Apple Cup: Huskies Drop Cougars 45-17 in Pullman

A day before the 109th Apple Cup, someone in the Huskies’ traveling party busted the grand, old prize presented to the game’s victor, the signature silver apple having fallen far from the top of the trophy. 17 Huskies beat the No. 14 Cougars 23-10 in Seattle to claim the Pac-10 title and a spot in the Rose Bowl. But prior to that, the Cougars had won eight straight games. Its turnover margin of 0.82 per game – stoked by safety Shalom Luani’s four interceptions and linebacker Dylan Hanser’s three forced fumbles – ranks 12th in the FBS. “The Huskies are averaging 50.5 points and 571 total yards per game (8.3 yppl) on the road, while the Cougars are averaging 50.2 points and 550 total yards per game (6.6 yppl) at home this season”. Whether that means they win the Apple Cup, though, remains to be seen.

Uncharacteristically for a Mike Leach team, Washington State twice ran the ball on fourth-and-goal from inside the two-yard line.

This should be a tight game with quarterback play being a plus for both squads.

With the Pac-12 North divisional title on the line, Washington walked into Pullman and crushed Washington State, 45-17, on Saturday. The Huskies are thriving in Chris Petersen’s third season at the helm and the coach expects his team to handle the ferocious atmosphere on game day. But the best team?

Eight years after this matchup was mocked because of how bad the two teams were, the Apple Cup was back on a stage of national relevance and regarded by many fans as the most important matchup of the 109 meetings. You can read our extended preview of the Apple Cup here! MI could sneak in, and the victor of the Big Ten championship game, Wisconsin or Penn State, could too. That’ll be determined by the victor of Saturday’s Utah-Colorado game (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX), where the Buffs are win-and-in to face the Huskies.

Right from the start of this game the Cougars looked like they were overwhelmed by how big of a game this one was. This game will hinge on Falk’s ability to play productive and mistake-free football. By the end of the first quarter Saturday, Memphis had amassed 222 yards and three touchdowns.

In addition to UW and Colorado, the Pac-12 has two more teams in the Top 25: USC (9-3), which jumped to 10th from 12th following a 45-27 win over Notre Dame, and Stanford (9-3), which re-entered the poll at No. 17 after a 41-17 blowout of Rice.

On the offense, Washington football allows 273.9 yards in passing and 208.8 yards in rushing against their opponents. Jamal Morrow ran in a touchdown to make it 28-10, but the defense was unable to get off the field and gave up a touchdown on a Lavon Coleman touchdown run.

Just about everything went Washington’s way.

WSU had chances to make this one more interesting.

“These kids have been all in on like every game, so to say, OK, this one’s like”. This led to people being out of position on defense and the offense turning the ball over. Washington’s entire secondary has great ball skills, so it may be tough for Falk to hit some of his over-the-shoulder-to-a-guy-that-looks-covered passes. “But this is our favorite game of the year, and I hope (the Cougars) continually do exactly what they’re doing because this is an awesome game to play”. Coach Kevin Sumlin said days after he was injured that he would miss the remainder of the regular season but would return for A&M’s bowl game. USC still has a chance at making it into the Pac-12 title game, but they need to win against the Fighting Irish and a loss for the Colorado Buffaloes against Utah. INJURY REPORT: WASHINGTON – WR Brayden Lenius (questionable, undisclosed) WASHINGTON STATE – LB Isaac Dotson (questionable, undisclosed) WEATHER REPORT: The playing conditions at Martin Stadium are expected to be rainy.

“I saw them relent a few times”, he said. Besides the typical travails-feral sheep with sore anuses wandering the roads, frat boys spiked up on Milwaukee’s Beast, and cops who will shoot you for looking at them sideways (these things are all cosmically interconnected)-a very risky football team awaits your Washington Huskies.

Combined with Boise State’s 27-20 loss on Friday to the Air Force, Western Michigan (12-0, 8-0 Mid-American) is now in the driver’s seat to play in the Cotton Bowl on January 2 as the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion.

The game started out as the Dante Pettis show for the Huskies. Marshall’s season hasn’t been quite as flashy as Jackson’s this season, but he has done an excellent job holding down his side of the field and will likely step up to fill Jackson’s shoes if he decides to leave for the draft.