Today is the day for Cougar Nation! The time for hype and proclamations is over. At 5pm tonight in Seattle, televised on FS1, Wazzu and UW will square off in the most important rivalry game in the Northwest. Apple Cup. The longstanding tradition will play out on the gridiron of Husky Stadium. Who should win? Well, the oddsmakers aren't certain. The Cougs are a one-point favorite. Fans on the westside know the Dawgs will spoil Wazzu's run at a seven-win season. Fans on the eastside know the Cougs will send the Huskies packing with yet another loss tallied to their utterly forgettable season.
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I'll make my prediction at the end of this posting, but first let's look at some expert commentary and quotes:
https://www.khq.com/sports/washington_state_university/its-not-about-what-the-past-record-is-washington-state-playing-for-more-than-payback/article_4cf3d678-a9f0-57fa-bd02-0dfb0887fb5f.html -
The Coug Center pre-game analysis is thorough. It's passionate. It's almost overwhelming. That said, there are plenty of nuggets found in Craig Powers story:
https://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-football/2021/11/25/22802821/apple-cup-2021-preview-washington-state-washington-game-time-tv-schedule -
You probably could care less about what the folks at Dawgman.com predict, but there are some pretty laughable comments made as the result of being blinded by bias. Heck, one dude proved his credibility by predicting a final score of 100-0 in favor of UW. Grab an adult beverage, take a hit, then check some of these out:
https://247sports.com/college/washington/LongFormArticle/Washington-Huskies-UW-Football-Cougars-Dawgman-Predictions-113-Apple-Cup--176206187/#176206187_4 -
The folks at Cougfan.com may have overthought things just a bit. They actually felt it was worth taking a look at UW putting their future QB out on the field to throw off the defensive planning. Really? Would have enjoyed seeing the look on Jamey Vinnick's face when that assignment was passed out. Here's a collection of thoughts on a seemingly minor factor in today's Apple Cup:
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/If-UWs-Sam-Huard-gets-Apple-Cup-nod-does-it-change-anything-for-WSU-We-asked-six-experts-176208520/ -
Colton Clark offered a less-biased, less-emotional view of this Apple Cup. His prediction is bold but it's backed by some solid analysis:
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sports/washington_state_university/the-pick-why-washington-state-will-beat-washington/article_437f2b54-2b79-5ac6-a6a8-bb64d3dba827.html -
Colton Clark also took a look at Wazzu's most impactful players who actually have a history playing in Apple Cup:
https://www.nbcrightnow.com/sports/washington_state_university/all-of-them-are-focused-looking-back-at-the-most-impactful-apple-cup-performers-among/article_abec1d49-1864-5a15-af46-3452cfad83b2.html -
The folks at Cougfan.com did come up with a fun story about Cougar football:
https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/The-Victory-Bell-Washington-State-Universitys-oldest-tradition-turns-129-today-173625786/ -
One final bit of Wazzu news before a promised prediction is posted for posterity, WSU women's hoops played excellent basketball yesterday in the opening round of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship. They walloped the Miami Hurricanes 62-47. Johanna Teder led the Cougs in scoring with 15-points. Super-sophomore Charlisse Leger-Walker actually had more rebounds than points by grabbing 15 boards! She also added 13-points to the scoreboard. For more stats and info, here's a link:
https://wsucougars.com/news/2021/11/25/womens-basketball-cougs-calm-hurricanes-with-a-62-47-win.aspx -
Finally, my prediction for Apple Cup won't come as a huge surprise. Over the course of the season, these two teams have followed opposite paths. Wazzu has learned how to win whereas UW has learned how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. WSU has a very accurate and mobile quarterback compared to a highly touted under-performing QB donning a purple and gold jersey. Both teams have excellent defensive units which usually means the offense who can bust a couple of explosive plays wins the day. By every metric, the Cougs have more guys capable of explosive plays than the Dawgs. For that reason, and a heavy dose of blinding bias, I like the visiting team to take home the Apple Cup for their display case.
FINAL SCORE: WSU 35 - UW 31
GO COUGS!!!
- It seems fitting to put together a list of coaches who branch off of the Mike Leach coaching tree. Perspective on his football genius can easily be determined by a cursory glance:
Dave Aranda/Baylor head coach – Graduate assistant coach under Leach from 2000-02 at Texas Tech
Neal Brown/West Virginia head coach – Played under Leach in 1998 when Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky
Sonny Cumbie/Louisiana Tech head coach – Played under Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-03 and later served as a graduate assistant coach under Leach
Sonny Dykes/TCU head coach – Coached wide receivers and later was the co-offensive coordinator at Texas Tech under Leach from 2000-06
Josh Heupel/Tennessee head coach – Played under Leach at Oklahoma in 1999 when Leach was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners
Dana Holgorsen/Houston head coach – Coached alongside Leach as assistants at Valdosta State from 1993-95, then served as a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator under Leach from ...
- The news of former WSU Coach Mike Leach passing at the young age of 61 is very, very sad. I had the pleasure of writing about the Cougs when Leach was at the helm. To say that he was a unique person doesn't begin to describe the multi-faceted dimension of the man.
In terms of coaching football, Leach led his teams in a way that had most other coaches scratching their heads. His offensive creativity gave a multitude of defensive coordinators ulcers. To say that his techniques for molding student-athletes into football players were unusual would be accurate. Making guys run sprints in a sand pit named "Leach Beach" is a prime example. Crazy as that sounds, his players had fewer ankle injuries over the course of the season than any team in football. Only Mike Leach could get players to hit the beach. And if you look at the coaching tree that branches out from Leach, you'd find a myriad of men who owe him for their start in the profession.
When you examine the way Leach represented the schools ...
- Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so Wazzu's loss yesterday to UNLV by a score of 74-70 was just that, a loss. However, there were plenty of reasons to applaud both the performance and the progress the Cougs are making over the past few games. Let's get the bad observation out of the way. WSU turned the ball over a ridiculous 22 times. No one is going to beat many teams with such wreckless play, especially against a team that posted a 9-0 record going into the contest. Some of those errors might be attributed to Coach Kyle Smith going with a different lineup almost every game because of player injuries. Facts are facts and when there isn't a steady lineup, players struggle to play team ball. On the bright side, Wazzu shot a respectable 54.2% from the field, coupled with a very nice 56.5% from behind the arc. On defense, WSU held UNLV to just 30.4% from behind the arc and 50.9% overall. The Cougs outrebounded the Rebels by a margin of 33-20. Despite being down by ...
