An Apple Cup pregame post

• So we’ll do it with words. And keep it short, which will be a change. Just a quick thank you for your (and by that I mean the readers of this blog) kind words, your usual intelligent responses and your everyday visits. It makes all the time worthwhile. … Now back to your regularly scheduled football game. … What is my prediction for today? To quote Clubber Lang, pain and more pain. It’s a rivalry game for goodness sakes. Anything could happen but the one thing that shouldn’t is a lack of hitting. I have a theory about football that is based on nothing more than personal experience. I believe the team that hits the hardest wins 90 percent of high school games, 75 percent of college ones and, in the NFL, everyone hits hard so it doesn’t make a difference. So, if I could hear the field from my spot in the press box, I would be listening for the sounds of the pads. They may tell the tale. … One weird thing going on right now. There are a half-dozen Huskies – and a couple of Cougars, Jared Karstetter and Marquess Wilson – shirtless before the game. One UW player has a ski mask on but no shirt. … I know you pick up this post to read some insightful analysis, but I’ve got nothing left. If David Gonzales plays, and right now I would say he’s not going to play, then the WSU offensive line will be that much better. Without him, there’s a chance even the Huskies defensive front seven will give Marshall Lobbestael pressure. And if the Cougars can’t protect Lobbestael, or have trouble running, then they won’t move the ball. And that’s about it for insightful analysis.

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• That’s it for now. We’ll be back on Twitter during the game, so follow us there. And we’ll have our last postgame post up about three hours after the game. …