Show notes
The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund - held down the fort Saturday night while Kim Grinolds raced back to the west side after witnessing the 114th Apple Cup first-hand. Kim saw the No. 13 Washington Huskies overcome some early sloppiness on offense and ineffectiveness on defense to put on a second-half masterclass in Pullman, eventually defeating Washington State 51-33 to ensure a 10-win regular season.
The win also exorcized some demons for the Huskies that played in last year's 40-13 win by the Cougars in Seattle.
After our initial thoughts, we broke down what we saw when Washington State's offense started the game versus Washington's defense. The Huskies had a devil of a time getting WSU Quarterback Cameron Ward on the ground, and he made the pay - time and time again.
But eventually UW's game plan paid off when they only allowed Washington State six second-half points and 129 total yards of offense. What allowed them to be so efficient and effective in the second half compared to the first half?
After a quick break, we switch sides and look at a Washington offense led by Michael Penix Jr. that averaged 10.5 yards per play. Despite running over 20 fewer plays in the game compared to Washington State, they out-gained the Cougars by 270 yards. Remarkable.
And what's more remarkable is that they did it despite a slow start for the UW offense. It was only the second time all season they didn't score points on their initial drive. But they eventually found their footing, finished the half ahead 28-27, and then it only took one play - a 75-yard pass from Penix to Jalen McMillan - to show that the Huskies were not going to mess around. Both McMillan and Rome Odunze went over the 1000-yard mark in receiving yards Saturday night.
They finished with 703 yards of total offense - good for third all-time and a UW Apple Cup record - and they did that despite back-to-back turnovers in the second half. And once they got things rolling in the second quarter, did it ever look like Washington State and their number-one conference scoring defense were going to stop them?
After another quick break, Chris and Scott talked about the ramifications for the Huskies as they look to bowl season. Did Washington get inadvertently hosed by the Pac-12 because of their preseason move to consolidate the divisions and take the top two teams regardless of record? Because if they hadn't done that, UW would be playing USC in the Pac-12 Championship game next weekend instead of Utah.
But does the 10 wins, coupled by a potential of USC making the College Football Playoff, guarantee a New Year's Six bowl game for the Huskies? And where do they think the Huskies will end up when the latest College Football Playoff poll is released on Tuesday?
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