No. 6 Football
Record: 7-6
Highest Ranking: 20
Postseason: Defeated Western Michigan 49-18 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Football was coming off of the worst season in twenty years after a 4-9 2017 season. The season started off strong against Arizona a team that had Heisman Trophy candidate Khalil Tate. The Cougars followed that up with a tough loss to California, and then a shocker against Wisconsin on the midday ABC game. After that game though things became a rollercoaster.
Senior Tanner Mangum struggled to lead the offense on scoring drives and the Cougars found themselves struggling to score points against McNeese State and then losing games Washington and Utah State by a combined score of 80-20 before freshman Zach Wilson was put in the game to score late against the Aggies and ultimately take the starting quarterback job.
The rest of the season had the highs of beating 6-2 Hawaii and the lows of falling to Northern Illinois 7-6 at home. Overall it was about what you would expect from a really good quarterback in his first few games with a team. The season ended with the Cougars jumping to a 27-7 lead against Utah before falling to them late in the fourth quarter. Finally, in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl the Cougars dominated the Western Michigan Broncos to a convincing 49-18 win that saw Wilson throw a perfect 20-20 game.