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Apple Cup week heats up

Posted by Vince at 7:28 a.m. on November 24 Comments (8)

COUGARS

A couple of Apple Cup notes inspired by UW tight end Kavario Middleton, whose comments yesterday about Washington scoring 50 this weekend can be seen here. The most points the Huskies have scored in an Apple Cup game is 56 in 1991 (they scored 55 the year before). The last time they scored 50 came in 2000, when they won 51-3, the largest margin of victory in the series. All of those games came while Mike Price was coach. For more on the Apple Cup, read on.

••••••••••

• Washington State: We had the first of four stories on different relationships that span the Cascade curtain today, starting with a father-son story about the Gilbertsons. (the Everett Herald had this story which listed a bunch more connections, but there are more, with the Elisaras – Matt and Cameron – and the Poes – Tom and TJ – two more father-son stories). … We had our first look at UW. … For more from Pullman, we put up notes on the blog yesterday. … The Times’ Bud Withers gives Paul Wulff an opportunity to explain where he thinks WSU is headed.

• Around the Pac-10: ESPN.com’s Ted Miller looks at the best-case scenarios for all the bowl-bound conference teams. … Buster Sports’ Nick Daschel indulges in a little fantasy, saying Lyle Moevao would be the biggest “get” among conference teams. If Moevao is given another year by the NCAA, there are hundreds of guys out there who have been denied under the same circumstances (redshirt year used, then losing another season to injury) who will be breaking down the NCAA’s doors wanting to know why they didn’t get a sixth year. … Washington: Steve Sarkisian is an Apple Cup rookie … Jim Moore says all pressure is on the Huskies this year. … We’ll be covering this ground in tomorrow’s paper, but the Locker family is split by the Apple Cup. … Oregon State: It took a while for some Beavers to understand the rivalry. … Oregon: Looking back at The Drive. … California and Stanford: The two Bay Area schools will have to wait for the conference bowl picture to clear. … USC: UCLA might be biggest game of the year for the Trojans. …UCLA: The Bruins are drawing upon some fond memories. … Arizona State: The Sun Devils really need a win over UA. … Arizona: The Wildcats say the loss to Oregon is behind them, but who can be sure?

•••

• That’s it for this morning. We’ll be back in the evening with practice notes and our story. Until then …

Eight comments on this post so far. Add yours!

MikeSequim on November 24 at 8:08 a.m.
Interesting read on ESPN about LSU's Coach Miles taking the blame for losing the game to Miss. Contrast to Bud Withers piece on PW? Maybe not, maybe Les Miles, with all the talent in the world realizes he cost the team a game by his coaching and PW with, according to his words, no talent in comparison to those types of programs, evidently doesn't make mistakes so it must be the players and the rest of the public just doesn't have a clue? I don't know? What do you think? PW has had plenty of opportunities to take any blame and hasn't yet in 2 years so he must be right! It's the PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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PJ in New Mexico on November 24 at 9:56 a.m.
Mike,

I'm not sure what you read, but you should read Pat Forde's column, and review Miles' postgame comments. He said he didn't know how his qb got the idea to spike the ball. Later, video clearly showed Miles signaling to his qb to spike it. So not only did he throw his sophomore qb under the bus, he lied about being the one telling the qb to spike it. These two situations aren't really comparable, as one was a tactical error during the game and the other involves the overall state of a program.

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dickkenn on November 24 at 9:59 a.m.
Get over it mike. I have to admit Moores story about the twins was funny. Oregon st. beat washington and wsu by almost the same scores. Looks like a lot closer game then everyone is predicting. You always throw out the records on this rivalry. WSU will win this game 24 to 20. GO COUGS

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BrandonHansen on November 24 at 10:16 a.m.
Don't be so quick to throw Paul Wulff under the bus. When I was down in Pullman last year and stood by the tunnel to see the team came out… doing the eyeball check the team's physical appearance wasn't even comparable to small school football like EWU. I'm not kiding. I was at Joe Albi watching High School football the week before and the size of athletes was very comparable except for a few exceptions. They're tiny!

Brandon Hansen
Just South of North
http://www.justsouthofnorth.com

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Edog on November 24 at 11:04 a.m.
Thank you Brandon. It's completely crazy to be throwing him under the bus. Look at what he's working with. If he were to have gotten a bunch of JC guys last year we would have been more competitive this year, but thats not sustainable growth. He's doing it right. You just have to look at the teamin terms of size, speed and experience and undertsand those things will improve over time. Its just not there yet. Call some coaching decisions questionable if you will, but PW knows his personnel and what they are capable of better than any of you who are out there thinking your football coaching geniuses. Next year we will be more competetive, the following year we will be winning some games.
Next week however, I think we are toast. This coming from an eternal optimist, turned realist for the first time before an Apple Cup in my 21 years of Cougar fanhood.
I'll be watching every play hoping for a miracle, but…..

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meancoug on November 24 at 11:33 a.m.
With all due respect, the Les Miles - Paul Wulff comment is a very odd comparison. At first I thought it was a joke.

As PJ stated, you're talking about a last second tactical decision versus a coach obviously struggling to even get a team on the field.

Plus, I don't really interpret Wulff's comments as “blaming” his players - ever. He has blamed the system that was in place, and sometimes the truth is hard for peolpe to understand.
I clearly remember Dick Bennett and Kelvin Sampson talking about how the players they inheritated just weren't very good when they first came to WSU, so how is that different? I even think Wulff has been careful to not be harsh on his players at times (he chose his words very carefully when asked about Lobbestael's first pick off the audible against UCLA..even said he understood why he tried it even you could tell he thought it was a poor decision).
The reason the players look confused at times - which some people cite as bad coaching - is because many of them are new to a position, being forced into action way before their time, or playing alongside a different person every freaking week. When you are dealing with different personnel packages every week, no amount of coaching will make things look pretty on saturday's.

It's obvious to anyone with a fair mind what the situation is in Pullman…Unfortunately, we haven't been able to judge Wulff's game-day management as much as we would have liked.
I do agree he needs to be held accountable..and concerns are vaild, but I just don't understand how anyone can expect a whole lot more than what has happened so far. In all fairness, I think next season will be a more accurate read of his coaching. And year four would be the final exam.

Look at Wulff's old EWU recruits…they're in the playoffs once again..for the fourth time in 7 years. That's what happens when you have solid recruiting classes and build a program. And Eastern has done it on a shoe-string budget with very few resources. I know some folks don't like that comparison, so take it for what it's worth.

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DeerLakeRon on November 24 at 12:00 p.m.
Applecup, anyones guess what will happen.
We could see what happened when the last struggleing program (UCLA) came to town tried to put it on the best they could. So Huskies to score 50 because of the same frustration, not out of the question. UCLA game also was the one the Cougs didn't cover the spread or come close. But it is the Applecup and anything could happen. Now if the Cougs cover the spread and the Huskies score 50 that means the Cougs have over 3 touchdowns, and Coug fans might take that.
I love the way Vince reminded us about Mike Price, a coach alot would like back to replace PW. and he gave up 50 3 times in the Apple Cup. Oh My. If PW's team lost 51-3 in the Apple Cup Saturday there may be a plot against him. See even some of the more succesful coaches had their days. It is suprising the Cougs have won 4 of the last 5 with Coaches people don't want here. So I guess to some the AppleCup means nothing?
To the real Coug fans it almost means everything.
On a positive we have two winnable Basketball games before Saturday.
GO COUGS!!!!

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Edog on November 24 at 12:44 p.m.
Even if you're not a GU fan, route for them to win their next few games so they can crack the top 25 before we beat them next Wednesday.

The only way I see the Cougs beating the Huskies is if Tuel plays and is healthy enough to be elusive, and if we take some chances looking for big plays down field. We just can't grind it out with teams. Thats rough on our D as far as time on the field goes, but its the last game of the season, they can leave it all out there. We have to go for it to have a chance.
The Huskies were a better team than us last year too and that turned out alright, I'm not real optimistic as I said earlier, but their is always a glimmer of hope.
Go Cougs

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