This Saturday, GameDay will broadcast from Pullman for the first time in the history of the show. It’s going to be a party on the Palouse to say the least.

While it is a momentous occasion, it’s not the first time Washington State has been the focus of ESPN’s premiere college football pregame show. The program was broadcast live from the Rose Bowl in 1998 where Washington State took on Michigan.

But we all know that ‘College GameDay’ isn’t ‘College GameDay’ unless it comes from a true campus environment. And on September 14, 2002, Washington State got a taste of that as well.

Before the 11th ranked Cougars took on the 8th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler set up shop outside of the Horseshoe. The show previewed all of the big matchups of the weekend, but there was plenty of talk about the Cougs.

We can relive that broadcast thanks to internet subscriber and YouTube account holder “LASooner”. They posted most of the show from that day on their channel and you can watch it above. It’s only 35 minutes of the show, but it gives you a good sense of how the Cougs were seen nationally at the time.

Here are some of the highlights from that broadcast:

— Chris Fowler Breaks down the tape from the last time the Cougars and Buckeyes met back in 1991, with Kirk Herbstreit under center for Ohio State.

— Fowler talks about the big matchup including a nugget about WSU being Ohio States highest ranked non-conference opponent in 14 years. Fowler talks about freshman Maurice Clarett and we get to hear from a young Jason Gesser.

— Lee Corso talks about what makes the “Warshington” State defense so special, including game tape from Rien Long and Marcus Trufant.

— Tyrone Willingham sighting!

— Mike Price joins the gang for an interview. Fowler starts off by congratulating Price on a new contract... Little did they know...

The recording cuts off before the picks, so we miss Corso donning the Brutus, correctly predicting Ohio States win over Washington State. You can watch a condensed version of that game here, but if you want to save some time, Ohio State wins 25-7.

This appearance was the first on campus edition of GameDay to feature Washington State, but the Ol’ Crimson tradition didn’t start until more than a year later.

Cougar alum Tom Pounds brought out the flag for the first time on October 4, 2003 in Austin, Texas when Texas took on Kansas State.

And now, 216 college football Saturdays later... The flag is coming home.

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