Tag: Washington State Football

Washington vs. Washington State Apple Cup history and future with the Huskies now in the Big Ten

What to know about the Apple Cup after conference realignments.

Rivalry week for some college football teams is coming early in the 2024 season, which is in part the result of conference realignments shaking things up.

So in Week 3, Oregon is playing Oregon State, Utah is playing Utah State, Pitt and West Virginia are facing off in the Backyard Brawl and, of course, Washington is taking on Washington State.

The latest chapter of the Apple Cup rivalry will be played in Seattle at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. But with the Huskies now in the Big Ten — Washington State and Oregon State make up what’s left of the Pac-12 for now — the future of the Apple Cup may be in jeopardy. But not for a few years.

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So ahead of Washington versus Washington State in the 2024 Apple Cup, let’s break down where we’re at and how we got here.

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What’s the history of the Apple Cup rivalry between Washington and Washington State?

Nov. 23, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars defensive tackle Steven Hoffart (94) holds up the Apple Cup after a game against Washington Huskies at Martin Stadium. The Cougars would go onto beat the Huskies by a final score of 31-28 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-US PRESSWIRE

Saturday’s Week 3 game will mark the 116th Apple Cup matchup between Washington and Washington State.

The series first kicked off in 1900, and the first game ended in a thrilling 5-5 tie. However, the two didn’t play for the Apple Cup trophy until 1963; they initially played for the Governor’s Trophy from 1931 through 1962, per the Huskies’ website.

Who’s winning the Apple Cup series?

Nov 29, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Jacob Eason (10) carries the Apple Cup trophy after a win against the Washington State Cougars at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

That wasn’t the only tie. Washington and Washington State have tied six times over the years, but overall, the Huskies have dominated the series and lead it with a 76-33-6 record.

Washington is on a two-game winning streak in this rivalry after winning 24-21 last season. The Huskies’ longest Apple Cup winning streak was 10 games from 2009 to 2019, while the Cougars’ longest was three games from 1917 to 1921 (games weren’t played in 1918 and 1920).

When is the 2024 Apple Cup and why is it in September?

Nov 23, 2018; Pullman, WA, USA; IWashington State Cougars quarterback Gardner Minshew (16) is introduced before a football game against the Washington Huskies at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 Apple Cup matchup between Washington and Washington State is Saturday, September 14 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.

The mid-September Apple Cup date is the earliest on the schedule of all 116 games with the majority being in November. According to the Huskies, the Apple Cup became the standard regular-season finale in 1949 with a small handful of exceptions in relatively recent years.

And, of course, it’s in September partly as the result of conference realignment. With Washington now in its first Big Ten season, the Apple Cup is a nonconference matchup for the teams, so it’s earlier in the season while most conference games are scheduled later.

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How many more years will the Apple Cup continue?

Nov 25, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen hands off the the Apple Cup Trophy after a game against the Washington State Cougars after a game at Martin Stadium. The Huskies won 45-17. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Fear not: the Apple Cup will be back at least for a few more years. With Washington’s departure for the Big Ten, there was a lot of uncertainty about whether or not this rivalry — and several others outside the Evergreen State — would continue.

But last November, the Huskies and Cougars agreed to a five-year extension of the Apple Cup to ensure the in-state rivalry carries on through at least the 2028 college football season.

While this year’s game is at Lumen Field, it will return to campuses in 2025 and 2027 in Pullman and 2026 and 2028 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

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USC football’s greatest Pac-12 hits: Washington State

USC has three particularly memorable and resonant wins over Washington State in Pac-12 history.

The end of the Pac-12 is making us nostalgic. Let’s taste some misty, watercolor memories of the way we were at USC. When we think of the Trojans’ best moments, we obviouly start with the Rose Bowl wins and the national championships, followed by the conquests of Notre Dame and UCLA. Yet, there’s a whole conference USC competed against, not just the rivals or the New Year’s Day bowl opponents. In remembrance of the dying Pac-12, let’s look at USC football’s greatest wins against each Pac-12 school. We start with Washington State.

The three wins which stand out the most for USC are 1929, 1932, and 2003.

You probably can recall 2003. Bill Doba had a 10-win team that year. Pete Carroll’s Trojans hammered those Cougars on the road to a national championship.

Let’s not forget 1929 — when Washington State was 10-2 — or 1932, when Wazzu lost only once. WSU had great teams in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In those two years, 1929 and 1932, USC beat the Cougars each time.

We wrote about the 1932 USC team, an unbeaten national champion:

“The 1932 team is special because it was the first unbeaten USC team coached by both Howard Jones and assistant coach (defensive coordinator) Sam Barry. Jones and Barry were great teammates on the football staff, but beyond that, they are the two most important figures in the entire history of USC athletics. Jones built the football program. Barry built the basketball and baseball programs. Both men reached the summit in their respective fields of expertise. Jones won national championships with Barry’s help. Barry won the College World Series championship and reached the NCAA Final Four. Both men are legends — Jones in football, Barry in basketball and baseball.”

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Mountain West Football’s Updated 2024 Matchups Released

Mountain West Football’s Updated 2024 Matchups Released The Mountain West revised its college football schedule to include games against wayward Oregon State and Washington State. Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire What’s new? The vagaries of …

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Mountain West Football’s Updated 2024 Matchups Released

The Mountain West revised its college football schedule to include games against wayward Oregon State and Washington State.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

What’s new?

The vagaries of college football realignment didn’t directly impact the Mountain West Conference over the last calendar year, but the shockwaves of moves across the country resulted today in a revised slate of matchups that includes the Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars, the two Pac-12 programs left behind by their conference mates’ exodus.

When it was announced that the conference would do away with the Mountain and West divisions in 2022, the conference announced a rotation that would protect two games for each team and extend through the 2025 season. A multitude of Power 5 programs had other plans, however, and when the Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC raided the Pac-12 for ten of its teams throughout 2023, it left Oregon State and Washington State standing alone.

Here are the home and away games that the Mountain West had previously unveiled for 2024:

Air Force, Nevada, and San Diego State will host the Beavers while Boise State, Fresno State, and New Mexico will do the same for the Cougars. Conversely, Colorado State, San Jose State, and UNLV will travel to Corvallis; Hawaii, Utah State, and Wyoming will head to Pullman. None of the games will count as part of the conference standings, however, meaning that each Mountain West team will have seven conference games rather than the usual eight.

The changes, as you might expect, have differing impacts on every Mountain West team’s pre-existing schedule. Air Force, for instance, will get to face Oregon State at home instead of Hawaii, but Colorado State now travels to Oregon State and Nevada rather than Boise and San Diego. As DNVR Sports’s Justin Michael noted, it will be the first time since 2010 that the Rams and Broncos do not face each other. Similarly, Wyoming will now host San Diego State and Utah State rather than Nevada and UNLV.

One interesting twist is that the two teams who played in the Mountain West championship game this month, Boise State and UNLV, are now set to square off at Allegiant Stadium rather than Albertsons Stadium next year. Exact dates for the Mountain West schedule will be released at a later time, but next year’s title game is slated for Saturday, December 7, 2024.

Air Force

Home – Colorado State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Oregon State
Away – Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, Wyoming

Boise State

Home – Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Washington State
Away – Hawaii, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming

Colorado State

Home – New Mexico, San Jose State, Utah State, Wyoming
Away – Air Force, Fresno State, Nevada, Oregon State

Fresno State

Home – Colorado State, Hawaii, San Jose State, Washington State
Away – Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV

Hawaii

Home – Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV
Away – Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Washington State

Nevada

Home – Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State
Away – Boise State, Hawaii, San Jose State, UNLV

New Mexico

Home – Air Force, Fresno State, Wyoming, Washington State
Away – Colorado State, Hawai‘i, San Diego State, Utah State

San Diego State

Home – Air Force, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon State
Away – Boise State, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming

San Jose State

Home – Boise State, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming
Away – Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State

UNLV

Home – Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, San Diego State
Away – Hawaii, San Jose State, Utah State, Oregon State

Utah State

Home – Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV
Away – Boise State, Colorado State, Wyoming, Washington State

Wyoming

Home – Air Force, Boise State, San Diego State, Utah State
Away – Colorado State, New Mexico, San Jose State, Washington State

Oregon State

Home – Colorado State, San Jose State, UNLV
Away – Air Force, Nevada, San Diego State

Washington State

Home – Hawaii, Utah State, Wyoming
Away – Boise State, Fresno State, New Mexico

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Michael Penix Jr. literally couldn’t watch Washington’s game-winning FG over Washington State

Michael Penix Jr. was all Washington fans during the team’s last-second win over Wazzu.

Washington escaped a major upset against rival Washington State on Saturday with a walk-off field goal, but quarterback Michael Penix Jr. couldn’t bear to watch it.

Penix had to look away during the game-winning attempt, which helped the Huskies stay perfect on the season ahead of their Pac-12 Championship rematch with Oregon next Friday.

The quarterback’s undefeated season remained intact, and Penix was visibly, understandably emotional after the game ended.

This had to have been a roller coaster for the ages for Penix and Washington right after being ranked in the top four by the College Football Playoff committee for the first time this season.

Penix will be able to help cement his team’s national title chances next weekend against Oregon, where the Ducks are huge favorites to win.

We’ll see if next week’s game features more last-second dramatics, or if Penix can breathe easy and watch the final seconds of a comfortable win.

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Five takeaways from Colorado’s rough night in Pullman

Here’s what we learned from Colorado’s rough night in Pullman

This was the worst loss of the season for Colorado. In a season in which the Buffaloes relinquished a 29-point lead to Stanford and were blown out by a top-10 team, Friday’s 56-14 loss to the Washington State Cougars represented rock bottom for head coach Deion Sanders and Co.

Going up against a WSU team that had lost six straight heading in, the Buffs were never competitive at Martin Stadium. The Cougars got scores from their offense, defense and special teams before the first quarter was even over.

Here are five takeaways from the Buffaloes’ ugliest loss of the Coach Prime era:

RECAP: Everything goes wrong for Colorado in blowout loss to WSU Cougars

Colorado’s final Pac-12 trip to Pullman was a disaster

For those of you who opted for sleep after the first quarter, things didn’t get much better for Colorado on Friday night.

The Buffaloes’ final Pac-12 trip to Pullman featured a countless number of costly mistakes and eight total Washington State touchdowns in a 56-14 loss to the Cougars. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders also left early with an undisclosed injury, putting his status for next week’s season finale against Utah up in the air.

With the loss, Colorado (4-7, 1-7 Pac-12) can no longer become bowl-eligible in head coach Deion Sanders’ first season.

Here’s what you should know about the Buffaloes’ seventh loss of the year:

Colorado without several key defensive players at Washington State

Several key defensive players are not in uniform tonight for the Buffs

Especially on defense, Colorado is extremely shorthanded heading into its Week 12 matchup at Washington State.

Those not in uniform include linebacker/safety Trevor Woods, linebacker Juwan Mitchell, linebacker Brendan Gant, cornerback Omarion Cooper and defensive backs Myles Slusher and Vito Tisdale, per BuffStampede’s Adam Munsterteiger.

Munsterteiger also reported that running back Kavosiey Smoke, tight end Caleb Fauria and placekicker Jace Feely are out.

It’s unclear yet the reason for each absence, but several of those aforementioned names haven’t seen the field much this season.

Defensively, freshmen Jaden Milliner-Jones and Cormani McClain, who have each received praise in recent days, are both starting in Colorado’s backfield.

The Cougars took full advantage of Colorado’s shorthanded defense in their first offensive possession on Friday night, driving 65 yards for an early touchdown.

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LOOK: Colorado’s uniform combination for Week 12 at Washington State

Are you a fan of Colorado’s uniforms tonight?

The CU Buffs are going with more of a pre-Deion Sanders uniform combination for their Week 12 game at Washington State.

As revealed by the Colorado Football Radio Network, the Buffs will be wearing white pants, white jerseys with black lettering and their traditional gold helmets. No Coach Prime flash here, but Colorado should still look sharp under the Friday night lights of Martin Stadium.

These same traditional white jerseys have been worn by Colorado two prior times this season (at Oregon and at Arizona State). The Buffs wore white jerseys with gold lettering in their other two previous road games.

Check out the uniform combination below, courtesy of BuffZone’s Brian Howell:

Both Colorado and Washington State enter Friday with an overall record of 4-6, meaning that only one team will leave Martin Stadium with bowl game hopes intact.

Kickoff between the Buffs and Cougars is set for 8:30 p.m. MT on FS1.

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Tony’s Take: Predicting the final score of Colorado-Washington State

Either Colorado or Washington State’s losing streak will have to end tonight

I have called for Colorado to deliver an upset multiple times during this four-game losing streak. While the Buffs have played close games, I haven’t gotten any of those upset predictions right. At this point, I either need to go the other way or the Buffs need to steal one. This week, CU is going to steal one.

Washington State has hit a rough patch as well. After beating Oregon State and starting the season 6-0, the Cougars are now losers of six straight games. Colorado hasn’t lit up the win column recently either, but the Buffs have been competitive in those games. I believe that they can finally get over the hump this week.

Colorado’s offense regained its footing against Arizona and I’m confident that the Shedeur Sanders and Co. will play even better in Pullman.

Final score prediction: Colorado 38, Washington State 34.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.

Colorado at Washington State: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Friday

We’ve got another late kickoff on tap for tonight

We’ve got yet another late kickoff on tap for Colorado football’s second-to-last regular season game. The Buffs are still alive in terms of bowl eligibility, but they’ll need a road win over Washington State in Week 12 to keep it that way.

Entering this Week 12 matchup, Colorado and WSU are tied for last place in the Pac-12 with one conference win each. Head coach Deion Sanders and the Buffs haven’t won since early October while the Cougars’ last victory came on Sept. 23 against Oregon State. One of those losing streaks will come to a close, though, when the dust settles at Gesa Field on Friday night.