WSU Football kicks off this weekend with a full slate of fun in Pullman

PULLMAN, Wash. – The 2011 Washington State University football season kicks off this weekend with a full slate of activities for young and old in advance of Saturday’s “Junior Cougar Day”  2 p.m. opening game, when the Cougars will host Idaho State University at Martin Stadium.

On Friday, WSU joins in the national celebration of College Colors Day, with fans encouraged to wear their traditional “crimson and grey” to class or to the office.  The Pullman Chamber of Commerce will begin the weekend that evening with “First Down Friday,” a street fair complete with a BBQ dinner, live music, and bouncy games for the kids. Fans will also have a chance to meet players from WSU’s football, men’s and women’s basketball teams. WSU soccer players will be on hand to sign autographs.

Also Friday night, Gordon Brothers will be this year’s featured winery for Feast of the Arts, an unforgettable evening of gourmet dining, wine, music, and art created by chefs and students from the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management. Each feast begins with a music and art reception, including wine and hors d’oeuvres in the Museum of Art/WSU. Guests enjoy a diverse array of fine art with musical presentations by members of the School of Music and the WSU Cougar Marching Band.

Saturday’s pre-game activities begin at 11 a.m. with the “Kickoff at the Compton Union,” open to all football fans. This event features affordable BBQ and carving station food items, several large screens for watching multiple football games, face decorating for kids, the Cougar Marching Band, photo ops with Butch, giveaway items and beverages for all ages. 

Cougar Football Saturday at Hollingberry Fieldhouse includes a food fair featuring a variety of local restaurants, beer, wine and spirits, marching band, cheerleaders and Butch.  Check out the new paint job, sound system, and big screen HD televisions.

The Cougar Prowl will take place at 11:40am, beginning at the Cougar Statue, 720 NE Stadium Way, and continuing on to the Hollingberry Fieldhouse. Bring your friends and family to help form a tunnel for the Cougar football players and coaches as part of this popular game-day tradition begun just last season.

There are new places to park at WSU for game day, and some new rules for RVer’s. Plus, the City of Pullman is offering free bus service directly to the stadium. Please check out our Game day parking website for the latest information.

This year also, WSU students will be able to purchase a hot dog and bottle of water for $1 at each home game, courtesy of the student ambassador group Coug Guys and Gals, which will provide roughly 4,000 hot dogs for each home game.

Close to 24,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s  game, leaving about 9,000 tickets still available. For ticket information, go online to the Washington State Cougar ticket site, or call 1-800 Go Cougs.

No television broadcasts of the game are available, but for fans not able to attend, the WSU season-opening football game against Idaho State will be available for viewing exclusively through Cougars All-Access on wsucougars.com, the official website of WSU Athletics. A subscription to Cougars All-Access is required.