Tinseltown beckons Cougs

The Cougars have soaked up golden rays at the Sun Bowl (twice), spent holiday season at the Holiday Bowl (twice), remembered the Alamo (Bowl) and chowed on flavored snacks at the Cheez-It Bowl.

For its seventh straight bowl game, Washington State is headed to the glitzy lights of Hollywood for the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl in Los Angeles, where it’ll face Mountain West champ Fresno State at 12:30 p.m. (ABC) on Dec. 17.

Some players might even get a chance to appear on the late-night TV host’s nationally televised entertainment show.

Not a bad gig for a team from a cold-weather area looking to end the season with some extra hardware and make some memories in the process.

But bowl season hasn’t been all that pleasant for the Cougars in recent history. WSU is just 2-5 in bowl games since 2013 and has lost two straight postseason contests.

Its last win came behind the school’s legendary quarterback Gardner Minshew (now with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles) in the 2018 Alamo Bowl, where the Cougs beat No. 25 Iowa State to cap an 11-win season.

Since then, WSU has lost to Air Force in the 2019 Cheez-It Bowl; endured a bizarre, shortened COVID-19 season in 2020 and stumbled against substitute-foe Central Michigan in the 2021 Sun Bowl.

Things don’t get any easier this season as WSU (7-5) must face an FSU team that has won eight straight games after starting the season 1-4.

The Bulldogs (9-4) are a scrappy football program that always seems to drift between irrelevance and national rankings. This year, former Cal coach Jeff Tedford has FSU streaking toward a second consecutive 10-win season that would no doubt put them back in the end-of-season top 25 should they beat the Cougs the week before Christmas.

For WSU, a win would set the tone heading into the offseason and put a nice capper on what’s been an up-and-down season.

But this year’s bowl season is already producing some deja vu from last year when the Cougs were without some key players.

Starting WRs Stribling,Ollie enter transfer portal

The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday and it didn’t take long for some key Cougars to enter their names into the chaos.

WSU’s top two outside wide receivers, sophomores De’Zhaun Stribling and Donovan Ollie, announced on social media they were entering the portal.

Stribling (51 catches, five TDs) and Ollie (43, three) were two-year starters for the Cougs and will leave gaping holes in the receiving corps less than two weeks before the LA Bowl kicks off.

It doesn’t help that star slot receiver Renard Bell is injured and not expected to participate in the game.

That will leave more pressure on guys like senior Robert Ferrel (46 catches, four TDs), freshman Leyton Smithson (27 catches), junior Lincoln Victor (21) and other inexperienced wideouts.

Other Cougars who also announced or are reportedly intending to transfer include middle linebacker Travion Brown, safety Adrian Shepherd, edge Gabriel Lopez, running back Jouvensly Bazil, quarterback Xavier Ward and offensive lineman Eric Wilder.

Brown is a particularly tough one as he was sixth on the team in tackles this season and a co-starter at middle linebacker with Francisco Mauigoa.

Another tough loss is defensive coordinator Brian Ward, who is taking the same position at Arizona State in his hometown state.

Transfer portal players can choose to return to a program, but it’s unlikely that would happen in time to practice and play in the bowl game.

That means WSU will have some holes to fill in a hurry if it’s going to beat Fresno State in 11 days.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.