PULLMAN - The last Apple Cup still sits heavy with Washington State defensive tackle Kaden Beatty.
He was on the field for 24 snaps in last year’s game, still coming off the bench when Washington buried the Cougars with a fourth-quarter surge and left Gesa Field with the trophy. Beatty has moved into the starting lineup since then, WSU has a new head coach in Kirby Moore, and the Pac-12 landscape has been reshaped. But the memory hasn’t faded.
“I’ve lived with that now for an entire 365 days and some,” Beatty said. “So now we can go out and show who we really are and show that last year that wasn’t what we’re about.”
That chance comes Sunday at 1 p.m. in Seattle, when the Cougars face No. 17 Washington in the 118th Apple Cup at Husky Field. For WSU, the challenge starts with stopping Demond Williams Jr., the dual-threat quarterback who accounted for five total touchdowns in last year’s meeting and brings back the kind of arm strength and athletic ability that can flip a game fast.
Williams’ path back to the Huskies has been a strange one. Nine months after he signed a new revenue-sharing deal to return to Washington, changed his mind, entered the transfer portal and then reversed course again, he’s back running the offense.
This version of the Huskies looks different around him, too. Jonah Coleman, Denzel Boston and Adam Mohammed are gone from the backfield and receiver group, and Washington now leans on a new set of skill players that includes Christian Moss, Rashid Williams and Dezmen Roebuck.
Quaid Carr is the starting running back, though he enters his second season still looking for his first major college breakout.
Before any of that matters, though, WSU has to get to Williams. That is the hard part. Washington’s line brings serious size and experience, with five-star freshman tackle Kodi Greene, returning freshman All-American John Mills and fifth-year senior Drew Azzopardi forming what looks like a tough front.
That’s where the Cougars’ edge rushers Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk come in. Both were standouts in fall camp, and Sunday will test whether they can generate enough heat to make Williams uncomfortable.
“I just think we gotta do a good job of keeping him in the pocket,” WSU veteran linebacker Keith Brown said. “Don’t let him run free as much as he wants. He’s a good player, so I think as long as we can keep him in the pocket and make him throw the ball and throw the ball downfield, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Moore said the job is bigger than one player or one rush lane.
“It’s a lot easier said than done,” WSU coach Kirby Moore added. “You look at containing the quarterback and making sure we’re sticky in coverage, and it really takes all 11 on defense. And then when you get in those positions, you gotta get him on the ground, and if it’s not the first guy, the second guy’s gotta be really close.”
WSU’s offense has its own key figure to sort out: quarterback Caden Pinnick, making his first start in crimson and gray. He has already started at Husky Stadium before, going 8 of 16 for 50 yards with one touchdown and one interception for UC Davis last fall.
Now he’ll be working behind tackles Ashton Tripp and Jonny Lester against a Washington pass rush led by true freshman Ramzak Fruean and veteran Jacob Lane. If the Huskies can generate steady pressure, Pinnick could be pushed into the kind of mistakes that showed up during Cougar camp. If not, he’ll have a chance to work with Tony Freeman, Daniel Blood and Darrius Clemons, WSU’s top receiving trio.
“Really starts with command and operation,” Moore said of Pinnick, “the pre-snap, doing a really good job of communication with his teammates from play to play. The other team’s got really good players.
They’re gonna make plays, making sure we’re picking guys up when that happens. We gotta be accurate.
We gotta make great decisions. And then when scramble drill opportunities come up, he’s gotta do an excellent job of finding guys downfield or using his legs.”
For all the changes around the game, WSU is still treating this like the rivalry that has defined more than a century of football in the state. It’s the third nonconference Apple Cup, but the Cougars are approaching it with the same weight they always have.
Earlier this week, Moore said the rivalry “still means a ton for both sides and for this state.” He knows the other sideline well, too. In 2015-16, he worked as a graduate assistant under Chris Petersen at Washington, and Petersen remains one of his closest mentors.
Beatty, though, is focused on the result, and on erasing the feeling from last year.
“Winning the Apple Cup would mean absolutely everything,” Beatty said. “That is what makes this place go around here.
If you’re wearing crimson and gray, this is why you watch on Saturdays - well now Sunday. Now we’re gonna see it on Sunday.
It’s something that I’ve worked for all off season, something that I’ve definitely pinned on my calendar to look at and something that I’m excited for. So I’m just thrilled to be a part of it and to make history.”
In Other News...
Washington State Just Got A Rare College GameDay Honor
College GameDay marked its 500th on-the-road episode during the 2026 season opener with a familiar piece of Washington State history front and center. Host Rece Davis used the milestone broadcast to unveil the College GameDay Hall of Fan, and the first induction went to Ol' Crimson, the Cougars flag that has become one of the show's most recognizable traditions.
For Washington State fans, it was the kind of nod that carries real meaning because Ol' Crimson's run has stretched across more than two decades and well over 300 episodes. The flag has turned up in all sorts of places over the years, and its long journey eventually included a 2018 stop on the Washington State campus, making this latest honor feel like a full-circle moment for a program that has long claimed the flag as its own. [Read more 🡒]
Apple Cup Tradition Just Took A Hit WSU Fans Will Notice
The Apple Cup carried a different feel this year, and Washington State fans noticed it before the second half even got underway. The Cougars band did not take part in the halftime show, breaking a long-standing tradition that has been part of the rivalrys rhythm for years. Washington State officials said the change came down to logistical and experiential concerns, while both schools have been dealing with the practical realities of moving a full band to a road game in an increasingly expensive college sports landscape.
Washington pointed to Big Ten conference rules and cost considerations as part of the explanation, underscoring how much even a classic rivalry has to bend to modern travel and budget constraints. Both schools have acknowledged the financial and operational strain around band travel and placement at games, but the absence of Washington States band was still a noticeable shift for a matchup built on pageantry as much as points. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Apple Cup Upset Hopes Rest On One Tough Balancing Act
Washington State heads into the Apple Cup needing more than just emotion and rivalry energy to make this thing interesting. The Cougars have to find a way to bother Demond Williams Jr. enough to keep Washington from settling in, and that starts with a defensive front that has to make life difficult across the line of scrimmage. At the same time, WSU cannot let this turn into a one-sided pressure game on its own quarterback, because the Cougars will need enough of a running presence to keep the offense balanced and give Caden Pinnick some room to operate.
Pinnicks assignment is just as tricky in a setting that rarely forgives hesitation. Washingtons defense brings enough strength to make the Cougars work for every clean look, and the atmosphere at Husky Stadium adds another layer for a quarterback still trying to settle in. For WSU, the formula is simple to describe and hard to pull off: create enough disruption on one side, avoid getting overwhelmed on the other, and hope the game stays close long enough for the upset talk to feel real. [Read more 🡒]