Washington State headed to Tinseltown

The Cougars are headed to the bright lights of Hollywood for their program-record seventh consecutive bowl game.

Washington State (7-5) will face Fresno State (9-4) in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl on Dec. 17 (ABC) in Los Angeles, it was announced Sunday.

The game will be played at SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams. The stadium hosted Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, and will host the CFP national championship game Jan. 9.

“We are excited for another opportunity to continue our season at the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, against a very good Fresno State program,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said in a news release. Dickert did not participate in the bowl news conference Sunday because he was on a recruiting trip.

“We’re looking forward for the chance to send our seniors out on a winning note and can’t wait to see all the Coug fans out in Los Angeles.”

WSU and FSU have met five times, but not since 1994, a 24-3 Cougar victory in Pullman.

The Bulldogs are fresh off a 28-16 win at Boise State in the Mountain West championship. FSU coach Jeff Tedford is a former Pac-12 coach at California (2002-12).

“We have a great deal of respect for Washington State,” Tedford said. “Back when I was the head coach at Cal, I had the opportunity to play them quite a bit so I have a great deal of respect for them and looking forward to the week and getting prepared for a great game.”

Bowl festivities for the teams will include an opportunity to go Kimmel's late-night TV show and be a part of the entertainment component as well as a team visit to Universal Studios, said Jason Gannon, the bowl’s executive director.

WSU will be trying for its first bowl win since 2018 when it topped No. 25 Iowa State 28-26 in the Alamo Bowl.

The Cougars have about 20 players from the Los Angeles area on their roster.

“Everybody likes playing on a bigger stage,” WSU athletic director Pat Chun said, “and for a pre-Christmas bowl game, one could argue this is one of the bigger stages for a pre-Christmas bowl.”

DC reportedly headed to ASU

The Cougars could be losing a top assistant coach to another Pac-12 program.

WSU defensive coordinator Brian Ward reportedly is taking the same position at Arizona State under new coach Kenny Dillingham, per multiple reports during the weekend.

Ward spent one season under Dickert at WSU after rebuilding the defense at Nevada and he helped the Cougars to finish third in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally in scoring defense at 22.4 points per game allowed. The Cougars were No. 1 in that stat before falling to Washington in the Apple Cup, 51-33 on Nov. 26.

Under Ward, linebacker Daiyan Henley is a Butkus Award finalist, an award that goes to the nation’s best linebacker.

Ward is an Arizona native hailing from Glendale.

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