On Sunday, September 6, one of the oldest rivalries in college football returns to Husky Stadium. The Apple Cup will be played on Montlake for the first time since 2023, when No. 4-ranked Washington walked it off with a 42-yard field goal to earn a 24-21 victory and a 12-0 regular season.
The win propelled the Huskies to the Pac-12 Championship game and eventually the national championship, while Washington State finished 5-7 on the year. Despite conference realignment halting many of the sport's most historic rivalries, the two programs have an agreement in place to continue the game through 2028, despite Washington's move to the Big Ten.
Just three years removed from the matchup, things couldn't be much different for either team since that evening
on Montlake.
Following UW's run to the national championship, the program lost 21 of 22 starters, along with head coach Kalen DeBoer. The Huskies then entered the Big Ten led by former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch, where they've had a 9-9 conference record since joining in 2024.
In Pullman, the Cougars are debuting their third head coach in as many years. After the future of their program was in limbo due to the dissolution of the Pac-12, the Cougars put together back-to-back winning seasons in 2024 and 2025. Following former head coach Jimmy Rogers' departure to Iowa State, the Cougs brought in Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.
The first-year head coach spent three seasons with the Tigers, coaching prominent passers like Brady Cook and Beau Pribula. Moore also played wide at Boise State alongside his brother, and current New Orleans Saints head coach, Kellen Moore, and under former UW head coach Chris Petersen.
Starting the season with an in-state rivalry, both programs have high hopes for their rosters entering 2026. Washington State and their offensive-minded coach will aim to start their season by playing spoiler against a ranked in-state rival. On the other side, the Huskies, led by junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and a highly anticipated defense, are looking to kick off their season with an assertive win and keep the Apple Cup in their trophy case.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Reviewing Washington Football's Overhaul Since the 2023 Apple Cup
