The Washington Huskies won the 117th edition of the Apple Cup, beating the home Washington State Cougars 59-24. The temperature was 81 degrees at kickoff and UW’s offense never cooled off the entire game.
Well, not exactly. On Washington’s first play from scrimmage Demond Williams, Jr. was sacked for an 8-yard loss, putting the ball 2nd and 18 at the Husky 17 yard line. Williams then connected with receiver Denzel Boston for 25 yards. From there Jedd Fisch mixed in short passes and runs as they moved down to the Wasington State 41 yard line.
Williams, Jr. scrambled for 12 yards before finding Boston again in the end zone to open the scoring for the visitors.
The first play of drives left a bit to be desired for UW as three of the first 4 possessions resulted in negative yards. However, Williams, Jr. repeatedly responded with big plays.
On Washington’s next possession, thanks to an Alex McLaughlin interception that he returns 27 yards to the Husky 47, Jonah Coleman was dropped for a 3-yard loss. That was followed by another big play by the QB who broke off a 26-yard carry. It turned into a 5-play drive in just 2 minutes and 18 seconds that ended with Williams, Jr. on a keeper for 23 yards.
Each team had the ball twice in the first quarter but UW led 14-0 after the first 15 minutes. The Cougars responded with 10 second quarter point. WSU pulled within 7 points three times, 14-7, 24-17, and 31-24 before Williams and Boston connected on a 7-yard jump ball in the end zone. UW scored the final 28 points of the game on a 47-yard Pick 6 from Alex McLaughlin, a 34-yard screen pass to Coleman and 59-yard strike to Penn State transfer Omari Evans for his first catch of the season.
Since Williams, Jr.’s second quarter fumble against Colorado State, the Huskies have scored on every drive. Since that turnover sophomore signal-caller has benched punter, Luke Dunne. Special Teams are much improved, without truly knowing the state of the punting game. The Cougars had zero return yards from 10 Ethan Moczulski kickoffs. Punt returner, Denzel Boston had one punt which he fair caught. In fact, for either team there was just one kickoff return of 10 yards by true freshman Dezmen Roebuck fielded an onside kick, nearly breaking free for a touchdown.
But the game was never really over until 11:42 remaining in the game. On 4th and 5, with the ball and their own 41 yard like, and UW holding onto a 2-score lead, Alex McLaughlin picked off his second pass of the night, taking it in for a score.
The Husky defense didn’t have its first 3 and out until the final Cougar possession. Washington State only had 3 drives in the first half, scoring twice on drives of 11 plays for 75 yards for a TD and 8 plays for 56 for a field goal. On the other hand, the Huskies, again scored on every drive that wasn’t ended by a half.
Despite players being juice up for the game there were very few flags thrown as the teams combined for 7 penalties for 61 yards.
Perhaps the most telling stat of the proficiency of Washington’s offense is that they were never faced with a 4th down with the exception of Grady Gross’ 51-yard field goal. They went 8-9 on 3rd down, which is the result of averaging over 9 yards a play.
Additionally, UW was efficient in the Red Zone converting on all three trips inside the Cougar 20 yard line.
Adjusting for the sack yardage and the game-ending kneel-down, the Huskies offense finished with exactly 200 rushing yards and 2 yards shy of 500 yards of total offense.
Williams, Jr. completed 84-percent of his passes, going 16 of 19 passes. His incomplete passes were all on first down as he went
At one point the arm and legs of Zevi Eckhaus were making it difficult for the Washington defense, twice completing passes throwing back across his body on the way to completing 10-straight passes. In fact, at one point he hit on 16 of 17 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston continues to up his all-around game, with several times with key blocks. On running back Jonah Coleman’s screen pass he drove the defender into the end zone so far that the defender could wasn’t within 8 yards of Coleman when he scored.
The Husky defense has a few head-scratching plays, but the Cougars ran the ball 28 times for 27 yards and forced 2 fumbles. Through the air, Alex McLaughlin’s two interceptions came at important times in the game, snuffing out the first WSU possession with the second one closing the lid on Cougar casket.
However, a great sign for the defense is that Armon Parker had his first sack. In the 4th quarter, and the Cougars facing 3rd and 12, Parker buried Julian Parker for a 9-yard loss. That tackle doubled his career tackle total as he spent his first 3 years on Montlake recovering from injuries.
The Huskies will host the number 1 team in the nation, the Ohio State Buckeyes, next Saturday with a 12:30 kickoff.
