For the 118th time, Washington State and Washington are set to settle the Apple Cup, and this one brings a different kind of energy to the rivalry. The game is landing in early September for the third straight year, a sharp break from the November tradition that defined this series for more than a century.
That shift traces back to Washington’s move to the Big Ten, which turned the Apple Cup into a non-conference game and pushed it to the front of the schedule. The last two meetings came on Sep. 14, 2024, in Seattle and Sep. 20, 2025, in Pullman. Sunday’s matchup will be the earliest date ever for the rivalry, which dates back to 1900.
It also gives Washington State a chance to do something with real bite: beat a top-20 team on the road and put a spotlight on the new-look Pac-12. The league now includes Oregon State, Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State, and Texas State, and a win in Seattle would be a loud way to announce itself.
One of the most interesting pieces of the matchup is under center for the Cougars. Caden Pinnick will be making his first Apple Cup appearance, but he’s already seen Washington once before. One year ago to the day, on Sep. 6, 2025, his UC Davis team got rolled by the Huskies, 70-10.
Pinnick finished that game 8-16 for 50 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he spent most of the second half watching the backups take over. This time, he arrives with a better supporting cast, a year of familiarity with Washington’s defense, and a chance to feed off the noise at Husky Stadium. If there’s a revenge angle here, it belongs to him.
Washington has its own quarterback storyline, and it’s a messy one. Junior Demond Williams is heading into the 2026 season as the starter for a third straight year, but his path to staying in Montlake nearly took a wild turn. He signed a new deal with UW in January, then a few days later said he intended to enter the transfer portal, sparking a wave of reaction on social media and even threats of a lawsuit from Washington brass.
Williams ended up staying, though Husky fans almost certainly haven’t forgotten the episode. He threw for 70% completions last season, piling up more than 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air while adding 611 rushing yards and six scores on the ground. In Washington’s wins, he accounted for 28 touchdowns and two interceptions; in their losses, he had three touchdowns and six interceptions.
If Washington State can make him uneasy, the Cougars’ path gets a lot cleaner. And if some of the Seattle crowd decides to remind Williams about that January drama, so much the better for WSU.
There’s also the bigger picture of what this rivalry is becoming. This is the first Apple Cup since 1961 in which one school is in the Pac-12 and the other is not. Washington joined the Pac-12 in 1959, Washington State stayed independent until 1962, and the teams then spent the next 61 years together in the same conference before UW left for the Big Ten in 2024.
WSU spent the past two years as an independent, but now it’s back in the Pac-12 and trying to help put the league back on the map with a road win over a ranked opponent. The schools have agreed to keep playing through 2028, which means this series is scheduled to reach No.
- What happens after that is unclear.
There’s reason for that uncertainty. Another regional rivalry, Oregon and Oregon State, recently came apart, and the Apple Cup has already shown signs of strain. The schools won’t play basketball this year for the first time since 1916, and Washington’s recent decision to move the WSU marching band to the nosebleed sections of Husky Stadium didn’t exactly help the mood.
WSU won’t, and shouldn’t, keep showing up for this series without games in Pullman. Washington could also choose to load its non-conference schedule with easier opponents instead of risking an early loss. For now, though, the focus is on Sunday, when the latest chapter kicks off at 1:00 PM PT at Husky Stadium on NBC and Peacock.
In Other News...
Bill Doba Meant More To WSU Than Wins And Former Players Show Why
Bill Dobas death at 85 has brought a wave of reflection from the Washington State community, and the tributes have made clear how much more he meant to the program than the record books ever could show. Former players and colleagues from his 19 years at WSU have been remembering him not just as a coach, but as a mentor and a family man whose influence carried well beyond the football field.
Those memories matter because they capture the side of Doba that Cougar fans knew was there even in the toughest seasons. The respect pouring in from across that extended WSU family speaks to a relationship that lasted long after the final whistle, and it is why his legacy in Pullman feels tied as much to people as to football. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Rebuilt Backcourt May Hinge On One Transfer
Washington States roster makeover has left the Cougars with a very different look in the backcourt, and Sebastian Akins has quickly become one of the names to watch. After a wave of departures and an influx of new faces, including several players with power conference experience, the transfer guard arrives with a track record that suggests he can help steady a group still trying to find its identity.
The timing matters, too, because Washington State is not just replacing production, it is doing so while adjusting to a reconstructed Pac-12 and trying to rebound from a difficult season. Akins scoring ability from previous stops gives the Cougars a possible anchor as they sort through the pieces, but his role figures to be closely tied to how quickly the new backcourt learns to play together. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States 2026 Ceiling Suddenly Feels Higher Than Just A Bowl
Washington State is starting to show up in preseason conversations as more than just a team trying to scrape together six wins and get back to a bowl. Across a range of national projections, the Cougars are generally being viewed as a postseason group, with different outlets sending them to different bowls and a few even floating the kind of upside that would have sounded far-fetched not long ago. The larger point is clear: the floor looks higher, and the early buzz around 2026 is already treating the Cougs as a team with a real path to matter.
The schedule will do a lot of the talking once the season arrives. Home dates against Fresno State, Boise State and Oregon State give Washington State chances to stack rsum-building wins, and they also help explain why the season is being framed with a wider range of outcomes than usual. If the Cougars handle those sorts of games, the conversation could shift quickly from bowl eligibility to something far more ambitious. [Read more 🡒]