That “finally” is carrying even more weight as usual, as there are only eight teams in the entire country that haven’t played yet, thanks to this weird Labor Day weekend schedule that has spread Week One games from Thursday to Monday. For the record, I don’t hate the concept of taking advantage of all the TV time available before the NFL owns nearly every minute of every day, but still — very strange to go to bed on Saturday and still not have played a game when just about everyone else has. Some teams, such as USC, have now played two!

It was weird rooting for the Beavers and Broncos as I watched Oregon State travel to #23 Houston and Boise State take on #2 Oregon.¹ And playing the Apple Cup to open the season just compounds the weirdness, even if, again … I don’t hate it. I advocated for an early season Apple Cup for years, even before Washington destroyed the Pac-12 as we’d known it for all our lives. I got what I wanted in the worst possible way, of course.

The Cougars are heavy underdogs today, which is to be expected. Washington is ranked 17th nationally, and the game is at their place. The Huskies return a very good quarterback (even if UW had to threaten a lawsuit to keep him) and most of their offensive line, and most of what was a very good defense comes back, too. It’s a level of continuity that most teams don’t enjoy anymore.

Meanwhile, the little ol’ Cougs make their new-look Pac-12 in virtually the opposite situation. New coaching staff, mostly new roster, and vastly under resourced in virtually every way compared to those jerks in Montlake.

But hasn’t that always been the case?

To my mind, not much has changed in the dynamic of the game itself, even if everything around it has. This is not even remotely the first time WSU has been a multi-TD underdog. We’re used to this.

And, well … it usually goes badly.

But this time around — being the first game of the season — nobody really knows what we have in this team, and that includes every pundit and prognosticator. I’m choosing to take that as my cue to be relentlessly optimistic about what might go down today. I watched Boise State take the #2 Ducks to the wire. I watched Western Michigan upset #16 Michigan in the Big House.² I know it might feel like we rarely punch above our weight against Washington — particularly in that cursed stadium — but big upsets do happen! Maybe even for us!

The thing I keep coming back to is this: This was a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter last year. Yes, I understand that is the kindest-possible framing of that game, in which we were hanging on by a thread the entire time. But still! We were there until a couple of bad turnovers turned it into the runaway final score.

The biggest problem in that one, of course, was that Washington scored literally every time they possessed the ball until they mercifully took a knee with 15 seconds left on their own side of the field. Our defense did turn out to be pretty damn good last year, but they were just physically overmatched in that one as Cleveland Browns receiver Denzel Boston did whatever he wanted, and Denver Broncos running back Jonah Coleman ran right through us as we tried to compensate.

I don’t think we’ll be that physically overmatched today. Yes, Demond Williams is still at the helm, but Boston and Coleman are gone, replaced by a slew of unproven guys at the skill positions. Meanwhile, I love the job Kirby Moore and defensive coordinator Trent Bray did in compiling talent on defense and raising the level of athleticism.

Is Washington better than last year? Are we worse than last year? The consensus seems to be yes and yes, but I’m unconvinced of either of those things are actually true. I’m inclined to think those conclusions are much more about convenient narratives based on the Big Ten taking on a relegated Pac-12 squad than anything else. We’ve been left for dead, even if the results of the last two seasons in purgatory don’t support it. Besides: If those of us who follow the team super close have really no idea how good the team is, nobody else does, either.

Anything can happen today, and everyday is a good day to plant a flag at midfield of Husky Stadium. Let’s do it.

What follows is our Gameday Guide, which publishes the morning of each game during football season and includes everything you need to know about that day’s game … and probably also some stuff you don’t.

If you love these previews, you’ll want to become one of our paid premium subscribers — after today, the Gameday Guide goes back behind the paywall as an exclusive benefit to them. It’s easy to upgrade, and it will get you a bunch of other benefits (TODAY!), including access to our members-only Slack board that will include the epic Apple Cup Game Thread. Come join our community of more than 100 Cougs who support us at the premium tier!

Consensus via TeamRankings.com.

Predictive model probabilities: 14% chance for WSU to win, 58% chance to beat the spread

Sometimes football is a pretty simple game, and I feel reasonably confident that the lines are going to play an outsized role in this one. When the Cougars have the ball, they will need be physical enough against the Huskies to move the ball effectively on the ground. Moore comes in with an extensive reputation for being able to coordinate a strong running game, but WSU’s rushing success last year was spotty, to say the least, with largely the same linemen. Washington, meanwhile, has retooled a defensive line that was so good last season and is still expected to be a strength. But new is new, and we don’t yet know how good they’ll be. The Cougs need to at least hold their own here to avoid long down and distance.

When the Huskies have the ball, the roles are reversed: It’s WSU’s rebuilt defensive line that will be trying to penetrate an experienced group. Washington returns four of five starters, but the one new starter is noteworthy: 5-star true freshman Kodi Greene will take over at left tackle. Is there a weakness there to exploit? WSU will first need to hold their own against the run so that the pass rush — which has been eye popping during fall camp — can try and tee off. Demond Williams, like virtually every quarterback, just isn’t quite the same under pressure.

I’m not sure how good new QB Caden Pinnick is, but I know he will be much better with open guys to throw to. Can WSU’s wide receivers win enough individual battles to give him those targets? The former Power 4 transfers that got us excited during recruiting season — Daniel Blood (Missouri), Darrius Clemons (Michigan then Oregon State), Tank Hawkins Jr. (Florida) — seemingly haven’t truly popped during practices. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything when the lights actually come on. They’re the guys with the kind of athleticism to win their matchups, and the Cougs will need it.

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WSU has been spoiled for riches for quite a long time with its quarterbacks, consistently getting above average-to-very good play from the position for most of the last 15 years. Last year, of course, was one of the exceptions. Pinnick is making a major step up in competition after a solid year as a true freshman at FCS UC Davis, and while he clearly separated himself from his competition (Julian Dugger, Owen Eshelman), he also didn’t sling the ball all over the yard to generate the kind of buzz you like to hear about during camp.

Honestly, today might not give us the answer we’re looking for — if it goes badly, I don’t think that’s any kind of referendum on how he might do for the remainder of the season. Washington’s pass defense figures to be excellent, the environment will be hostile (even if he experienced it last year), and there’s a decent chance he’ll be playing much of the game while behind on the scoreboard. A poor performance would be understandable; provided it’s not a total disaster, I won’t think much of it.

But if he looks good? I’ll feel like I can finally put my concerns to rest and get excited about WSU’s chances the rest of the season to push for a Pac-12 title.

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These are always tough to do at the beginning of the season because coaches are loathe to reveal anything they don’t have to, and this year is no different. That said, WSU appears to be pretty darn healthy. Apparently the only injury of note is backup tight end Peyton Read, who is set to miss the game.

The same appears to be the case for the Huskies: “Everybody's good to go,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said this week. “The only guy that probably would have been a projected starter before this season that can't play this week will be (offensive lineman) Landen (Hatchett).”

Since almost all the games this week have already been played, I’ll just mostly pass along results.

#24 Louisville at #9 Mississippi [-6.5] — 4:30 p.m. PT, ABC

Kansas State 71 (1-0), Nicholls 3 (1-1)

Air Force 34 (1-0), DUQUESNE 0 (0-1)

Lots of opportunities to put our mark on the college football landscape, and they all fell through. Boise State, of course, had the biggest opportunity and it slipped through their fingers. Still, in listening to the commentary post game, it sure seems like the Broncos were getting a ton of credit for going toe-to-toe with the #2 team, rather than Oregon getting dragged for not winning by more. That’s nothing but good for the perception of the conference.

Utah State losing to Idaho State, though … man that’s a horrible look. Doesn’t seem like anyone paid attention to it, though!