Washington Huskies won the Apple Cup … and left with causes for concern

Jedd Fisch tells his team before the season that they play for three trophies — the Apple Cup, the Big Ten championship and the national championship.

On Sunday, Fisch’s Huskies won the first one. But the way they did should make you question if they can compete for the next two.

In a rivalry game, the result is never guaranteed. Washington won, and that’s still worth celebrating. UW’s defense dominated three quarters of the 118^th Apple Cup, forcing a trio of turnovers. UW quarterback Demond Williams Jr. was entertainingly elusive, fashioning an acrobatic 5-yard touchdown and a 21-yard scramble that effectively felled the Cougs. His 35-yard rainbow to wide receiver Chris Lawson and 44-yard flea-flicker to Rashid Williams provided finishing flourishes. Hunter Green averaged a prolific 50.8 yards per punt.

There was a paragraph worth of positives.

And then everything else.

Everything else, for the most part, was ugly in No. 17 Washington’s season-opening 24-10 win. The offensive line, billed as big and physical and primed for Big Ten play, was often ineffective and undisciplined. The Huskies were expected to bowl over the undersized Cougs, establishing an unrelenting running game. They were expected to preserve pristine pockets in which Demond Williams Jr. could work. They were expected to do what they wanted, when they wanted, dissolving the Cougs into crimson dust.

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Instead, UW tailbacks totaled 76 rushing yards and 3.6 yards per carry. The Huskies’ top two backs, Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar, both left with injuries. Their other option, transfer Trey Cooley, fumbled his first carry. When Washington needed a yard on fourth-and-goal to close the first half, Limar was swallowed by a cadre of Cougs and Fisch spiked his headset into the sideline. The Huskies finished 4 for 12 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth. They also piled up 12 penalties for 130 yards, as an underperforming offensive line dug holes they couldn’t claw out of. Freshman left tackle Kodi Greene and second-year right guard Champ Taulealea were each flagged multiple times.

“It was this weird thing of having to tell the guys, ‘Hey, we’re not executing.’ I don’t know if I was in that good of a mood when I said that,” Fisch said of his halftime message. “But the expectation, the standard of the offense and how we’re going to play is … we have to find a way to get it done.”

Hoping for a hot start to the second half? The Huskies earned an undisciplined delay of game penalty on their first play of the third quarter.

If UW can’t gain a gritty goal-line yard against WSU, or protect Demond Williams Jr., or play without penalties, what will happen against Indiana? Against Oregon? Against USC?

Two years ago, Washington was turned away at the 1-yard line in an Apple Cup loss at Lumen Field. Back then, UW disappointed with a first-year coach, a new system and a rapidly rebuilt roster. There were available excuses. These Huskies should be a heck of a lot better.

They won on Sunday, but their errors had echoes.

“We’ve got to clean up our penalties. It kind of reminds me of Year 1 in the Apple Cup, when we had a ton of penalties,” said Fisch, whose Huskies had 16 penalties for 135 yards in the aforementioned 2024 Apple Cup. “So I’m not happy about that. But I am happy about how we played on defense.”

Indeed, UW’s defense was as advertised — physical, disruptive, more attacking than the 2025 edition. A trio of true freshmen — defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa, edge Ramzak Fruean and cornerback Jeron Jones (who nabbed his first career interception) — all impressed. Linebacker Jacob Manu, who led the team with 11 tackles and a sack, was a missile burrowing through WSU’s overmanned offense. The Cougs went 0 for 11 on third down, a startling stat.

But even defensively, there were concerning cracks. UW’s defense was flagged for penalties that extended several drives. Most egregiously, second-year safety Rylon Dillard-Allen was ejected for a targeting penalty on WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick that negated an otherwise fatal fourth-quarter fumble.  

“It’s always concerning when you’re giving first downs away,” Fisch said. “I think our team plays with an edge. I felt it all of camp and all of spring. No matter how many times as coaches you remind them that there’s going to be a time when that edge is going to get you, they have to feel that edge. They have to feel it also getting you. Today, it got ‘em. My thought process and my hope is, that happened. We’re over it. We learned that you can take it so far and then you have to stop.”

Added safety Alex McLaughlin: “It’s the first game of the year. I think everyone just wanted contact. So it just comes with the rivalry game. But for us, we know in the future we need to be way more disciplined than that, and we definitely will be.”

The Huskies left with a win … and lingering questions. Will UW’s offensive line improve enough in Big Ten play? Will Demond Williams Jr. be afforded the protection and surrounding weapons to succeed? Without starter Christian Moss, who exited with an injury, does UW have adequate wide receiver depth? Can UW count on kicker Tyler Robles, who shanked a 29-yard field goal attempt? Is the lack of discipline an aberration or an Achilles’ heel?

 The win, however, is still what matters most. After time ran out, seventh-year offensive lineman and Ferndale product Geirean Hatchett bellowed, “Give me my trophy!” while Prince’s “Purple Rain” played. When Gov. Bob Ferguson presented Fisch the trophy on a hastily assembled stage, Fruean happily fired a bubble gun into the Husky Stadium sky. Before exiting, linebacker Xe’ree Alexander autographed a sign held by a 7-year-old girl dressed as a UW cheerleader. In pink ink, the sign read: “BORN ON APPLE CUP 2018.”

The Apple Cup still matters here. One trophy is staying in Seattle.

But these Huskies have to get a whole lot better to potentially play for the other two.