Ranking Washington State's Top 5 Bowl Wins of All Time

Over the weekend, Washington State found out their bowl fate for the 2024 season. The Cougars will be pitted up against Syracuse in this year's Holiday Bowl on December 27. This will be the team's first postseason game in two years and they'll be looking for their first bowl win since 2018.
With the news that the Cougs are bowling we take a look at the program's top five bowl victories throughout its history.
5. 2015 Sun Bowl over Miami
WSU wrapped up the 2015 season with a 9-4 overall record a Sun Bowl win against Miami down in El Paso. The 20-14 victory was the first bowl win of Mike Leach's tenure in Pullman and it kicked off a string of five straight seasons in which the Cougars appeared in a bowl contest. That game saw quarterback Luke Falk complete 30 passes for 300 yards on the dot along with two touchdowns. Four different Cougs authored sacks on 'Canes signal caller Brad Kaaya and both Shalom Luani and Peyton Pelluer came down with interceptions. Leach's team scored all 20 of its points in the first half and had to rely on the defense to close out the win down the stretch. The victory snapped a 12-year drought of bowl wins for the Cougars.
4. 2001 Sun Bowl over Purdue
In 2001 Washington State picked up its third ever10-win season following a 33-27 win over the Boilermakers in that year's Sun Bowl. Fresh off a disheartening loss to Washington in the Apple Cup that cost them a chance at a Pac-10 title, Mike Price's Cougars needed a bounce back and got it in El Paso. Jason David got the Cougs off to a hot start with a 45-yard interception return touchdown and they never looked back. Kicker Drew Dunning would connect on four field goals and the defense would hold off Kyle Orton and Purdue to snag their first bowl win of the new century.
3. 1988 Aloha Bowl over Houston
Dennis Erickson's time as Washington State's head coach was short-lived, only lasting two seasons. Erickson, though, ended his WSU stint on a high note on Christmas Day in 1988, narrowly defeating Houston in the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii. Receiver Victor Wood got the scoring started that day but not in the usual fashion as he recovered an offensive fumble and took it five yards in for the go-ahead touchdown. It gave Washington State the lead it would never relinquish although Houston would fight nearly all the way back. After allowing a score late in the fourth quarter, WSU's defense buckled down and kept Houston off the scoreboard for the final 13 plus minutes to put it away. The win gave Erickson's team a 9-3 overall record that year and was their fifth straight to close out the year.
2. 2018 Alamo Bowl over Iowa State
One of the signature bowl wins that still lives in the minds of Cougars fans in recent years was the two-point Alamo Bowl triumph over then-#25 Iowa State.
Led by Gardner Minshew, the WSU passing attack was on another level that season and, in what turned out to be Minshew's final game as a Cougar, he went out with a bang, throwing for 299 yards and a pair of scores with no interceptions. Despite being outgained by the Cyclones, Washington State still managed to hold late when it needed to. Brock Purdy ran in to give ISU what appeared to be the game-tying touchdowns with roughly four minutes left. A failed two-point try, though, helped Minshew and the Cougars hang on. The 28-26 win gave WSU its 11th of that season, the most the program had seen in its history. Minshew and Pelluer would come out as co-MVPs of the game.
1. 2003 Holiday Bowl over Texas
Arguably the most notable bowl win Washington State ever produced came at the conclusion of the 2003 season when it toppled #5 Texas in the Holiday Bowl.
Vince Young was just coming onto the scene in college football and the Longhorns had only lost twice all season. The eight-win Cougars entered as an underdog but got big performances from running back Jonathan Smith and receiver Sammy Moore. Moore hauled in two touchdowns while Smith ran for 110 yards. Signal caller Matt Kegel threw for 203 yards and the defense forced three turnovers and even notched a safety late. It all culminated in a 28-20 victory for WSU and their third straight 10-win campaign. They would finish that fall ranked #9 in both the Coaches and AP polls, their highest such mark to date at the end of a season.
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