Cougars Set For Pac-12 Football Media Day in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (July 29, 2022) – Washington State Head Coach Jake Dickert, EDGE Ron Stone Jr. and quarterback Cam Ward will represent the Cougars at Pac-12 Conference Football Media Day at LA Live Friday.
 
You can watch coach Dickert's press conference at 1:30 p.m. on Pac-12.com and all three will be live on set on the Pac-12 Networks at 3:15 p.m.
 
Dickert was named the 34th head football coach in program history last November after spending the final five games of the regular season serving as the Cougar's acting head coach, leading WSU to a 3-2 record with wins over Arizona State, Arizona and a dominating 40-13 Apple Cup victory in Seattle before earning a trip to the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. The Apple Cup win snapped a seven-game skid to Washington and was WSU's largest margin of victory in series history.
 
Under Dickert's leadership, the Cougar defense was a huge spark in 2021, leading the Pac-12 with 29 takeaways, fifth-most nationally, while also leading the Pac-12 and tied for ninth nationally in turnover margin. Last season, 14 players earned All-Pac-12 honors including first-team selections in right tackle Abraham Lucas, kicker Dean Janikowski and EDGE Ron Stone Jr. while punter Nick Haberer was named a Freshman All-American.
 
Stone Jr. earned his first career All-Pac-12 honor last season after making 11.5 tackles-for-loss, tied for fourth in the conference, and tied for eighth in the league with five sacks. The redshirt-senior from San Jose, Calif. recorded a tackle-for-loss in eight games in 2021, including a season-high three at Utah and tallied a sack in four-straight games, helping WSU to three-straight wins during that stretch. Stone Jr. has been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, given to the nation's Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 First Team.
 
Ward transferred to Washington State this past January after two record-setting seasons at Incarnate Word in Texas. The sophomore from West Columbia, Texas won the Jerry Rice Award following the 2020 season, the award given to the most outstanding freshman player in FCS football after setting UIW single-season records with 2,260 yards and 24 touchdowns in just six games. Last season at UIW, Ward was named an FCS second-team All-American, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton Award Finalist (give to the most outstanding offensive player in FCS) after leading UIW to a 10-3 record with school records of 4,648 passing yards, 47 touchdown passes and 357.5 passing yards-per-game. Ward was recently named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, given to the most outstanding player in college football.