Huskies To Host WSU In 112th Boeing Apple Cup

Friday, November 29

Seattle, WA

1:00 PM

University of Washington

Washington State

November 25, 2019 | Football

UW Game Notes Buy Tickets Gameday Central

THE GAME: The Washington football team (6-5 overall, 3-5 Pac-12) wraps up the regular season this Friday, Nov. 29, as Washington State (6-5, 3-5) comes to Husky Stadium for the 112th version of the Boeing Apple Cup. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. and the game will air on FOX television.

QUICK HITTERS: Through 11 games this season, UW has outscored opponents 107-16 in the first quarter ... in 11 games this season, a total of 10 different players have led the Huskies in tackles (including ties) ... Myles Bryant, Keith Taylor and Edefuan Ulofoshio have each led the team twice, while the following seven players have led (or shared) the team in tackles in one game this season: Kyler Gordon, Trent McDuffie, Elijah Molden, Ariel Ngata, Levi Onwuzurike, Joe Tryon, and Brandon Wellington ... along with UCF, the UW is one of only two FBS teams (and the only Power 5 program) that has not suffered a loss of more than 10 points since the start of the 2017 season ... UW is sixth in the nation in net punting (42.81), having allowed just two touchbacks and only 15 punt return yards all year ... Joel Whitford's 45.0-yard average ranks No. 2 in UW single-season history ... UW's defense has led the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense each of the last four years ... of the 105 players on the current UW football roster, more than half (54) are freshmen or redshirt freshmen ... Washington has played 12 true freshmen this season: DL Jacob Bandes, TB Cameron Davis, PK Tim Horn, OLB Laiatu Latu, CB Trent McDuffie, WR Puka Nacua, DL Noa Ngalu, DL Sama Paama, DL Faatui Tuitele, LB Alphonzo Tuputala, DB Asa Turner and DB Cameron Williams ... additionally, 19 redshirt freshmen have played ... senior WR Aaron Fuller enters the week with 152 career receptions for 1,999 yards, each good for seventh in UW history ... Fuller is also sixth in the nation in punt returns with an average of 13.1 yards per return ... junior TE Hunter Bryant currently has 79 career catches for 1,298 yards, good for fifth and second in UW history among tight ends ... UW head coach Chris Petersen entered the 2019 season with the highest winning percentage among active NCAA-FBS coaches with five or more years experience ... currently, Petersen has a career record of 145-38, good for a percentage of .792, second in FBS ... in five-plus seasons under Petersen, the Huskies have scored touchdowns on a total of 14 kickoff (4) and punt (10) returns ... in that same period, the UW hasn't allowed a single return for a score.

TELEVISION: The Boeing Apple Cup will air on FOX television, with Tim Brando (play by play), Spencer Tillman (analyst) and Coley Harvey (sidelines) on the call. You can also watch via FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports Go app.

RADIO: The Washington Sports Network, with its flagship station KOMO AM-1000 and FM-97.7, will carry the live broadcast of every football game on 18 Northwest radio stations. Play-by-play man Tony Castricone and color analysts Damon Huard and Greg Lewis are joined by sideline reporter Elise Woodward. The UW broadcast of the game will air on Sirius (134) and XM (197) satellite radio, via TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Westwood One will also carry a nationally syndicated broadcast.

HUSKIES vs. COUGARS HISTORY:  The Washington-Washington State series dates back to 1900, when the teams played to a 5-5 tie in Seattle. Washington holds a commanding 73-32-6 edge in the 111-game series, including a 41-15 record in Apple Cup games (1962-present). The UW is 41-15-5 against WSU in games played in Seattle, Washington is 12-7 in games played in WSU's Martin Stadium as the first UW-WSU game wasn't played there until 1982. UW is 32-15-1 in away games in the series, including games played in both Spokane and Pullman. The Huskies have won 16 of the last 21 Apple Cups, and six in a row.

Last year in Pullman, Washington won, 28-15, in snowy Pullman, limiting the high-flying WSU offense to just 237 yards. Myles Gaskin's 80-yard TD run was the highlight. In 2017 in Seattle, the Huskies built a 34-0 lead en route to a 41-14 win as  Gaskin rushed for 192 yards and four TDs on 25 carries. In 2016 in Pullman, Jake Browning completed 22-of-29 passes for 292 yards and three TDs and the UW led, 28-3, after one quarter in a 45-17 UW win. In 2015,  Gaskin ran for 138 yards and two TDs, and the Huskies got interception returns for scores from Sidney Jones and Azeem Victor in a 45-10 win.

In 2014 in the Palouse, Dwayne Washington rushed for 135 yards, including TD runs of 60 and 51 yards, to lead the UW to a 31-13 win. The Huskies held the Cougars scoreless until five minutes into the fourth quarter. In 2013 in Seattle, the Huskies overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit in a 27-17 victory. Bishop Sankey led the Dawgs with 200 rushing yards on 34 carries while Keith Price completed 15-of-20 for 181 yards.

In 2012 in Pullman, WSU overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then won 31-28 in overtime. In 2011 at CenturyLink Field, the UW won, 38-21, behind 291 yards and three TD passes from Price. In 2010, Washington beat the Cougars, 35-28, in a tightly-contested game in Pullman. The winning score came on a 27-yard pass from Jake Locker to Jermaine Kearse with 44 seconds remaining. In 2009, the Huskies posted the first Apple Cup shutout since 1964 with a 30-0 win over the Cougars at Husky Stadium, breaking a two-game losing streak in the series.

In 2008 in Pullman, the Cougars prevailed, 16-13, in double overtime. The year before at Husky Stadium, Alex Brink passed for 399 yards and hit Brandon Gibson with a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to lead WSU to a 42-35 win. The Huskies broke another two-game losing streak with a 35-32 win in Pullman in 2006. In 2005 at Martin Stadium, the Cougars beat the Dawgs, 28-25, behind a solid performance from Brink, who threw for two TDs and ran for another.

Before that, in 2003, UW pulled a third-straight upset (by AP ranking) in the series when an unranked Husky team notched a 27-19 win over No. 8 Washington State. In 2002 in Pullman, in a game that surely ranks as one of the most memorable ever in the series, Washington shocked the No. 3 Cougars with a triple-overtime, 29-26 win, despite trailing by 10 with only 4:30 to play. In 2001, when the two teams met at Husky Stadium, the 16th-ranked Huskies upset the No. 9 Cougars with a 26-14 win.

DAWGS AND THE NORTHWEST:  Washington's most-played rivalries are against the other three other northwest Pac-12 schools. The Huskies have faced Washington State 111 times, Oregon in 112 games and Oregon State on 104 occasions. Washington owns the advantage in all three series. The Huskies lead the Ducks 60-47-5, Washington State 73-32-6 and Oregon State 66-34-4. Combined, Washington has a 199-113-15 (.631 ) record against its northwest rivals. Washington has played all three of the Northwest teams in a season on 90 prior occasions. Over those 90 seasons in which Oregon, OSU and WSU were all on the UW schedule, the Dawgs have swept all three 30 times (including 2016 and 2017). In the meantime, the Huskies have lost to all three in the same season on only seven occasions.

APPLE CUP FACTS: A few notes on the Apple Cup, proudly presented by Boeing:
• This year's game will be the 112th meeting between UW and WSU. The Huskies lead 73-32-6. The series began in 1900, when the teams played to a 5-5 tie.
• The UW-WSU game wasn't called the "Apple Cup" until 1962. Prior to 1962, the two teams played for the Governor's Trophy (1931-61).
• Washington has played just 11 overtime games in its history (overtime didn't start until 1996 in college football). Four of those 11 games have come against WSU: 1996 (UW win), 2002 (UW win), 2008 (WSU win), 2012 (WSU win).
• The last seven times that the Cougars were ranked in the AP top 25  heading into an Apple Cup, the Huskies have won the game (2001-02-03-15-16-17-18).
• The Huskies have never lost more than two games in a row to WSU. On the other hand, UW has had 9 streaks of three or more wins in the series.
• From 1955 through 1981, the Apple Cup was played in Seattle (odd-numbered years) or Spokane (even-numbered years), rather than Seattle and Pullman.

RETURNS ON FIRE:  Since the arrival of coach Chris Petersen and his staff prior to the 2014 season, Washington has had four kickoff returns for touchdowns (three by John Ross and one by Keishawn Bierria) and 10 punt returns for TDs (nine by Dante Pettis – good for the NCAA record – and one from Aaron Fuller vs. BYU, 2019). That's a total of 14 kick and punt return TDs. Ross actually had four career TDs, but his first came in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, the last game before the start of the Petersen era. Even if you include that Ross TD, you have to go back 16 prior seasons to count the previous four Husky kick return TDs, and 27 seasons to count the last 10 punt returns. Touré Butler returned a kick for a score in 1998. Then, from 1998 to 2033, the Huskies had four: Ross in 2013, Louis Rankin in 2007, Roc Alexander in 2001, and Paul Arnold in 1999. As for punt returns, Demouy Williams had one in 1987 before Beno Bryant had three punt return TDs in 1990, and another in 1991. Then, over 23 seasons (1991-2013), the Huskies had just six more: Jesse Callier in 2011; Chris Stevens in  2006;  Charles  Frederick  in  2003  and  2001;  Joe  Jarzynka  in  1998;  and  Dave  Janoski in 1996 – and two of those (Callier & Stevens) were on blocked punts, so not "traditional" punt returns. What's more? Since Petersen's arrival in 2014, the Huskies haven't allowed a single punt or kick return for a score.

OPPONENTS 35-AND-UNDER: Washington hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 35 points in a game since a 44-30 loss at UCLA in 2014 – one of only three games in Chris Petersen's UW tenure that an opponent has scored more than 35 points. That's a streak of 69 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 69-game stretch, Husky foes have scored 30 or more just 11 times (of those 11, five were exactly 30 points) and have been held to 14 or fewer points 29 times. In that same span of 69 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 28 occasions. No other team in the FBS has a current streak longer than 50 games, and only one (Clemson, 45) has one longer than 25.

RETURNING STARTERS: While the official number of "returning starters" this year for Washington included just two defensive and seven offensive players, a deeper look at the numbers reveals a lot more experience. In fact, not counting specialists (UW returns its starting placekicker, punter, holder and long snapper), Washington had 20 current players who had started at least one game on offense, and nine who had started on defense prior to the 2019 season – though obviously most of those were not the primary starter at any one position last season.

DEFENSE vs. BIG PLAYS: The UW allowed just ONE scrimmage play of 40 or more yards all last season. No other FBS team allowed fewer than four and 102 teams allowed 10 or more. Washington also allowed just 11 scrimmage plays of 30 or more yards (only Appalachian State, with 10, allowed fewer). The Husky defense also ranked No. 5 in fewest 20-yard plays allowed (34). In 2017, the UW also led the nation with fewest 40-yard scrimmage plays allowed (3) and were second in fewest 30-yard plays (14). They were tied for 5th and 2nd, respectively, in 2016. The Huskies have given up seven scrimmage plays of 40 yards or more through the first 11 games of 2019.

YOUTH: Washington's roster remains on the young side. Of the 105 current players, more than half – 54 – are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, due in large part to the fact that every freshman on last year's team preserved their redshirt season. Washington's roster includes 18 seniors, 20 juniors, 13 sophomores, 24 redshirt freshmen and 30 true freshmen.

THE PAC-12: Prior to the 2011 season, the Pac-10 Conference added Utah and Colorado to expand to the Pac-12. Washington, which along with California is one of two schools who have been in the conference since its founding in 1915, plays in the Pac-12 North, along with the other three Northwest schools (Oregon, OSU, WSU) and Stanford and Cal. Under the current system, each school plays all five division rivals, plus four of six teams in the other division each season. The first two seasons, the Huskies did not face UCLA or Arizona State. In 2013 and 14, the Huskies didn't play Utah or USC. In 2015 in 2016, neither UCLA nor Colorado were on the UW schedule, while the Huskies didn't face USC and Arizona in 2017 or 2018. The 2019 season marks the start of a new cycle, moving the rotation back to where it started. Therefore, the Huskies will not play UCLA and Arizona State this season and again in 2020.

THE 100-YARD FACTOR: Since the 1947 season, Washington is 221-69-3 (.759) when a Husky player rushes for 100 yards in a game. The Huskies are 22-3 in such games dating back to the 2016 season, and 4-2 this year.

HISTORY LESSON: Successfully rushing the football and winning go hand-in-hand for the Huskies. Since 1990, UW has rushed for 200 yards in a game 120 times. The Huskies' record stands at 103-16-1 (.863) in those contests.

HUSKY STADIUM RENOVATION: Husky Stadium underwent a major renovation over from Nov., 2011, through Aug., 2013, as the entire lower bowl and south upper deck were demolished and replaced. The new facility features a new, state-of-the-art football operations center (weight room, training room, locker room, meeting rooms, coaches' offices) in the west end, much more premium seating options and a new playing surface. Husky Stadium had featured a track up until 2011, so seats that were once far from the field, particularly in the west end, are much closer to the action. UW is 37-11 at home since the re-opening of Husky Stadium.

ALASKA AIRLINES FIELD AT HUSKY STADIUM: The Oregon game on Nov. 5, 2011, marked the final game in Husky Stadium prior to major renovations that were completed in summer, 2013. The Huskies re-opened their home field with a 38-6 win over then-No. 19 Boise State on Aug. 31, 2013. The 2018 season marks the 99th season of play in Husky Stadium. Original construction on the facility was completed in 1920 when Washington played one game in the new campus facility. UW's all-time record in Husky Stadium stands at 393-180-21 (.679).