My Day at the Apple Cup

Thanks to my boy Nattie Ice, I got to experience the Apple Cup in person for the first time on Saturday. It was a great time and one that I thought I would give a recap of.

• I get the call saying we are leaving at 3:30 for a 4:30 game. The Wife says we are crazy, but I didn't care - I wasn't driving. AND even though I assumed we would be late, there was sure to be lots of scoring, so we wouldn't miss too much.
• Nattie knows of a sweet place to park for free. Amazingly the lot was not full and we were on time.
• After walking towards the NW end of the stadium, we realize we made a mistake an turn around. We get in the NE line and stayed there for over 30 minutes. It was a shit storm. At the beginning, people were creating multiple lines and then merging. Once the official line was established, people started walking on the grass to bypass the line. they got away with it for about 10 minutes before a drunk woman with a phone and cigarette starting bitching out everyone that passed by. She and a dude then got security involved and we stopped getting cut.
  
• We find out that every person is getting patted down and that the women's line is quicker. It's simple - when the ratio of men to women in the stadium is 4:1 but the ratio of male security guards is 2:1, the women are certainly gonna get the advantage.
• When we got within 10 feet of the pat down, some dbags found another way to cut. It led to my favorite exchange of the day:
  
  Nattie: What are you gonna cut?
  DBag: Yes
  Nattie: No.
  
  It was that simple.
• We both somehow got into the stadium with our alcohol even though the patter clearly ran his hand over my airline bottle. Either he was sensing the ever growing anger from the line or he thought it was my belt buckle. Who knows. I'm just glad I got through.
• Qwest HAS to do avoid this situation next year when the Huskies move in. It was a disaster.
• Finally we get to our seats and realize we have missed the blocked punt. The next WSU drive ends in a fumble and the Huskies score to go up 14-0. Somehow it didn't feel convincing...oh, maybe it was because WSU was outgaining us on the day. All I knew was that we were two simple plays from being tied at 0 or down a td.
• After WSU scored late in the first half to tie the game, the Huskies responded with a td drive of their own. I remember thinking that 2:05 was a lot of time on the clock and it turned out to be.
• Play of the day goes to Kasen Williams for hurdling over some would-be tackler. I could take the time to find out his name, but really I don't care. And I'm sure he is ok with it that way. Williams just owned him. He is a freak of nature.
• Nattie has a definite man-crush on Austin Sefarian-Jenkins (and it's well deserved)
• Keith Price didn't look right the entire second half and actually took himself out of the game prior to the first play of a drive. It was definitely weird as their was no reason for him to be injured. (Turns out it was a hurt thumb on his throwing hand). He came back in and broke the single season UW record for td passes later in the game.
• Just a side note, but I have heard numerous times about the great lineage of UW QB's over the years...yet if you look at the single-season td leaders, only 5 have ever thrown more than 20 tds in a single season. That is kind of shocking to me.
  
• About halfway through the half I realized that Keith price and Eric Folk wore the same number. Same thing with Chris Polk and Sean Parker. I know this is common knowledge to most fans, but I had not noticed it until then. I understand that with >100 players on the roster, someone is going to have to share numbers, but your two best players? Really? Really?
• Speaking of Chris Polk, he had a really quiet 100 yard game. I would have put it at 65 tops.
• I definitely didn't feel comfortable with a 31-21 lead in the 4th. (and I know I wasn't the only one). The problem with a bad defense in late game situations is that if they are winning they have to stop 4 plays rather than only 3. Earlier in the game, if the defense holds the offense to less than 10 yards on 3 plays, the team punts. In the fourth that team will go for it...and stopping them on 4 plays is way harder.
  
• The defense then came up with a huge play at the end of the game, intercepting a desparate flea-flicker. The offense then mached down the field and the game was over. 38-21. Huskies keep the Apple Cup for another year.
  
  
• Now a few words about WSU. I really liked their QB Marshall Lobbestael and think he is going to be a star. He was really poised for a freshman playing in his first AppleCup. There are rumors that Mike Leach will be on the top of the wish list (although some are speculating that he will be going to ASU) to replace Paul Wolff and I have to be honest, I think it would be a spectacular hire for them. I think the QB could be really really successful with Leach's type of offense.
• I was really amazed by the WSU fans. I never have been at a game where the away crwod rivaled the home crowd (well, anything outside of 500 person Patriot League tournament games) and it was a great atmosphere. I now see why the game is so important to everyone involved. I loved it.

So the Huskies ended a 3 game losing streak and finished 7-5 on the season. However, it is entirely possible that they will be going to second highest bowl for Pac-12 teams - the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. It's really amazing if you think about it. Stanford is going to the BCS. Oregon won't lose to UCLA in the Pac-12 title game and will be going to the Rose Bowl. USC is on probation. That leaves UW, Cal, Utah and UCLA as the only remaining conference teams with a winning record. Considering UW beat both Cal and Utah, they HAVE to be the most attractive of the teams. If not, then it's probably the Holiday Bowl or the Sun Bowl. I know 7-5 is a bit of a disappointment (they easily could have been 9-3) but the Alamo Bowl would be a quality bowl to be invited to.

There were weeks during the season when the sports writers around here were claiming the Huskies to be taking a step back. At other times, they were on the right track. It seemed like most of them weren't taking the whole body of work into account and instead making their proclamation on one game. I know it's an easy thing to do - as fans and writers we are reactionary - but really we need to take a step back to appreciate where this team has come and where it is going. From 0-12 four years ago to 2 successive bowl trips, the program is definitely on the upswing.

I wondered where the team would go this year with Price under center, but he proved to be the real deal. The best thing is that he will be here two more years and have a plethora of weapons to throw to - Williams, Seferian-Jenkins and Bishop Sankey are all freshman, Jesse Callier a Sophomore - which will undoubtedly make the offense as explosive as it was this year (oh, and there is the possibility that Polk could return). As for the much-maligned defense - I think they can only improve and might actually do so next year with the foundation of Sean Parker, Princeton Fuimaono, Hau'oli Jamora, Thomas Tutogi (all Sophomores) and Demond Trufant and Nate Fellner (Juniors). It will be tough to replace Alameda Ta'Amu and Cort Dennison, but I think their is some talent on that side of the ball. Now the team just needs to think about it's game plan (um, talking to you, Nick Holt) and 9-10 wins might be sooner than we think.

Thanks again to Nattie. Bow Down.