The first Kirby Moore-era Apple Cup had plenty of life in it early, then settled into a mess of missed chances, flags and field goals that never quite landed. Washington State flashed a little punch at the start, but Washington controlled enough of the afternoon to leave Husky Stadium with a 24-10 win Sunday in front of 71,056.
It was the first Apple Cup ever played to open a season, and for long stretches it looked like a game that wanted to be sharper than it was. There were turnovers, penalties, missed kicks and a few officiating calls that dragged the thing deeper into the mud. By the end, the Huskies had done enough, and the broadcast crew of Paul Burmeister, Yogi Roth and Zora Stephenson had spent most of the game trying to make sense of the chaos.
Washington State’s opening series was the cleanest and most dangerous part of its day. Caden Pinnick, making his first start as a Cougar and his second appearance in Husky Stadium, opened with a 25-yard keeper down the sideline, then hit Daniel Blood for 11 yards on the next snap. After that, though, the offense vanished for long stretches.
Over the next 54 plays, the Cougars managed 206 yards. Their best sustained stretch came on a touchdown drive that bridged the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, a 62-yard march finished by Pinnick’s 11-yard keeper.
Still, Washington’s front kept the pressure on all game. Entering the fourth quarter, the Huskies had already piled up eight tackles for loss and three sacks, and they had held WSU to 2.5 yards per carry.
Pinnick ended up throwing for 142 yards on 45 attempts, more than doubling the 50 yards he managed a year ago when he led UC Davis into the stadium. But after three quarters he was only 8 of 15 for 85 yards, and the Cougars had to adjust. The passing game got shorter, the quarterback run game took over, and Pinnick ended up accounting for 156 of WSU’s 242 total yards.
The broadcast made clear that Washington State’s offense was living on borrowed time. Roth pointed to the protection issues and the need to get the ball out quickly, then later warned viewers to keep an eye on Pinnick as the Cougars tried to move the ball in the fourth quarter. That drive ended with Jack Stevens drilling a 42-yard field goal to trim the lead to seven.
The Cougar defense was a problem too, and for most of the day it was at least as disruptive as Washington’s. The unit had been dominant through camp, and it carried that edge into the game. The Huskies’ only touchdown drive before the final minutes came in the second quarter, when Desmond Williams Jr. scored from 5 yards out after WSU had turned Pinnick’s first interception into a short field.
For nearly the whole afternoon, though, Washington State made life hard on the Huskies. Then came the sequence that broke the game.
On third-and-nine with 2:54 left, Williams escaped pressure, and what looked like a dead play turned into a 21-yard scramble after Jeremiah Bernard, DJ Warner and Linus Zunk all failed to finish the tackle. Two plays later, Washington hit Chris Lawson for 35 yards and Jayden Limar scored on an 11-yard run to put it away.
Washington helped keep the Cougars in it with a messy night of its own. The Huskies committed 12 penalties for 130 yards, including a fourth-quarter targeting call that survived a lengthy review. That penalty erased a Pinnick fumble and a long UW return, and it kept WSU’s only touchdown drive alive.
The game also brought a difficult moment for Tony Freeman, Washington State’s senior wide receiver. Freeman, who stayed with the program through the coaching change, appeared to stumble and fall on a first-quarter route. He did not get back up until medical staff helped him, and he eventually went to the medical tent, then the locker room before returning to the sideline.
NBC caught a quiet moment there, with Freeman standing beside longtime Cougar orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ed Tingstad, who once wore the same uniform.
Freeman, on crutches with his right knee in ice, leaned toward Tingstad, and Tingstad put an arm around him before the broadcast moved away. Stephenson later said Freeman was doubtful, and he did not return.
Stephenson also got one of the night’s best quotes out of Washington coach Jedd Fisch after the Huskies were stopped at the 1-yard line just before halftime. After Keith Brown and the Cougar front stuffed Washington at the goal line, Fisch was shown throwing his headset and did not hide his frustration.
“I’m not very happy about it,” Fisch said. “We had a half-a-yard to gain. If we can’t get a half-a-yard, we don’t deserve to get in the end zone.”
He added: “We gotta run the ball a lot better than we’re running the ball. We gotta hit passes that we are not hitting.
We gotta continue to play great defense but we gotta score some points. It’s embarrassing right now.”
Washington’s first snap of the second half was a delay-of-game penalty, which fit the tone of a game that never really cleaned itself up. By then, Roth’s reaction said a lot about the mood. So did the rest of the night.
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Washington State May Be Without Its Most Dangerous Weapon At Kansas State
Washington State may have to head into its game at Kansas State without one of its most explosive playmakers after wide receiver Tony Freeman suffered a knee injury in the Apple Cup. Coach Kirby Moore said Freeman is trending on being out while the Cougars wait on MRI results, a development that would leave them trying to replace a receiver who has been one of the biggest threats in the passing game and on special teams.
Kirby Moores update at least brought some clarity elsewhere on the roster, with cornerback Jalil Tucker and defensive end Ben Beatty expected to be available. But Freemans status is the one that matters most for an offense that will need other receivers and return men to absorb his workload if he cannot go, and the final medical word will shape how Washington State approaches a difficult road matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Faces A Huge Receiver Problem Ahead Of Kansas State
Washington State is heading into its matchup with Kansas State with a concern that could reshape the offense for a week. Wide receiver Tony Freeman is likely to miss the game because of a knee injury, according to head coach Kirby Moore, and his exit from the previous game came early enough to raise immediate questions about the Cougars depth at the position.
Freeman was seen on crutches afterward, which adds to the uncertainty around how quickly Washington State can get back to full strength on offense. There is some better news on the injury front, with cornerback Jalil Tucker and defensive end Ben Beatty expected to be available, but the receiver situation leaves the Cougars with a key issue to sort out before they face Kansas State. [Read more 🡒]
WSU Has Two Costly Problems To Fix Before Kansas State
Washington States 24-10 loss to Washington in the Apple Cup left the Cougars with a familiar kind of frustration: too many stalled drives, too many wasted chances and too little margin for error. Coach Moore and quarterback Caden Pinnick both pointed to the same broad issues afterward, with turnovers and special teams adding to the damage in a game that never really gave WSU a chance to settle in.
The most glaring concern is the offenses inability to stay on the field, a problem that showed up against the Huskies and will loom even larger with Kansas State next on the schedule. Add in the kicking-game hiccups, and the Cougars enter the new week knowing the fix is not about one area alone but about cleaning up several parts of the operation before the competition level rises again. [Read more 🡒]