WSU, UW renew Apple Cup rivalry Saturday

PULLMAN – The 116th playing of the Apple Cup will have quite a different feeling once Washington State and Washington meet at Lumen Field in Seattle on Saturday.

“At the end of the day, the message is the field’s the same length, the hash marks will be college hash marks when we walk in there; bigger environment, but we’ve got to be able to focus on our job and what we need to do,” WSU Head Coach Jake Dickert said at a press conference Monday. “The sights and sounds, the spectacle, the rivalry, all that stuff’s great, but it’s still about what team can execute better for 60 minutes.” 

Despite Washington making the move to the Big 10 this off-season, the two schools announced last November they would be continuing the long-standing rivalry for at least the next five seasons; following this year’s game at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, the game will alternate being played on each team’s campus beginning in Pullman in 2025. 

This is also the first time in the Apple Cup’s 124-year history that the game will be played in September. 

“Worrying about the past is not going to get us anywhere,” Dickert said. “It’s all about what we need to do as Cougs to blaze a new trail for Washington State Athletics – that's it.” 

Plenty of change has occurred in Seattle since the teams met last season. For starters, there’s a new head coach leading the Huskies from the sideline, though one the Cougars are familiar with; Jedd Fisch took over for Kalen DeBoer, who left UW to take over at Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement. Fisch served as the head coach of Arizona from 2021-23, facing off against WSU in each of those three seasons. The Cougars won the first two, though the Wildcats won 44-6 last October. 

“Now is going to be our fourth time going against a Coach Fisch-coached program, so they know how we attack them,” Dickert said. “It feels like this rivalry has been going on for a while, it’s just changed teams. The big difference is their defense is very different – these guys are not going to sit back and drop eight. They are going to bring it.” 

Washington had the second-most passing yards per game in the country last season and had an offense that averaged 36 points per game – 13th in the nation. However, the Huskies had 10 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft following the season. 

Of the many new faces in Seattle, former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers lines up under center for the Huskies. Another newcomer is UW running back Jonah Coleman, who suited up for the Wildcats last fall under Fisch. Coleman enters the game as the leading rusher for the Huskies with 231 yards and three touchdowns through the first two games of the season; at Arizona last season, Coleman ran for 70 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries against Washington State. 

“He was like a pinball off of us last year – his strike zones are small, and he’s so powerful,” Dickert said. “If you think you’re just going to throw a shoulder on this guy, it isn’t going to happen. That isn’t just one guy, it’s keeping our angles. I thought he did a really good job, and we didn’t do a good job with our tackling plan.” 

Both teams enter Saturday’s game with a 2-0 record; UW won 35-3 over Weber State in Week 1, following that win up with a 30-9 win over Eastern Michigan in Week 2. Washington’s defense held Weber State to 253 yards and EMU to 204 yards of total offense and has yet to allow a touchdown through the first two weeks of the season. 

Against the Eagles, Husky defenders combined for seven sacks. 

“Every team blitzes a certain amount of times in a game, and we know what to do, we’ve been going over it for a while,” WSU running back Djouvensky Schlenbaker said at a press conference Tuesday. “Do our job, and that’s how our team’s going to execute and win.” 

Last year’s Apple Cup came down to the wire, as the Huskies orchestrated a 12-play, 65-yard scoring drive to kick a field goal as time expired, defeating the Cougars 24-21 in Seattle. WSU finished the year 5-7, while the Huskies reached the College Football Playoff National Championship. 

“I don’t think they were expecting the way we were going to play last year,” WSU edge Nusi Malani said at a press conference Tuesday. “Them being as highly ranked and being the best o-line in the nation, we punched them in the mouth a little bit – then it was just a dogfight until who came out victorious.” 

Kickoff between the Cougars and Huskies is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Lumen Field. 

    Washington’s defense is coming off a performance against Eastern Michigan where the Huskies held the Eagles to 204 yards of total offense while recording seven sacks.