Pac-12: Washington wins Apple Cup, and North title

Sports’ George Schroeder breaks down the five matchups to watch.

These days, heightened stakes and media attention are prompting coaches like Leach and Petersen to approach rivalry games as they would any other, intent on avoiding undue distractions and anxieties. There was no conference championship game. He was out of coaching in 2010 and ’11.

Rarely has the Apple Cup regular season finale meant quite so much.

It partly has to do with his affinity for pirates, Geronimo and Key West. More on the historic football rivalry …

But if identity doesn’t change, it can evolve.

And it mattered little, because Washington’s well-padded lead midway through the third quarter all but assured the Huskies of the surprisingly dominant, 45-17 victory that will deliver them to the Pac-12 championship game this Friday. Now it is just a matter of figuring out which game they will go to. In the loss to Colorado, the Washington State rifleman went off for 325 yards, three scores and a pick.

With a trip to the Pac-12 title game on the line and in-state bragging rights from Walla Walla to Spokane on the line, sixth-ranked Washington rolls into Pullman on the heels of a 44-18 romp of Arizona State. “I don’t know. I just want them to prepare like they have and go over and compete like they have, which I know they will”, Washington coach Chris Petersen said Monday.

Mastro said, “It was tough”.

It’s the Washington offense that puts you on the ground, but it’s the defense that makes sure you don’t get back up. The run was an afterthought back then.

Yet because this is an Air Raid team, the pass – and in particular a passer – is still crucial to the big picture. After starting the second half with a touchdown drive to cut UW’s lead to 35-17, the Cougs forced a three-and-out before Luke Falk and Gabe Marks started connecting down the field. Best case for the Pac-12 looking to get back in the playoff after a one-year absence, too.

As it happens, the Cougars were using a two-QB system that year, with dynamic Ricky Turner often providing a spark off the bench.

But ultimately, for Washington to be successful, it must be keeping the top in-state recruits at home. But the Cougars ended up just a few inches short of a touchdown after running on four consecutive plays. “That is a style of play and the whole idea becomes second nature”, he said. If you don’t execute …they’ve put all that hard work and turned it into execution, and you don’t know how all this is going to go. If they were to somehow make the Final Four, they would be all but guaranteed the four-seed and would have to play Alabama. But rarely has there been so much riding on this game as there will be Friday when the No. 6 Huskies and the No. 23 Cougars meet for the 109th time. The defense has also made strides during Leach’s tenure, especially after the hire of coordinator Alex Grinch prior to the 2015 season.

They did it with a first-quarter onslaught keyed by several big pass plays. “A lot of times it doesn’t turn into a physical game, but down there, you can kind of feel it turn into that”. Despite the win streak, UW was still favored by 7.5 points.

But Washington stopped Gerard Wicks on fourth down from the 1-yard line to end the Cougars’ 81-yard drive with 37 seconds left in the quarter. That’s one of the things we talk about every day to our kids, about finishing everything, whether it’s school or a weight workout or a practice. It is that extreme.

“It’s better than sitting in last place in mid-November with nothing to play for”, Marks said. The final score was 26-13, ending with Jake Browning being tackled in his own end zone for a safety.

Based on current trends, it looks like Washington better book its tickets for Levi Stadium.