University of Washington
Washington State
Dawgs Headed East For 117th Boeing Apple Cup
September 15, 2025 | Football
THE GAME: The Washington football team (2-0) travels across the state to take on Washington State (2-1) in the 117th edition of the Boeing Apple Cup. The game will air on CBS and kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT. UW opened the season with home victories over Colorado State and UC Davis before an off week this past Saturday, while WSU opened with wins over Idaho and San Diego State, followed by a loss at North Texas. The game is the second-earliest (on the calendar) Apple Cup in history, surpassed only by last year's Cougar victory at Lumen Field, which was played on Sept. 14. Following the trip to Pullman, the Huskies return home for their Big Ten opener, Sept. 27 vs. defending national champion Ohio State.
QUICK HITTERS: Husky RB Jonah Coleman set a new career-high with 24 carries vs. Colorado State ... his 177 rushing yards vs. the Rams were just two yards shy of his career-high ... vs. UC Davis, Coleman rushed for five touchdowns, tying the modern UW record (Hugh McElhenny, 1950 vs. Washington State; Corey Dillon, 1996 vs. UCLA) ... Washington already has 106 yards in punt returns this season ... last year, in 13 games, Washington compiled just 93 punt return yards ... last season, the Huskies totaled more passing yards than rushing yards in all 13 games ... this season, the Huskies have compiled more rushing yards than passing yards in both games ... vs. UC Davis, the Huskies rushed for 324 yards and passed for 304 ... the last time UW reached 300-plus yards in both in a game was the 2016 win at Oregon (70-21), also the only other time in modern history that the Huskies scored 70 ... UW has won 22 consecutive home games, the longest home win streak in modern school history (the longest-ever home winning streak, 45 games, was from 1908-1917, part of UW's NCAA-record 64-game unbeaten streak) ... the current UW roster includes players who list hometowns from 19 different states, as well as in Australia and Canada ... UW's 103-man roster includes 47 players who are in their first season as a Husky, and (including those 47), 77 who are in their first or second year in the Purple and Gold ... whereas last season, the opening-day Husky roster did not include a single offensive lineman who'd ever started a game for Washington, this season's roster included seven such o-linemen.
TELEVISION: The Boeing Apple Cup game will air on CBS, with Rich Waltz, Logan Ryan and Tiffany Blackmon calling the action. For more information on how to watch online, go to www.cbs.com/live-tv/.
RADIO: All Washington football games will air on the Washington Sports Network from Learfield, with Tony Castricone (play by play), former Husky tight end Cameron Cleeland (analyst) and former UW basketball player Elise Woodward (sidelines) on the call. Radio coverage begins four hours before kickoff on the network's flagship station – Seattle's SportsRadio KJR 93.3 FM – with "Husky Gameday" live from The Zone for Husky home games. Statewide coverage on the 17-station Washington Sports Network begins two hours before kickoff. The entire broadcast is available worldwide on the Huskies Gameday mobile app and the Varsity app. The UW broadcast of this game will also air on Sirius/XM channel 372. Additionally, the Husky Football Coach's Show airs each game-week Monday during the season at 6:00 p.m. PT, live from JOEY Kitchen in University Village.
GRADUATES: A total of 12 Huskies head into the 2025 season already having earned their undergraduate degree, whether from UW or from another university before transferring to UW. Here's the list: CJ Christian (S), Zach Durfee (DE), Makell Esteen (S), Geirean Hatchett (OL), Milton Hopkins (DE), Deshawn Lynch (DL), Dyson McCutcheon (S), Quentin Moore (TE), Simote Pepa (DL), Logan Sagapolu (DL), Anthony Ward (LB), Carver Willis (OL).
ACADEMIC SUCCESS: Following the most recent academic quarter (spring, 2025), the UW football program posted some impressive results. The Husky football team's cumulative GPA for the quarter was 3.27, highest ever in program history. Additionally, 26 football players made the Dean's list, including the following 22 current team members: Xe'Ree Alexanders, Deven Bryant, Jonah Coleman, Elinneus Davis, Decker DeGraaf, Kade Eldridge, Jonathan Epperson Jr., Omari Evans, Luke Gayton, Zachary Henning, Luke Luchini, Jacob Manu, Dyson McCutcheon, Paul Mencke Jr., John Mills, Ephesians Prysock, Jack Shaffer, Austin Simmons, Anterio Thompson, Raiden Vines-Bright, Beck Walker and Demond Williams Jr.
IN THE CFP ERA: The era of the four-team College Football Playoff is gone, but that 10-season stretch (2014-2023) is instructive in terms of illustrating the teams that operated at the top level of the sport during that timespan, and Washington is one of those teams. Over that 10-year stretch, only 15 different programs earned a berth in the CFP semifinals, and only eight reached the tournament more than once. With two CPF berths in the four-team era (2016 and 2023), Washington is one of those eight. Only six teams made more than two appearances: Alabama (8), Clemson (6), Ohio State (5), Oklahoma (4), Georgia (3) and Michigan (3). For what it's worth, six more teams made their CFP debut in the 12-team bracket in 2024, but UW remains one of (now) 10 teams to have appeared in the CFP more than once, when counting the 2024 data.
B1G TIME: As has been well documented over the last couple of years, Washington officially joined the Big Ten Conference ahead of the 2024-25 school year, effective on Aug. 2, 2024. The Huskies were joined be fellow former Pac-12 programs Oregon, UCLA and USC in making the move to the B1G, which now includes 18 schools. Washington was one of four founding members of the Pacific Coast Conference (along with Cal, Oregon and Oregon State), and, along with Cal, was one of just two teams that were a part of that league (which changed names to the AAWU, Pac-8, Pac-10 and Pac-12) for the entirety of its full-fledged existence from 1915 to 2024.
FUTURE SCHEDULES: In October, 2023, the Big Ten revealed 18 football teams' home and away, conference opponents for the next for the following five seasons (2024-28). Here are the UW's home and road, Big Ten games, for the coming three years:
2026: home – Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State; road – Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue, USC
2027: home – Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, USC; road – Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers
2028: home – Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA, Wisconsin; road – Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon
HUSKIES vs. COUGARS HISTORY: The Washington-Washington State series dates back to 1900, when the teams played to a 5-5 tie in Seattle. Washington holds a commanding 76-34-6 edge in the 116-game series, including a 43-17 record in Apple Cup games (1963-present). The UW is 43-17-5 against WSU in games played in Seattle (all venues), Washington is 13-7 in games played in WSU's Martin Stadium as the first UW-WSU game wasn't played there until 1982. UW is 33-15-1 in away games in the series, including games played in both Spokane and Pullman. The Huskies have won 19 of the last 26 Apple Cups, and had a seven-game win streak broken in 2021. No Apple Cup was played in 2020 due to the pandemic. It was the first break in the series since World War II, when WSU didn't field a team for two seasons (1943-44).
Last year at neutral Luman Field, WSU edged the Huskies, 24-19, essentially ending the game with a goal-line stand late in the fourth. In 2023 at Husky Stadium, a 42-yard field goal from UW's Grady Gross with 0:00 on the clock gave the Huskies a 24-21 win. In 2022 in Pullman, UW out-scored WSU, 16-0, in the fourth quarter in a 51-33 win. Michael Penix Jr. passed for 485 yards and three TDs, while Wayne Taulapapa rushed for 126. In 2021 in Seattle, the Cougars broke a seven-game losing streak in the series, with a 40-13 win at Husky Stadium. In 2019 in Seattle, an efficient Washington offense led the way in a 31-13 Husky win. Jacob Eason was 15-for-22 for 241 yards and a TD. WSU passed for 308 yards and gained 27 first downs, but rushed for only 31 and scored just one touchdown. In 2018, Washington won, 28-15, in snowy Pullman, limiting the high-flying WSU offense to just 237 yards. Myles Gaskin's 80-yard TD run was the highlight. In 2017 in Seattle, the Huskies built a 34-0 lead en route to a 41-14 win as Gaskin rushed for 192 yards and four TDs on 25 carries. In 2016 in Pullman, Jake Browning completed 22-of-29 passes for 292 yards and three TDs and the UW led 28-3 after one quarter, in a 45-17 UW win. In 2015, Gaskin ran for 138 yards and two TDs, and the Huskies got interception returns for scores from Sidney Jones and Azeem Victor in a 45-10 win.
In 2014 in the Palouse, Dwayne Washington rushed for 135 yards, including TD runs of 60 and 51 yards, to lead the UW to a 31-13 win. The Huskies held the Cougars scoreless until five minutes into the fourth quarter. In 2013 in Seattle, the Huskies overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit in a 27-17 victory. Bishop Sankey led the Dawgs with 200 rushing yards on 34 carries while Keith Price completed 15-of-20 for 181 yards.
In 2012 in Pullman, WSU overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then won 31-28 in OT. In 2011 at CenturyLink Field, the UW won, 38-21, behind 291 yards and three TD passes from Price. In 2010, Washington beat the Cougars, 35-28, in a tightly-contested game in Pullman. The winning score came on a 27-yard pass from Jake Locker to Jermaine Kearse with 44 seconds remaining. In 2009, the Huskies posted the first Apple Cup shutout since 1964 with a 30-0 win over the Cougars at Husky Stadium, breaking a two-game losing streak in the series.
In 2008 in Pullman, the Cougars prevailed, 16-13, in double overtime. The year before at Husky Stadium, Alex Brink passed for 399 yards and hit Brandon Gibson with a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to lead WSU to a 42-35 win. The Huskies broke another two-game losing streak with a 35-32 win in Pullman in 2006. In 2005 at Martin Stadium, the Cougars beat the Dawgs, 28-25, behind a solid performance from Brink, who threw for two TDs and ran for another.
Before that, in 2003, UW pulled a third-straight upset (by AP ranking) in the series when an unranked Husky team notched a 27-19 win over No. 8 Washington State. In 2002 in Pullman, in a game that surely ranks as one of the most memorable ever in the series, Washington shocked the No. 3 Cougars with a triple-overtime, 29-26 win, despite trailing by 10 with only 4:30 to play. In 2001, when the two teams met at Husky Stadium, the 16th-ranked Huskies upset the No. 9 Cougars with a 26-14 win.
APPLE CUP FACTS: A few notes on the Boeing Apple Cup:
• This year's game will be the 117th meeting between UW and WSU. The Huskies lead 76-34-6. The series began in 1900, when the teams played to a 5-5 tie.
• The UW-WSU game wasn't called the "Apple Cup" until 1963. Prior to 1963, the two teams played for the Governor's Trophy (1931-62).
• Washington has played just 12 overtime games in its history (overtime didn't start until 1996 in college football). Four of those 12 games have come against WSU: 1996 (UW win), 2002 (UW win), 2008 (WSU win), 2012 (WSU win).
• The last seven times that the Cougars were ranked in the AP top 25 heading into an Apple Cup, the Huskies have won the game (2001-02-03-15-16-17-18).
• The Huskies have never lost more than two games in a row to WSU. On the other hand, UW has had 9 streaks of three or more wins in the series.
• From 1955 through 1981, the Apple Cup was played in Seattle (odd-numbered years) or Spokane (even-numbered years), rather than Seattle and Pullman.
ROSTER TURNOVER: Like at a lot of programs in this day and age of college football, Washington's roster has seen a good deal of turnover in the last few years, unsurprisingly, given that UW has had four head coaches in seven years. However, in terms of class years, the 2025 Husky football roster is relatively balanced. At the start of the season, UW's 103-man roster includes 29 true freshmen, 15 redshirt freshmen, 19 sophomores, 18 juniors, and 22 seniors. However, taking into consideration how many years players have been at UW provides a different picture, as 77 of the 103 are playing their first (47) or second (30) at Washington in 2025. UW's roster also includes 14 third-year Huskies, seven fourth-year (including Anthony Ward, who spent two years at UW before going to Arizona for two seasons), four fifth-year (including Geirean Hatchett, who spent last season at Oklahoma), and one sixth-year roster member (Makell Esteen, whose first year at Washington was 2020).
STARTING EXPERIENCE: For the second year in a row, it's fair to say that UW did not return a large number of starters from the previous year. However, the Husky roster DOES include a surprisingly large number of players with starting experience – nearly all from last year. Not counting specialists (Grady Gross has been UW's "starting kicker" for two seasons), and not counting the current Huskies who started for other college programs before transferring to UW, Washington had 20 different current players who had started in a Husky uniform – 12 on offense (total of 70 UW starts) and eight on defense (32).
In addition to the 20 current player who had started for Washington, the 2025 Husky roster includes 21 players (some of them the 20 who have since started for UW) who have started at least once for another four-year college: LB Taariq "Buddah" Al-Uqdah (21 starts at Washington State), LB Xe'ree Alexander (7 at UCF, 6 at Idaho), OL Drew Azzopardi (6 at San Diego State), S CJ Christian (19 at FIU), RB Jonah Coleman (7 at Arizona), Tacario Davis (22 at Arizona), Zach Durfee (11 at Sioux Falls), TE Kade Eldridge (1 at USC), WR Omari Evans (6 at Penn State), WR Kevin Green Jr. (2 at Arizona), OL Geirean Hatchett (1 at Oklahoma), QB Kai Horton (1 at Tulane), LB Jacob Manu (27 at Arizona), S Alex McLaughlin (23 at NAU), DL Simote Pepa (3 at Utah), CB Ephesians Prysock (16 at Arizona), DL Logan Sagapolu (1 at Miami, Fla.), DL Anterio Thompson (12 at WMU), DL Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei (13 at Arizona), EDGE Isaiah Ward (11 at Arizona), and OL Carver Willis (18 at Kansas State).
All totaled, as of the start of the 2025 season, UW had 33 different players with a combined total of 330 career starts at the four-year college level.
