Husky Football: Apple Cup Prediction

I’ll keep this one short because I think this is a pretty easy choice. The Huskies are going to win the game, and I think they will win it by a significant margin. The Cougars are the 2nd worst team in the conference, and they lost at home to Colorado, the worst team in the conference. They are embroiled in the drama involving the lost of their most talented player on offense, Marquess Wilson, and their best player on defense, Travis Long, may not be able to overcome injury to play.

Nov 26, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars defensive end Travis Long (89) sacks Washington Huskies quarterback Keith Price (17) during the 2nd half at CenturyLink Field. Washington defeated Washington State 38-21. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

On offense, the Cougars cannot run, and they don’t really want to anyway under Leach’s air raid. That leaves Jeff Tuel to drop back and attempt 40-50 passes against the greatest strength of the Husky defense: the defensive backs. Sean Parker and Shaq Thompson will have a field day knocking wide receivers over the middle and picking off errant passes, and even on the road, I do not see the Cougars having any real success as an offense beyond perhaps one or two scores.

On defense, the Cougars cannot stop anyone, and with the Washington offensive line maturing, Bishop Sankey blossoming into a full on star as a ball carrier, and Price beginning to pull out of his season-long nosedive, that is a recipe for disaster. I’ll be expecting 150+ yards from Sankey and an efficient performance from Price to result in at least 30 points. Especially if the defense gets in on the scoring with a pick six or a scooped up fumble.

Now, that doesn’t mean I expect a full on blowout, even if I don’t seem to give the Cougars much of a chance. This is the Apple Cup, and history has shown that it doesn’t much matter how terrible either team has been throughout the season. In that final rivalry game, in this case in Pullman, the Cougars will come ready to give whatever they have. However, there’s no reason to expect the Huskies to take WSU lightly, and they are a far more talented group of football players.

Washington 34, WSU 17