Apple Cup Gameday Guide: WSU vs. Washington

In today's newsletter ...

• Endless intrigue

• Critical Info

• Gamblin’

• Injury Impact

  • WSU

  • Washington

• Key matchups

  • Zevi Eckhaus vs. UW’s defense

  • WSU’s defense vs. UW’s running ability

  • UW vs. the road

• What I’ll be watching for

  • Our athletes vs. theirs

• What you can watch for: Gameday Bingo!

• Other games of interest

  • Game of the day

  • Next opponent

  • Opponent after that

  • Late Night Sicko Special

Endless intrigue

It’s the second September Apple Cup in this brave new world in which we find ourselves, and once again, the two programs are heading in different directions.

A year ago, in the immediate wake of the collapse of the Pac-12, it was more about the directions of the programs from a 10,000-foot view — both teams were off to strong starts, but Washington was heading into its first Big Ten game and the Cougars were embarking on what amounted to a Mountain West Conference schedule. Nobody quite knew what any of it would all mean, or how it was going to play out.

Twelve months later, it’s the on-field results that are starkly contrasted. Washington cruises in with a 2-0 record under second-year head coach Jedd Fisch, fully rested after an early-season bye that came on the heels of a 70-10 drubbing of FCS UC Davis at Husky Stadium. WSU, meanwhile, is trying to regroup after a stunning 59-10 battering at the hands of North Texas.

To say the Cougars looked horrendous in that one would be an understatement by orders of magnitude. And it appears the oddsmakers have duly taken note: WSU is a nearly three-TD underdog at home to their cross-state rivals. It’s the biggest spread — by a touchdown! — at home to the Huskies since at least 1998, which is as far back as I can find data. The next biggest? A 14-point spread in 2012.

But when it comes to all these historical spreads, it’s worth noting that those games were always the last game of the regular season, which meant that everyone had about as good of a handle on the relative quality of the two teams as it was possible to have. That’s obviously not the case today.

In three games, the Cougs have turned in a trio of wildly different performances, looking pretty mediocre against Idaho, very good against San Diego State, and dreadful against the Mean Green. Which team are they? And will returning home today provide a measurable boost after last week’s debacle away from Pullman?

Complicating matters is that the Cougs gave three(!) quarterbacks meaningful run-outs last week, searching for some kind of answer. Coach Jimmy Rogers returned home and declared an open competition for the job this week, then later said the decision was made on Sunday. We’ve heard a ton of rumblings in the last 24 hours that veteran Zevi Eckhaus is the choice; as a totally different quarterback than erstwhile starter Jaxon Potter, he’s a major wildcard.

The Huskies, meanwhile, followed the same pattern the Cougs did in their first two wins: Play OK in the first one, play really well in the second one. But those were both at home. Washington has a young roster, and Gesa Field will be hostile to the Huskies, without a doubt.

And, of course, it’s a rivalry game on a national over-the-air broadcast.¹ The atmosphere will be absolutely electric for the first home Apple Cup since 2022, and just the second since 2018.

It all adds up to a lot more intrigue than you might expect out of a game with such a huge spread.

Oh, and by the way: We all know how that 2012 game turned out in Mike Leach’s first season. There’s no reason to think that Rogers and the Cougs can’t conjure some of that same magic today.

Critical Info

• Game time: 4:30 p.m. PT

• Location: Gesa Field at Martin Stadium — Pullman, Washington

• Weather forecast at kickoff: 82 degrees and sunny, breezy with gusts up to 20 mph

• How to watch: CBS, cbssports.com, Paramount+

• How to listen: WSUCougars.com

• Live stats: StatBroadcast 

Gamblin’

Consensus via VegasInsider.com.

Trends: WSU is 1-2 ATS, UW 1-1. Combined, the teams have gone over the number 4 out of out of 5 games. The Cougs are 2-1 ATS as underdogs in the last three Apple Cups.

Predictive model probabilities: 20% to win, 59% to cover (at +20)

Injury Impact

WSU

A surprise absence from last week’s lineup was linebacker Anthony Palano, who sat out with an undisclosed injury. Reading between the lines of Rogers’ comments this week, it sure sounds like he’s in concussion protocol.

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