Apple Cup 2026: What to watch as No. 17 Washington faces Washington State

05 Sep 2026, 06:00 by Andy Yamashita · The Seattle Times

No. 17 Washington vs. Washington State

Kickoff: 1 p.m., Sunday

Where: Husky Stadium

TV: NBC

Radio: SportsRadio 93.3-FM KJR

Latest line (via DraftKings): Washington -21.5, Total 50.5

All-time series: Washington leads 77-34-6; Most recent meeting: 59-24 UW win on Sept. 20, 2025

UW key players

QB Demond Williams Jr. (2025): 13 games, 69.5% completions, 3,065 pass yards, 246 completions, 354 attempts, 25 pass TD, 8 INT, 143 carries, 611 rush yards, 6 rush TD

WR Dezmen Roebuck (2025): 13 games, 42 catches, 560 receiving yards, 7 receiving TD

S Alex McLaughlin (2025): 13 games, 94 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT, 6 PBU, 1 fumble recovery

LB Xe’ree Alexander (2025): 13 games, 70 tackles, 5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 3 PBU

WSU key players

QB Caden Pinnick (2025 at FCS UC Davis): 13 games, 60.5% completions, 2,796 pass yards, 230 completions, 380 attempts, 14 pass TD, 9 INT, 43 carries, 75 yards, 4 rush TD

RB Kirby Vorhees (2025): 12 games, 138 carries, 576 rush yards, 5 rush TD, 19 catches, 125 yards receiving

LB Keith Brown (2024): 13 games, 26 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack, missed 2025 with arm injury

EDGE Matyus McLain (2025 at FCS Idaho): 12 games, 42 tackles, 13.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble

Three Apple Cups, three coaching opponents

Jedd Fisch is preparing for his third Apple Cup as Husky coach. He’s never faced the same coaching staff twice.

The Cougars continue to experience massive program upheaval. After watching Jake Dickert depart for Wake Forest after the 2024 season, Washington State saw Jimmy Rogers end his Cougar tenure after just one season for the vacancy at Iowa State after the 2025 campaign.

So Washington State is starting over. Again. The Cougars hired Kirby Moore, a Prosser native who most recently served as Missouri’s offensive coordinator, in December 2025. Moore, who spent time at Washington as an offensive graduate assistant under Chris Petersen and was a wide receivers coach at Fresno State under Kalen DeBoer, hired offensive coordinator Matt Miller from Boise State and added former Oregon State coach Trent Bray as his defensive coordinator.

Fisch said a new coaching staff and a new roster — WSU lost 37 players to the transfer portal after Rogers departure and added 32 — make the Cougars difficult to scout entering the 118th Apple Cup.

“You really need to do a good job in that first quarter of just kind of assessing what this is going to look like,” Fisch said Thursday.

But the Huskies’ continuity is an obvious boost. Particularly in the Apple Cup. First-year coaches are 2-3 in the rivalry since 2015, counting Bob Gregory’s loss as Washington’s interim coach in the 113th Apple Cup in 2021. Only Dickert, who faced Gregory in 2021, and DeBoer won their first rivalry games.

A familiar face at quarterback

Despite WSU’s roster overhaul, UW won’t have to deal with any questions surrounding the Cougars quarterback.

Moore definitively named Caden Pinnick, an FCS UC Davis transfer, as Washington State’s starter under center on Aug. 24. The 6-foot, 192-pound quarterback was the 2025 Big Sky Freshman of the Year after compiling 3,206 yards passing and 32 touchdowns against 10 interceptions for the Aggies.

But the Huskies have some firsthand experience facing Pinnick. He started against Washington for an outmatched UC Davis team on Sept. 6, 2025 — a game UW won 70-10. Pinnick played the first half, going 8-for-16 for 50 yards passing with a touchdown. He was also intercepted by UW cornerback Tacario Davis and sacked twice.

Fisch and defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, however, said Pinnick’s lack of a physically competitive supporting cast at UC Davis makes it difficult to evaluate him based on his performance against them a year ago.

“We just had a lot of things going on up front that enabled us to shut him down,” Fisch said Monday. “I think he only played one half against us when he was at UC Davis, but I’m expecting a completely different situation.”

Can UW’s new-look RB rotation hit the ground running?

The biggest question mark for Washington’s offense entering 2026 remains the rushing attack.

Jonah Coleman is gone, drafted to the NFL. Fisch already named his replacement. Sophomore Quaid Carr, who has four career carries for 14 yards rushing, will get the start against Washington State as the Huskies’ lead tailback.

Senior running back Jayden Limar and sixth-year tailback Trey Cooley will also get significant carries in the Apple Cup, Fisch said Monday. Both were limited for large portions of fall camp — Limar was recovering from offseason ankle surgery while Cooley rehabilitated the season-ending knee injury he suffered before 2025 — and Fisch said the veterans will get a chance to solidify themselves in the running-back rotation.

“We’re at a spot where all three of those guys are healthy,” Fisch said. “Those three guys have earned the right, based on how they’re playing, to be the top-three guys. So we’re going to have to figure out a rotation, probably much more by committee than what we did with Jonah last year.”

Carr, Limar, Cooley and the Washington offensive line, minus senior center Landen Hatchett (wrist), have a chance to assert themselves against a Washington State defensive line that doesn’t have a projected starter listed heavier than 287 pounds and has an average weight of 271 pounds. UW’s starting offensive line has an average weight of 322 pounds and no player lighter than 305 pounds.

Andy Yamashita’s prediction:

Fisch admitted the 117th Apple Cup was closer than the score line indicated. Washington State was within one score late during the third quarter before Washington broke the game open in the fourth.

But with the talent gap growing again following another tumultuous offseason for WSU — and Fisch’s willingness to pile on the points during rivalry games — it’s hard to imagine this game being as competitive.

The Apple Cup stays in Seattle.

Prediction: Huskies 45, Cougars 24