For the second consecutive year, the Washington State Cougars were favored to win this game, and earned my prediction that they would haul the Apple Cup trophy back to the Palouse. And for the sixth consecutive year, the Washington Huskies overwhelmed the Cougars to the tune of a double-digit victory, extending their lead in the series to 73-32-6.
You think I would have learned my lesson by now.
Because despite all the talk about Gardner Minshew’s budding Heisman campaign, despite Wazzu owning a top-10 ranking, and despite a very real feeling that Washington State’s 2018 season was a Cinderella story in the making, the result of Friday’s game was the same as it’s been since Chris Petersen arrived at Washington: The Huskies own this rivalry, and the UW defense under Jimmy Lake and Pete Kwiatkowski is all but tailor-made to negate the strengths of the Air Raid, especially in late November blizzards.