Wow. So, that sucked.

8 turnovers; 7 interceptions and of course a loss last week. I really could not have pictured a worse finish for the Cougs at home this year. You have to give some credit to OSU for their win… but at the same time it’s hard to look at the numbers last week and not say that WSU handed that game over giftwrapped with a friggin bow on top. I can only think of one thing that would make last weeks loss a positive, and that’s that Wazzu should be good and pissed off right now; ready for a rebound game. Interestingly enough though… I didn’t think that the Cougar defense played all that poorly last week; it’s not often your net yards are only 34 fewer than a team that beats you by 35 points.

Matchup
Really, I think that a loss like that tends to refocus a team… not necessarily that the Cougs needed extra focus for the Apple Cup: if there is one game a year that you can traditionally count on the Cougars showing up for is the in-state rivalry game. A game that really should come down to the running game on both sides of the ball. The Huskies really don’t have that much of a passing attack, but especially with Lockler at the helm, they certainly can run the football.

Interestingly, looking at the past three weeks the machup is pretty even; the both offenses have averaged about 440 yards in the last three weeks and the defenses have given up 397 and 321. The main difference is points scored. In the past three weeks, WSU’s average score is 22.3-29.7 while UW has averaged 29.0-20.3. So despite the yards being similar, it’s all going to come down to what I think has been the key all season for WSU, and that is holding teams to field goal attempts instead of touchdowns. Similarly, the Cougar offense needs to do the opposite and can’t settle for field goals so often.

What I like
Well, the visiting team has won the last two Apple Cups. I also really like the fact that the underdogs are 10-2 against the spread in the last 12 meetings between the two teams, and the Cougars are going to be the underdog this week; the current Vegas line has UW as 5.5 pt favorites. I also like the fact that UW is 7-17 against the spread at home in their past (come on Eric, do the math)… 24 games at home. So all in all, that means that you can pretty much count on a game that will see the Cougars at least within 5 pts… and possibly winning. I also like the fact that a great deal of WSU key players are playing in their final Apple Cup. In that sense, this game is a “must win” for more WSU players and UW players in my mind as it’s much easier to cop out with the “well, there’s always next year” when you have a younger team (i.e. Tyrone’s squads at Notre Dame).

What I don’t like
The Cougs have won only one game away from Pullman this year, and that technically was a home game… it was the game against SDSU where they played in Seattle. I suppose in a glass half full kind of way, then you could say that Seattle is a home-away-from-home for WSU and they stand a good chance. In a glass half-empty view, it means that the Cougars just don’t show up to away games. You also have to wonder about the confidence about a Senior QB who threw 6 interceptions in his final home game. It’s really not the kind of performance you would come to expect and again, my only hope is that a miserable performance will serve to focus the QB… and the team for their final game. I’m also not liking the prediction to Rivals.com, who I think made an accurate prediction on all but one of WSU’s games; the misread being last week’s debacle against OSU. The website predicts an 8 point win by the Huskies, but again, there is the history of beating the spread in this rivalry as well as their blown prediction last week that’s going to allow me to forget their 20-28 predicted outcome.

Prediction
Well, I really do like the facts that Brink should be ready to rock-and-roll this week as well as the fact that the underdog and visiting teams have done well the past few seasons. With last week’s disappointment, WSU should embody the underdog role and come into UW refocused. I think that UW scores early and leads at halftime, but games are won in the second half and I think that being in that locker room faced with the possibility of losing their final game will be enough to drive the Cougars to finish strong. The one thing that should be a guarantee, is a good football game. Everything else is up in the air.

WSU 30
UW 28