Third time has never charmed Cougs

PULLMAN – Washington and Washington State have met 98 times on a football field, and, as is common knowledge within the state’s borders, the rivalry has largely belonged to UW.

Even still, it would seem logical that at some point the Cougars would have strung together a brief period of superiority. But never in Apple Cup history has the team from the Inland Northwest beaten its Seattle-based rival three times in a row.

That could all change Saturday.

“For those guys that actually play, that’s something they can tell their grandkids about,” WSU coach Bill Doba said. “That’s important to them.

“It would be nice, let’s put it that way. It gives us a chance to do something that no one else has ever done. But I’m sure they’re telling their players the same thing. You don’t want to be the one that gives up the third win.”

The last two years have made for an Apple Cup oddity, with sub-.500 Cougars teams taking advantage of worse Husky teams to put together back-to-back victories.

But WSU has been in the same position six times before, going for a third consecutive win, only to see Washington prevail by at least a touchdown.

“Oh man, I didn’t even know that was the case, to be honest with you,” Washington senior linebacker Scott White said. “You never want to lose to Washington State, and when you come to Washington that’s one of the first things you get taught here. You do not lose to Washington State and they’ve had our number the past few years. I look forward to it being a great game.”

The Cougars are confident that this seventh crack at a three-game winning streak will be a successful one. The Huskies have again fallen out of bowl contention, and with home-field advantage on their side the Cougars are a nine-point favorite.

But this season is hardly a repeat of the last two, with WSU standing at 6-5 and looking at a potential bowl bid.

The Cougars have postseason goals in mind, and so winning a third consecutive Apple Cup would be a bonus and not the main prize, they say.

“You can’t downplay the importance of history, but when you’re talking about how making it a successful season and doing the things we wanted to do, it’s about getting that seventh win and getting realistically bowl-eligible,” quarterback Alex Brink said.

Defensive end Mkristo Bruce spoke of the value of finishing a regular season with a win, and tabbing that as more important than any streak.

“Last year we had – I don’t want to say debacle, but we had it kind of bad,” he said. “To have that win, it put a better taste in your mouth at the end of the year.”

Given that, it’s possible that no one individual has more to gain from an Apple Cup win this year than Doba.

The bowl appearance that would almost certainly come with a win this year would show that Doba’s program has rebounded from the struggles of recent seasons. It would give him the opportunity to shoot for greater things in 2007.

And, of course, it would forever etch his name – not Babe Hollingbery’s, not Jim Sutherland’s, not Jim Walden’s and not Mike Price’s – in school history as the first coach to beat the Huskies three times in a row.

“I never even thought about it as a personal thing,” Doba said. “It would be nice to be in that record book, I guess. But there are a lot more important things in life than that.

“If we don’t, I’ll have to get the next three.”