The Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State has traditionally been a Husky affair. Washington leads the all-time Apple Cup series, 59-27-6.
This Saturday, Washington will be the team with everything on the line, while Washington State will be looking to finally break through and beat a top Pacific-10 Conference team.
Washington State (4-6, 2-5 Pac-10) has been slapped around all season but is still one of the most dangerous teams in the Pac-10 when its passing game works.
The Huskies (9-1, 6-1), meanwhile, have turned into a puzzle in recent weeks, letting teams get close before putting them away, then accrediting their emotional play to injured safety Curtis Williams.
Neither team will have a problem getting up for this game.
“It’s what you dream about when you play college football ­ that you can have a chance on the last Saturday to accomplish all your goals,” Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel said. “It won’t come easy because Washington State is playing very inspired football.”
The Huskies’ goal is the Rose Bowl. If Washington wins, it will achieve nothing worse than a Holiday Bowl berth, and if Oregon State beats Oregon, then the Huskies will be headed to Pasadena.
Washington has won big games this year, but most of those big wins have come at home — a 34-29 win against Miami, a 33-30 shoot-out with Oregon State, a 35-32 thriller against Arizona and a 35-28 victory against UCLA.
The Huskies’ two road tests against Colorado and Oregon yielded a 17-14 win in Boulder and a 23-16 loss in Eugene.
In the war for the apples, and possibly the roses, Washington State will try to reverse history and spoil Washington’s chance for a premier bowl.