THE GAME: The Washington football team (2-0) takes on Washington State (2-0) this Saturday in the 116th meeting between the two: the Boeing Apple Cup. This year, the game will take place at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff is Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT, and the game will air on Peacock. UW and WSU first met on the gridiron in 1900 and, since 1963, have played for the Apple Cup trophy. For the first time since 1961, the game will be a non-conference meeting. Following the Apple Cup, the Dawgs open Big Ten Conference play on Sept. 21, when Northwestern travels to the Pacific Northwest.
 
QUICK HITTERS: UW and WSU played the 2011 Apple Cup at Lumen Field, due to the renovation of Husky Stadium … UW won that one, 38-21 … the Huskies also played the 2005 opener (vs. Air Force) and the entire 2012 home schedule at what is now called Lumen Field. … UW has not allowed a touchdown  in two games so far this sesaon … the last time UW went two games in a row without allowing a TD was 1991 (games 9-10, USC and Oregon State) … the Huskies rank No. 9 in the nation in both pass efficiency and pass efficiency defense … Washington has won 16 consecutive home games, the second-longest, current home win streak in the nation, and fourth longest in school history … the Huskies’ nine-game road win streak is tied for the sixth-longest current road streak in the nation … QB Will Rogers’ next touchdown pass will be the 100th of his career … 34 players made their Husky debut in the Weber State game, including nine true freshmen … four more players saw their first UW action vs. EMU …  not counting the four-game 2020 season, the Huskies have won 10 or more games in five of the last seven seasons … Washington is 74-26 since the end of the 2015 season, and 27-3 over the last 30 games … the current UW roster includes players who list hometowns from 19 different states, as well as in Germany and Canada … UW’s 110-man roster entering the year includes 25 true freshmen, 20 redshirt freshmen, 16 sophomores, 27 juniors, and 22 seniors … the Husky roster includes five players in their sixth season at UW: DL Jacob Bandes, RB Cameron Davis, S Kamren Fabiculanan, LB Drew Fowler, and LB Alphonzo Tuputala … those five are playing for their fourth different head coach in 2024.
 
TELEVISION: The Washington-Washington State game will air on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister, Colt McCoy, and Zora Stephenson calling the action. For more information on how to watch Peacock, go to www.peacocktv.com.
 
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 16-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 97 or 195. Additionally, the Husky Football Coach’s Show airs each Monday during the season at 6:00 p.m. PT.
 
B1G TIME: As has been well documented over the last year-plus, Washington has officially joined the Big Ten Conference ahead of the 2024-25 school year, effective on Aug. 2, 2024. The Huskies are 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: Last October, the Big Ten revealed 18 football teams’ home and away, conference opponents for the next for the next five seasons (2024-28). Here are the UW’s home and road, Big Ten games, for the coming four years:
2025: home – Illinois, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers; road – Maryland, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin
2026: home – Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State; road – Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue, USC
2027: home – Maryland, Michgan 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 76-33-6 edge in the 115-game series, including a 43-16 record in Apple Cup games (1963-present). The UW is 43-16-5 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 25 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 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 Apple Cup,  presented by Boeing:
• This year’s game will be the 116th meeting between UW and WSU. The Huskies lead 76-33-6. 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.
 
AT LUMEN FIELD: UW opened the 2005 season at what is know known as Lumen Field (the Seahawks’ home field) in a neutral site game vs. Air Force, and then played the 2011 Apple Cup and the entire 2012 season there, during the renovation of Husky Stadium. The Huskies lost the 2005 game (20-17), won the 2011 Apple Cup, and then went 5-1 at Lumen Field in 2012. All totaled, the Huskies are 6-2 in the Seahawks’ home stadium.
 
EARLY FOR APPLES?: This year’s Boeing Apple Cup will be, easily, the earliest-played UW-WSU football game, in terms of the calendar, in the 115 times that it has been played. The majority of Apple Cups have been played in November, though more than a handful took place in October, the earliest being Oct. 11, 1941. In fact, through 1970, college football didn’t generally get underway until the third Saturday of September (or later). In 1949, the annual UW-WSU football game settled into the final game of the regular season, with rare exceptions when it was next-to-last (2001, 2007-08-09).
 
ROSTER TURNOVER: One main storyline for the 2024 UW football team has been about the amount of change that has occured since the end of the 2023 season. In fact, UW has just two returning, regular starters back from ’23 (LB Alphonzo Tuputala and CB Elijah Jackson), and the Huskies lost 41 letterwinners off of last year’s team, while adding 59 new players to the roster since the end of last season. On the depth chart for the season-opener in 2023, 44 players were listed on offense and defense. Just 11 of those 44 are still on the Husky roster (and just two of those 11 are on offense). In the season-opener vs. Weber State, a total of 34 players saw their first action in a Washington uniform. Nine of those 34 were true freshman.
 
GRADUATES: A total of 21 Huskies head into the 2024 season already having earned their undergraduate degree. Here’s the list: RB Sam Adams II, S Cameron Broussard, DL Jacob Bandes, LB Carson Bruener, TE Owen Coutts, RB Cameron Davis, S Makell Esteen, S Kamren Fabiculanan, LB Drew Fowler, S Justin Harrington, WR Jeremiah Hunter, WR Giles Jackson, DL Deshawn Lynch, OL Gaard Memmelaar, TE Quentin Moore, QB Will Rogers, DL Logan Sagapolu, WR Camden Sirmon, OL D’Angalo Titialii, LB Alphonzo Tuputala, OL Enokk Vimahi.
 
NFL CONNECTIONS: Much has been made of the UW coaching staff’s NFL connections, including that coordinators Steve Belichick (Bill) and Brennan Carroll (Pete), as well as analyst Luke Del Rio (Jack) and GA Jake Lynch (John), are all sons of prominent NFL coaches and GMs. Three other staff members – Scottie Graham, Vinnie Sunseri and quality control analyst Caleb Wilson – played in the NFL. And, UW’s player roster also includes a number of sons of former NFL players: Sam Adams II (Sam), Carson Bruener (Mark), Roice Cleeland (Cam), Quentin Moore (Mark), Russell Davis II (Russell), Dyson McCutcheon (Daylon; plus grandfather, Lawrence), and Justice Williams (Roland). Lastly, Daniyel Ngata (Joseph), Ryan Otton (Cade), Keleki Latu (Laiatu) each have older brothers who are current NFL players.
 
ALASKA AIRLINES FIELD AT HUSKY STADIUM: The Oregon game on Nov. 5, 2011, marked the final game in Husky Stadium prior to major renovations that were completed in summer, 2013. The Huskies re-opened their home field with a 38-6 win over then-No. 19 Boise State on Aug. 31, 2013. The 2023 season marks the 103rd season of play in Husky Stadium. Original construction on the facility was completed in 1920 when Washington played one game in the new campus facility. UW’s all-time record in Husky Stadium stands at 415-185-21 (.685). Washington is 59-16 in home games since the stadium re-opened in 2013.