Washington State enjoys Apple Cup victory over rival Washington

SEATTLE — After celebrating the trophy on the court at Lumen Field following Washington State’s 24-19 win over Washington in the Apple Cup, Cougars coach Jake Dickert stormed into the press conference room with a cigar in his hand.

“Who has a lighter?” he asked.

The first non-conference game played after UW left for the Big Ten was a memorable victory for the program and school left behind.

“I think we might drop this trophy. I think it’s a Pac-12 trophy,” Dickert said. “I think it’s going to be here for a long time and we’re going to bring back a new one next year — a little bit of a Big Ten-Pac-12.”

Dickert’s comments seemed like a joke, but there was no denying how important the victory was to him and the program.

“It’s 1A and 1B,” Dickert said, comparing it to the team’s 2021 Apple Cup win when he was interim coach. Dickert was named permanent coach the next day by then-athletic director Pat Chun, who left in March for the same job with the Huskies.

“Just to see these guys and the celebrations and the relationships that are built and then to go out there and do it,” Dickert said. “In our time here, we’re 3-0 against the Big Ten. That’s a big deal.”

Dickert added: “The best thing I told these guys in the locker room afterward is that this is week three, this is not the end of the season. Normally (after the Apple Cup) you’re preparing for a bowl game and whatever, but we’re just getting started so we really need to get this over with quickly.”

The outcome of the game remained uncertain until the end. Washington trailed 24-19 and moved the ball to WSU’s 9-yard line with two minutes left, creating four chances in the end zone to take the lead.

With a fourth-and-goal situation from the 1, Huskies coach Jedd Fisch initially called for a handoff to running back Jonah Coleman, but he didn’t like the WSU defensive front he saw and called a timeout. Fisch changed the play call to an option to the right — the short side of the field — that called for quarterback Will Rogers to throw the ball to Coleman.

It was doomed from the start. The UW offensive line couldn’t get any push and the WSU linebacker had a clear shot to make a play behind the line of scrimmage and preserve the lead.

“That’s my fault. I made a bad call,” Fisch said. “We didn’t execute the call. We lost the game, so I’ll take that. I’m the play-caller, I’m responsible, and we didn’t do it.”

Fisch said they had practiced that play all week and the plan was to make it the “must-have call” if the Huskies needed a yard.

Instead, it will be a decision that will be debated for years to come, in a rare neutral situation in which the rivalry is fought out.

WSU quarterback John Mateer had another electric performance for the Cougars, rushing for 62 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, including a 25-yard designed run on third-and-20 to give the Cougars a 17-13 lead with 21 seconds left in the first half. He completed 17 of 34 passes for 245 yards with another score.