Mike Washington takes handoff from Jack Thompson at Michigan State in '77.

IN THE MODERN age of college football, the mere notion is preposterous: Having your team open the season on the road four straight weeks against three Power 5 opponents and perennial conference bully USC. But in 1977, that’s exactly what awaited the Washington State Cougars:

Sept. 10 - at No. 15 Nebraska

Sept. 17 - at Michigan State

Sept. 24 - at Kansas

Sept. 30 - at No. 2 USC

That's not a schedule. It's a crucible. And no one really thought it was that big a deal.

In those days, when TV revenue was almost nonexistent and the number of fans in the stands determined the bottom line, treks to the Midwest were pretty routine for the Cougs at the start of a season.

Getting big pays days from schools who played in large stadiums was how WSU balanced the athletic department budget. More times than not, the cash came at the expense of a win.

Not in 1977, however.

WSU stunned 15th-ranked Nebraska in the opener, 19-10, and Cornhuskers fans gave the Cougs a standing ovation. Then it was on to East Lansing to play a Michigan State team that would lose only one game in the Big Ten that season.

Until the Cougars and Spartans square off this Thursday in the Holiday Bowl, that 1977 nail biter — a 23-21 come-from-behind WSU victory — marks the last time the two well-regarded Land Grants faced each other.

"I just remember our defense was flying around like crazy," said Cougar safety Bob Gregor, who would later spend five seasons in the NFL. "We were hyped coming off the win at Nebraska. We had confidence."

The Cougs were so hyped, in fact, that Gregor remembers fellow safety Mark Patterson delivering a hit on a Spartan receiver that ranks among the most ferocious, college or pro, he's ever seen. "He hit him so hard, he knocked the guy out. You could actually hear the guy snoring while he was being tended to. That was incredible."



The hits weren't all one-side.



“One thing I remember about that game was Levy (Cougar receiver Mike Levenseller) coming into the huddle and asking if I was effing trying to kill him,” remembers Cougar quarterbacking legend Jack Thompson, who had fired a few passes high, resulting in Levenseller taking nasty shots to the ribs.



“I said, ‘So you’re saying you don’t want me to throw to you anymore?’” Thompson added with a chuckle.

Levenseller also remembers the moment vividly, though somewhat differently.



“Jack was hanging me out to dry. I got a hip pointer off one of those. I came back into the game and we had that little discussion — which was unusual for us — and I said quit throwing those high passes and he said, ‘Quit running those short routes',” Levenseller laughed.



Five-foot-nine, 150-pound Brian Kelly caught both of Thompson’s two TD passes that day and later became a record setter and hall of famer in the Canadian Football League.



He recalls running into the end zone retaining wall on one of those scoring grabs, a post corner, but says that blow was nothing compared to Levenseller.



“He took a beating like no guy I’ve ever seen,” Kelly said. “He was always hitting people or getting hit."



Harry Missildine of The Spokesman-Review was at his pithy best writing about the dramatic finish in the next day’s paper:

Brilliantly piloted by Jack ‘Touchdown’ Thompson on fourth quarter drives of 75 and 80 yards, Washington State overcame self-inflicted adversity and Michigan State 23-21.

Thompson passed for 364 yards and two touchdowns, both caught by red-haired phantom Brian Kelly … Thompson and his amazing receivers connected on 21 of 30 pass attempts for an amazing percentage of .700 as the Cougars punched out 535 yards of total offense.

Two notes for the record:

In the days before the dink-and-dunk, when most receivers and backs averaged double-digit yardage in the air game, a 70 percent accuracy rate was unheard of.

Missildine’s regular moniker for Thompson — “The Throwin’ Samoan” — was a tad more creative than “Touchdown” and had more legs too.

Thompson, a fourth-year junior would go on to set the NCAA career record for passing yards, was named Pac-8 Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week and the Cougs rose to No. 15 in the AP Top 20.



Kelly remembers Spartan defensive backs being no match for the Cougar air game. “We were a passing school and the Midwest hadn’t caught up yet to that,” he said. “Their secondary wasn’t ready for it.”



Despite the come-from-behind nature of the victory -- WSU scored the winning TD with 4 minutes left in the game -- both Kelly and Levenseller remember the Cougars clearly being the better team. Take out turnovers and "it was really pretty easy," said Kelly.



MICHIGAN STATE HAD A STRAPPING GUY at receiver named Kirk Gibson — the same guy who would go on to World Series fame.



“He was a helluva player,” said Levenseller, who played three NFL and two CFL seasons before embarking on a long coaching career. “We wound up having the same agent and would talk once in awhile about playing against each other that day.”



Levenseller also recalls standout Cougar cornerback Mark Patterson going out in front of Spartan Stadium before the game and selling his two comp tickets. “You can’t do that anymore,” he said. Gregor said he also recalls a freshman going out to do the same thing -- but fully dressed in his game uniform!



THE COUGARS WERE COACHED BY Warren Powers, a former Oakland Raiders Super Bowl starter who was in his first and only year at WSU after six seasons as an assistant at Nebraska. He left WSU for Missouri at season's end and his offensive coordinator at WSU, Jim Walden, was elevated to head coach by Cougar AD Sam Jankovich. Walden put an end to the coaching carousel in Cougarville by staying through 1986. From 1975-78, the Cougars had four head coaches in four years: Jim Sweeney, Jackie Sherrill, Powers and Walden.



WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Thompson is a principal in Cherry Creek Mortgage in Seattle; Kelly works in real estate leasing in Minneapolis; Gregor in retired and living in the Seattle suburb of Redmond; and Levenseller is retired and living in Pullman. Thompson and Levenseller both had sons who played for the Cougs. In addition, Levenseller's daughter Jordan was standout WSU volleyball player. And Gregor's two sons are Cougs -- one a graduate and one a current student.

Brian Kelly went on to a hall of fame career in the Canadian Football League.

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