Cougars Will Milk The Moment
Today’s Cougar joke:
What’s the difference between the Cougars and Cheerios?
Cheerios make it into a bowl.
Today’s Husky joke:
Q. Name the three most famous Cougars?
A. Edward R. Murrow, Keith Jackson and Paul Allen.
Q. Now name the 3 most famous Huskies
A. Ted Bundy, Brock Adams and Sundodger.
Advice from a Coug
Rick Turner lives in suburban Seattle. He runs his own construction company.
In 1982-83, as Ricky Turner, he ran the option - turning what then-coach Jim Walden called the rump-turn option into a change-of-pace weapon that kept defenses guessing.
“I could throw the ball a little bit, too,” Turner said. “Coach (Mike) Price is having a great year. So is (Ryan) Leaf.
“If I could tell that young man anything it would be when something happens unplanned early in the game, and something will, don’t panic. Things work themselves out. Regardless of what the hell else happens, believe you’re going to win.”
Turner and the ‘83 Cougars knocked the Huskies out of Rose Bowl contention for the second straight season. His Apple Cup thrill?
“Just watching them come in so typical UW - strutting, cocky and arrogant - and then doing the 360-degree turn and walking back through the (Husky Stadium) tunnel with their heads down after we beat their butts.”
The ‘82 game was the biggest upset in the series, “but Clete (Casper) quarterbacked that game,” Turner said. “I was on the field the whole game in ‘83, so that one meant more personally.”
The unplanned happening early in an Apple Cup game that Turner refers to?
On the first play from the UW 20, Turner hit Kerry Porter with a short pass. Porter was hit, fumbled and the Huskies recovered.
The Cougars defense dug in, held Washington to a field goal and WSU went on to win 17-6.
“Some of the younger players - Porter and Rueben Mayes - were starting to panic a little bit (after that early turnover),” Turner said. “You’ve got to maintain your composure and continue to execute.
“That (‘83) team was on a roll. We could have beaten anybody in the nation at that given time.”
Great moments 1982: WSU 24, UW 20
Chuck Nelson still thinks the field goal was good. Everything else he kicked in 1982 was. But when his 33-yarder sailed just wide of the left upright with 4-1/2 minutes left, the Huskies’ Rose Bowl aspirations wilted.
UW still had two shots to win, but WSU’s secondary came up big. Rob Treece forced quarterback Tim Cowan to fumble, setting up John Traut’s insurance field goal with 56 seconds remaining. And Mark Pleis doused the embers with an interception.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Staff illustration by Milt Priggee