teams.
With winter beginning to set in and temperatures barely above freezing and their squad nursing a six-game losing streak, WSU fans had every reason to be disheartened. The black of the night almost felt like the cosmos dressing for the Cougars' funeral.
But those are expectations based on most fanbases. Cougar fans are a different breed. Even before the Pac-12 shunning, they were used to being treated like second-class citizens. They know it's a tough place to recruit. They're used to the jokes about Pullman being a backwater town. They're acutely aware that there's a whole phrase dedicated to the amazing ways WSU blows meaningful games — to "Coug It." (It has its own Wikipedia page.) WSU fans know they're the unloved crimson-haired stepchild of the FBS football world. You can't kill a Coug fan, they're already dead inside. But they still have their souls.
And at least last Friday night, that fandom was rewarded. Those who braved the cold to cheer on their guys in Martin Stadium got to see the Cougars blow out the Buffaloes. Quarterback Cameron Ward led the rout with four touchdowns. It became such a beating that things got comical, like when Brennan Jackson picked up and returned a second fumble for a touchdown to make the score 55-7 (meaning one of WSU's defenders had scored more than the Colorado offense).
The fans in the stands were invested in all of it. It was a matter of pride. Cougs don't go down quietly. For all the hype about SEC football atmospheres, this trivial night in Pullman had more fan-generated juice than my visit to Athens earlier this season to see No. 1 Georgia. I think it's because of the lack of entitlement. Even the notion of a WSU fan possibly feeling entitled is laughable with all they've endured.
So even though the game was essentially meaningless, even if the hype was nonexistent compared to where it was early in the year, even though the result of the game hadn't been in doubt for hours, as soon as the whistle blew the fans stormed the field. Well perhaps stormed is a strong characterization. While fans rushing the field is usually reserved for a massive upset, a fierce rivalry win or an incredibly tense win, the reaction after WSU finished off Colorado 56-14 felt unlike anything I've seen before.
As the diminished student section poured over the railing, it wasn't amped up college kid adrenaline or anything of that sort. It felt more like a celebration of community. On the other side of the field, the non-student section casually took the field by walking down the stairs. As the hordes stood there in celebration, they weren't under the allusion that this game had any real ramifications.
They went on the field to just have a nice moment with their team.
Their team that emanates from a city few could find on a map. Their team that nobody in the power conference wants. Their team that's a victim of college football's tradition-crushing greed. Their team that never quit on a season that they had every right to give up on. Their team that they'll stick with whether they're playing in the Pac-12 or the Pac-2. No one can take the Washington State football team from them. The Cougars are and will always be their team.
Pullman vs. Everybody. ♦
