Washington, Washington State Football Look For Apple Cup Redemption

When Washington and Washington State meet in the 107th Apple Cup on Saturday at Martin Stadium in Pullman (7:30pm PT, Fox Sports One), it will be the final game in a regular season that has not been fulfilling for either side.

The Huskies had dreams of the sky when USC-bound Steve Sarkisian was replaced with former Boise State head man Chris Petersen. That Petersen chose to leave the Broncos and picked Seattle was a huge coup for UW. Fans expecting the Dawgs to immediately become like Petersen’s BCS Bowl-busters in Boise were bummed. A terrible passing offense ranked close to the bottom of the conference negated a stout run defense. Losing for the 11th straight time to the Oregon Ducks, the longest streak in a series going back over 100 years, was just one of many games that made Huskies fans wonder if Petersen has lost his magic. It’s almost hard to fathom that the Dawgs are already bowl-eligible at 7-5, 3-5 in conference no matter what happens on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the team on the other sideline, at 3-8 and 2-6, would love to have some of those problems. The third year for Mike Leach in Pullman has been as weird as the first two and shows no signs of calming down. QB Connor Halliday was on pace to shatter every passing record in the NCAA, but the only thing that got broken was his leg against USC, ending not just his season but an injury-prone college career. Even though he hasn’t played since Nov. 1, Halliday is still No. 1 in the country in passing yards, completions and attempts. The fact that in September the Cougs scored 59 points and lost to Cal on a missed 19-yard field goal attempt sums up Wazzu’s season pretty well.

The last time the rivalry was played in Pullman in 2012, the Cougs came in winless in conference while the Huskies already had seven wins. UW led 28-10 in the fourth quarter before the Pirates of Pullman, in Leach’s first year, came all the way back to win 31-28 in overtime. So while the Dawgs seem to have the upper hand as well this year going into it, Pullman is a weird place to play football.

An Apple Cup win would make both teams feel a lot better, but only one team can fill a cup with apples when this one’s over. The other will leave the 2014 season hungry for a much better 2015.

Alex Drude is a Pac-12 writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Alex_Drude. “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google+.