Legendary University of Washington football head coach Don James once remarked "Attending Washington State is good preparation for life because it gets you accustomed to disappointment." The 111th Apple Cup should do wonders for all those Cougs and their life skills. Wazzu came in 8th ranked with 9-1 record, looking for the Pac-12 North Title and chasing an outside shot at a BCS playoff game. Lofty ambitions for a school whose defining moment in history came with the massive enrollment drop the day Idaho raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. On the other paw the Huskies were trying to salvage something from the Senior seasons of TB Miles Gaskin and QB Jake Browning which began with a hard-fought loss to Auburn at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and also saw the Dawgs lose close games at Oregon and Cal in which Gaskin was either dinged-up and played little or an injury scratch altogether. Since the Cougs' lone loss coming in was at USC a UW win would put both teams at 7-2 in the conference and give the Huskies the Pac-12 North title on head-to-head. So this one was for all the kibble, and it didn't help that the cold rain in the Palouse turned to snow just before kick-off started.
WSU grad-transfer QB Gardner Minshew, who arrived in the spring after starting for two seasons Eastern Carolina (ironically, that's the "third school" with a purple and gold color scheme in FBS, rather like N. Illinois is the "other, other Huskies"), was given the underneath all day, he took it, lived and died by it, going 26 completions on 35 attempts, but for only 152 yards with two interceptions and no TDs. To save you doing the maths, that's 4.3 yds/att. His receivers got minimal yards-after-catch and virtually none after-contact. The only points the Cougs managed were a TD from a drive late in the second quarter before, a two-point return from a PAT attempt by UW kicker Peyton Henry that hit the back of an offensive lineman and ricocheted into the hands of edge rusher Hunter Dale, and a TD on a short field following a Browning fumble late in the third quarter with the two-point attempt which would have cut the UW lead to 3 denied. Both WSU TDs were on rushes by James Williams.
Browning was quietly efficient for Washington, despite tossing an interception in the end zone on the school's first possession. He wound up 11 of 14 for 207 yards, no TDs, only the one INT. That's right...a third again as many yards on fewer than half the attempts as Minshew. His favorite target this season, Aaron Fuller, did not have a reception, nor was he even the target of a forward pass. He did however throw the only passing TD of the game. Ball on the WSU 22 yard line, left hash mark, the Dawgs lined up in a trips set left with Browning under center. Browning took the snap, turned and threw to Fuller who had dropped back to about five yards behind the line. It looked like a wide receiver screen, and all the Coug defenders bit on it. Soph Hunter Bryant, back for only his second game this season after a break-out year as a Frosh kept going instead of blocking and was so wide open that despit the pass from Fuller being under-thrown in the snow and having to come back for it he still went into the end zone untouched. Shades of Coach Peterson's trickery at Boise State....we all remember that Fiesta Bowl with the Statue of Liberty play. Mostly Browning just handed the ball to Gaskin and let the line have it's way with out-matched guys in Crimson. Gaskin is now the first player in Pac-12 history and just the 10th ever in FBS/Div 1-A to have four season rushing for over 1000 yards from scrimmage. He ran for 170 yards and 3 TD on the day, his final carry being an 80 yd burst that pushed put the final polish on the Apple and put him over 1000 on the season.
UW 28
WSU 15
