The annual Apple Cup is one of the greatest sporting events in the state of Washington. The game is typically the final Pac 10 game of the year for the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars.
The all time series record between the teams is 63-29 in favor of the Huskies with 6 ties in all. An Apple Cup win earns bragging rights for the next year and also earns the ability to haze your Cougar or Husky friends and co-workers.
To hate like this is to be happy forever is an apt description of the rivarly between the two teams. One thing you can count on is you can't count on anything int he Apple cup. Throw out all the records in this one.
Apple Cup Quotes
Former WSU coach Jim Walden once said, "Nothing in my job, not the Rose Bowls, not the Holiday Bowls, nothing is more important than beating the University of Washington."
WSU Head Coach Mike Price remembers the game as one of the favorite times in his life. "The win over Washington in the 1997 Apple Cup put us in the Rose Bowl," Price said. "It was the most fun I've ever had in Seattle."
WSU coach Jim Walden recites his favorite Husky joke. "You know what you get when you cross a pig and a Husky? You get nothing, because that's something even a pig won't do."
Legendary Husky coach Don James chips in with this classic quote. "Attending Washington State is great preparation for real life. It teaches you not to expect too much."
"WSU is a hard school to go to, man," says a recent Cougar player, "You ain't got nothin' to do but get drunk and smoke weed, and not go to class because you're too tired from doing what you're doing."
Apple Cups to remember
1950: The UW defense let WSU score a late touchdown so the late Don Heinrich could break a national record for completions in a season. He was 17 for 28 for 275 yards and two TDs.
1969: This was the mother of bad Apple Cup's. Think of 2004 and the upcoming game this Saturday for an adequote comparison. This game brought together Jim Owens' winless, dissension-wracked Washington team and Jim Sweeney's second-year Washington State Cougars, who had nosed past Illinois by a point in their opener and were pretty much miserable the rest of the way, losing every other game as they faced the finale. UW Quarterback Gene Willis threw an economical nine passes, completing five for 155 yards, and Washington closed out a 30-21 victory to avoid a winless season.
1974: Dennis Fitzpatrick ran for 249 yards, most ever by a Huskies quarterback.
1975: How many people stuck around for the finish of this one? UW stormed back from a 27-14 deficit in the last two minutes. With uder two minutes left WSU was foolishly trying to run up the score when Al Burleson intercepted a Cougar pass and returned it 95 yards for a TD. Next, the Husky defense held, and forced a punt. Finally, a Warren Moon pass bounced off of two Cougar defendesr and into the hands of swift Spider Gaines, who took it all the way for a TD. Washington wins 28-27. WSU coach Jim Sweeney resigned soon after the game.
1980: In a game UW had to win to get to the Rose Bowl, the Huskies fell behind 14-0 before Tom Flick led a comeback. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 311 yards and three TDs.
1982: Former Huskies coach Don James calls the 1982 loss "the most disappointing of my coaching career of 38 years. "Chuck Nelson, the Huskies kicker whose missed 33-yard field goal prevented the Huskies from taking a 23-21 late-game lead in 1982, recalled that "the atmosphere was significantly different than it had been at the Spokane games."
"That was the first time for any of us in Martin Stadium," said Nelson, whose missed kick stopped his then-NCAA record streak at 30. "There was certainly a lot more energy there than there had been in the games up in Joe Albi."
The loss prevented the Huskies from going to the Rose Bowl for a third straight year. Cougars fans rejoiced.
1984: Washington was down by 10 in the 3rd quarter, and was just got stopped on 3rd down. the Huskies hadn't been able to stop the Cougs all day, but a personal foul by Rico Tipton of the Cougars kept the drive alive. UW scored, and gutted out a 38-29 victory.
1992: The famous "Snow Bowl" game is more famous for the weather and Drew Bledsoe's amazing ability to throw rainbows into the storm clouds. But it was also one of the bigger upsets in the series as UW — which had won 23 of its past 24 games — was a 14-point favorite. The Cougars won, 42-23.
1995: Tied with Washington State at 30-30 and with little time remaining, UW kicked the last second field goal to win the game. More importantly a share of the Pac-10 championship with USC and Pac-10 Champ rings for all the players.
2001: Cody Pickett threw for 371 yards, most in the history of the series, completing 25 of 38 passes and a touchdown, leading UW to an upset win.
2002: The Cougars needed only to beat UW at home to clinch the Pac-10 title. But the Huskies rallied from a 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit to force three overtime's in an eventual 29-26 victory. WSU's final possession was ended by a controversial call of a "backward" pass on a throw by Matt Kegel.