Washington State has the right ideas for Sunday’s Apple Cup. The problem is that Washington brings the kind of edge that usually turns good intentions into a long afternoon.
Kirby Moore’s Cougars want to keep Demond Williams trapped in the pocket, force him to deal with pressure, and make the Huskies’ quarterback uncomfortable. On offense, Washington State is hoping Caden Pinnick can get the pre-snap picture right and sort through what Washington is showing him.
Those are sensible plans. They just run into the same wall Moore described when talking about Williams: “It’s way easier said than done.”
That’s why Washington looks like the safer pick in Apple Cup No. 118, with the Huskies projected to handle a WSU team led by a first-year head coach. Washington has more talent, more depth, and more experience in the spots that matter, and that should be enough to keep the Apple Cup at Husky Stadium from slipping away for the first time since 2021.
The matchup in the trenches leans heavily toward the Huskies, too. Washington State will try to lean on the run early to help settle Pinnick into his first FBS start, but the Cougars are asking a lot from an offensive line featuring players like center Noah Dunham and guards Kyle Martin and Nick Bakken, who are still taking some of their first college snaps.
That’s a tough assignment against a Washington defense that returns 11 players who started last season. That group finished the regular season No. 21 in total defense and No. 11 against the run, which makes it hard to see WSU building a steady ground game. If the Cougars can’t run it, the burden shifts even more onto Pinnick.
None of that means Washington State has to win for Sunday to matter. The Apple Cup carries extra weight, sure, but the bigger picture still matters here.
These are programs moving in different directions, especially when it comes to NIL budgets, and that gap shows up in the talent on the field. For WSU to steal this one, everything would have to click almost perfectly.
Even so, the smarter place to judge this Cougars team is after it gets through the early stretch of the schedule, which includes three games against Power 4 opponents and two road trips. If Washington State looks overmatched, that will say something. Otherwise, one Apple Cup won’t tell the whole story.
In Other News...
Apple Cup Tradition Just Took A Hit WSU Fans Will Notice
The Apple Cup lost a familiar piece of its pageantry when the Washington State band did not take the field for the halftime show, ending a long-running tradition that had helped give the rivalry its own distinct sound and feel. Washington State officials pointed to logistical and experiential concerns in deciding not to send the band, while the Cougars and Huskies both have had to navigate the practical headaches that come with moving a full band to a road game.
Washington has said the change ties to Big Ten conference rules and cost considerations, and both schools have acknowledged that financial and operational issues are becoming harder to ignore around band travel and placement. For a rivalry built as much on atmosphere as on the scoreboard, the absence stood out immediately, and it adds another wrinkle to how the Apple Cup is being staged going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Future WSU Quarterback Is Already Embracing The Apple Cup Rivalry
Ryan Harrington is already leaning into the kind of game Washington State fans circle on the calendar. The Anacortes High School quarterback, who has committed to the Cougars, is coming off a strong season opener and will be in the stands for the upcoming Apple Cup as a fan, taking in the rivalry he hopes to be part of down the road. For a player with a record-breaking high school career and two state championships already on his resume, the trip is as much about observing the atmosphere as it is about watching the matchup.
Harrington has made plenty of noise on the prep level, but his connection to this rivalry gives his commitment a little extra edge. He has already imagined himself in the game someday, which is exactly the sort of mindset Washington State will want as it keeps building toward future Apple Cups. For now, he gets to watch, learn and picture where he fits when the series comes around again with him on the field instead of in the stands. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Carries Extra Emotion Into This Apple Cup
Washington State will bring a little extra weight onto the field for the 118th Apple Cup, with helmet decals honoring former coaches Jim Walden and Bill Doba. Both men died recently, and the Cougars are using one of the rivalrys biggest stages to recognize two coaches whose time in Pullman left a lasting imprint on the program.
Walden guided Washington State from 1978 to 1986, while Doba led the Cougars from 2003 to 2007, and each had his own place in the schools football history. In a matchup already loaded with annual emotion and memory, the tribute adds another layer for a program that has long measured itself against Washington not just by wins and losses, but by the people who helped shape what Cougar football became. [Read more 🡒]