The 118th Apple Cup gets its own spotlight Sunday in Seattle, and both sides seem happy to lean into it.
No. 17 Washington and Washington State will kick off at 1 p.m.
Pacific time on NBC, with the NFL still not in season and little else crowding the schedule. That setup gives the rivalry a rare solo stage, and both programs see the value in that.
“I’m all for it. I told our team, we're the only game at 1 o'clock,” Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said.
“We're on NBC. It's an opportunity.
Everybody that turns on the TV on Sunday in the fall is looking for football.
“So it just happens to be a surprise. It's college, and it's us, and that's our hope that they all benefit from that ... that all the East Coast people, the media, the teams, Central time zone, Mountain time zone, they're all turning it on because there's nothing else on Sunday in regards to football other than our game.
Plus, it's on the same station as the Notre Dame-Wisconsin game is, so we hope that people want to watch a doubleheader. So when (UW athletic director) Pat (Chun) came to me about doing it, I couldn't say yes fast enough.”
Washington State is in the same frame of mind, even if the timing creates a quick turnaround. The Cougars will have to deal with a 9 a.m. PDT kickoff the following Saturday in Manhattan, Kan., against Kansas State.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our team against a top-20 team on national television as the only football game on that afternoon,” first-year Cougars coach Kirby Moore said. “Our guys understand the challenge.”
Moore arrives with deep football roots and strong Washington ties. He spent the previous three seasons as Missouri’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and his family background is loaded: his father, Tom, is a legendary coach at Prosser High School, and his brother, Kellen, coaches the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
He takes over a WSU team that finished 7-6 last season and closed it with a 34-21 win over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Still, the Cougars have not forgotten what happened in last year’s Apple Cup. They were within seven points heading into the fourth quarter in Pullman before Washington ripped off 28 unanswered points and rolled to a 59-24 win. The Huskies lead the series 77-34-6.
“That wasn't our standard. That wasn't us,” WSU defensive tackle Kaden Beatty said.
“I've lived with that now for an entire 365 days and some. Now we can go out and show who we really are and show that last year, that wasn't what we're about.”
Washington State has settled on Caden Pinnick, a transfer from UC Davis, as its starting quarterback. Pinnick already has one game at Husky Stadium on his résumé from last season, when he was with the Aggies and went 8 of 16 for 50 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a 70-10 loss.
On the other side, Demond Williams Jr. returns after leading Washington to a 9-4 record last season and a 38-10 win over Boise State in the L.A. Bowl. Williams also flirted with the transfer portal during the offseason.
In last year’s Apple Cup, he carved up the Cougars, completing 16 of 19 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns while adding 88 rushing yards and another score.
“I told our team, I don't know how many other games started in 1900. So, I know that no one on our team ever played in a game that's that historical ...”
Fisch said. “So for us, it's very important.”
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