Huskies get revenge in 59-24 Apple Cup win over Cougars

When UW took the field for the 117^th Apple Cup, they were looking to avenge their 24-19 loss in 2024 at Lumen Field. Jedd Fisch talked earlier in the week about what his team needed to do to win back the Apple Cup. Knowing the Huskies had to be disciplined, force turnovers, and have a game plan for who the Cougars played at QB. After a bitter defeat in 2024, the Huskies took the field determined to win back the Apple Cup.

UW stays disciplined on offense early

UW weathered a rocky start to their first drive after QB Demond Williams took a sack on the first play from scrimmage. Williams stayed poised and hit Denzel Boston for a 25-yard strike over the middle on the next play. The Huskies’ offense stayed calm as they marched the ball downfield. Williams later nailed Boston again with a pretty pass in the corner of the endzone from 29 yards out, to put UW up early. Capping a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a touchdown pass.

WSU starts Eckhaus over Potter

Earlier in the week, the Cougars decided to wait until the day of the Apple Cup to name their starting quarterback. Saturday, Levi Eckhaus was the quarterback who started the game under center. Eckhaus’ day got off to a bad start as he threw an interception off a tipped pass on his first drive. Huskies’ safety Alex McLaughlin came up with the INT. Takeaways were a big emphasis in practice because the Huskies had just two against both CSU and UC Davis. Taking the ball from WSU became critical as the game tightened in the second and third quarters.

Penalties aid two Cougars’ first half scoring drives

Jedd Fisch emphasized the Huskies needed to be disciplined and avoid penalties against the Cougars. Early in the Apple Cup, UW’s defense committed two penalties that extended WSU’s scoring drives. One, a 15-yard pass interference penalty, which the Cougars later cashed in for a touchdown. Another, a defensive holding penalty, which helped WSU go down and kick a field goal. Those penalties kept the Cougars in the game.

UW offense on fire in the first half

The Huskies took advantage of the Cougars’ turnover, as Demond Williams led a five-play, 53-yard TD drive. Demond Williams scored his second rushing touchdown of the season to put UW up 14-0. This continued a streak of 11 consecutive drives with a touchdown, going back to the UC Davis game. The Huskies later added a 12^th TD drive in a row on their next possession. RB Jonah Coleman ran in for his eighth touchdown of the season. The Huskies’ touchdown scoring streak ended on the last drive of the first half, which ended in a field goal made by Grady Gross (a career-long 51-yard FG). UW took a 24-10 lead into the half, outgaining WSU 245-142.

WSU hung around in the the second half

Another big penalty hurt the Huskies on the Cougars’ first drive of the second half. After a big pass completion from Eckhaus, UW was called for a roughing the passer penalty. The Cougars cashed in with an 8-yard TD pass from Eckhaus to Devin Ellison. They then tried a surprise onside kick, which the Huskies recovered. UW capitalized on the short field, as Jonah Coleman later ran in for his ninth touchdown of the season. Putting the Huskies back up by two touchdowns, 31-17. The Cougars then converted a big fourth down in the red zone on their next drive. Then Eckhaus punched in a sneak for the score, pulling WSU back within a touchdown 31-24.

UW’s Demond Williams’ poise unmatched

The story of the night was QB Demond Williams for the Huskies. While Eckhaus was strong, Williams took his game to another level. Williams came through with a clutch touchdown pass to Denzel Boston on third down in the fourth quarter. After a negative play on the previous play where he was tackled for a loss, Williams shook off the bad play. He lifted the Huskies on his back with that big throw on the next play to put them up 38-24. This is what Fisch had to say about his quarterback after the game:

“Demond is sensational. I think a lot of the country saw what Demond can do today, being a national game. And we’ll see what it looks like in the future.”

QB Demond Williams completed 16/19 passes, threw for 298 yards, and four passing TDs. He also ran for a TD and finished with 88 yards rushing, as the team’s leading rusher. Here is what Williams said about the offense’s performance and his favorite play after the game:

“I would say just as a whole offense, I feel like we play really well and, you know, there’s obviously stuff we got to work on, especially in the first half, and continuing to address that as a team, it’s going to be super important moving forward. (Reporter question: give me one). Probably the run, the touchdown run.”

Williams said the 23-yard touchdown run was his favorite play of the game, but what he did in the passing game was unreal. He made big throws in the intermediate passing game, deep ball, and in the red zone, which was phenomenal.

UW pushes the throttle, as WSU runs out of gas in the fourth quarter

Eckhaus, until the fourth quarter, had kept the Cougars in the game. He completed over 69% of his passes, threw for 277 yards, and had two passing touchdowns. In the fourth quarter, on a do-or-die fourth down attempt near midfield, however, Eckhaus made one of his two biggest mistakes. After intercepting him on the first drive of the game, Alex McLaughlin came up with a big pick-six to turn the momentum for the Huskies’ defense. UW then forced their first fumble of the season, caused by CB Dylan Robinson, and DL Bryce Butler recovered the fumble on the next series. Fisch spoke about it in his postgame press conference:

“I think defensively, three takeaways, man. We’ve been emphasizing taking the ball away, take the ball away, for Alex to get a touchdown off of one. Dylan Robinson’s punchout was awesome. That was a lot of fun to see.”

Those turnovers at the end of the game were critical to the Huskies’ turnaround. Alex McLaughlin’s interception return for a touchdown was a momentum changer for the defense. UW then forced a fumble and scored on a 34-yard TD pass to Jonah Coleman. QB Demond Williams later hit WR Omari Evans for a 59-yard TD pass. When the final whistle blew, the Huskies won 59-24 over the Cougars.

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