Titanic clash may produce road Apples
What happens when a resistible force meets a movable object? The world may find out Saturday when Washington (0-10) and Washington State (1-10) bump into each other in the annual sour Apple Cup match. It’s a real Titanic, in the sense that each team’s program is sinking.
For those who have pushed for the establishment of a BCS (Bowl Chump Series) playoff, this game may be the closest thing. The Washington woes underscore what a mediocre year it has been for the Pac-1, so named because USC is the only team in the top 20.
Just the other day California coach Jeff Tedford led some to think that he wanted himself and his staff fired when he said, “We want to get the ax.” Actually, Tedford was referring to “The Axe,” which goes to the winner of the Cal-Stanford game.
In the Midwest, No. 3 Michigan, using the middle-aged-spread offense of new coach Rick Rodriguez, ended a 33-season bowl streak – unless the Comedy Channel agrees to pit the Woe-verines against the Apple Cup losers.
| Wreck | Last Loss | Next Loss |
| 1. Washington (0-10) | 7-27, UCLA | WSU |
| 1. Washington St. (1-10) | 0-31, ASU | Washington |
| 3. Michigan (3-8) | 14-21, N’western | Ohio St. |
| 4. Tennessee (3-7) | Idle | Vanderbilt |
| 5. San Diego St. (1-10) | 14-63, Utah | UNLV |
| 6. The SMUS (1-10) | 10-36, UTEP | So. Miss |
| 7. Syracuse (2-8) | 14-39, Conn | Notre Dame |
| 8. Utah St. (2-9) | 38-45, La. Tech | NMSU |
| 9. Indiana (3-8) | 7-34, Penn St. | Purdon’t |
| 10. Purdon’t (3-8) | 17-22, Iowa | Indiana |
11. Mississippi St. (3-7); 12. Tulane (2-8); 13. Holy Toledo (2-8); 14. New Mexico (4-8); 15. New Mexico St. (3-7); 16. Arizona St. (4-5); 17. Clemson (5-5); 18. Away on business; 19. Florida St. (19 – the number of players who’ve missed games this year for various violations); 20. The men of Troy (28 – the number of points the Alabama school led LSU by before losing, 30-41).
Rout of the week: Ohio St. (9-2) over Michigan (3-8).
Crummy game of the week: Do you really need to ask?