2024 Apple Cup & Civil War Previews

Intro it is rivalry week in the Pacific Northwest much earlier than typical you will not be eating your Thanksgiving leftovers watching the APPA cup or the Civil War as this Saturday September 14th will be the apple cup and the Civil War the stakes are high for all four teams this year as every team heading into week three are undefeated and after this weekend the huskys and Ducks will begin their Big 10 conference schedule and the Cougars and beavers will begin their largely Mountain West remainder of schedule for all four teams this is an especially high stakes rivalry game as every team is currently undefeated defeated the huskys and Ducks are looking to remain undefeated and give them the best shot at making the college football playoffs while for the Cougars and the Beavers this is an important matchup to remain relevant on the college football landscape as they are the remaining two schools in the Pack 12 and they are both looking for a conference or to rebuild the Pack 12 Conference after next year as it currently stands they have the ability to keep the conference as it currently is through next year after which they will have to have eight teams within the conference to remain a power five conference make sure to leave your question and opinions in the comments below and we'll be looking to answer your questions on next week's podcast and before we get into it to stay up to date on all things Washington State University football make sure to like And subscribe to the couch GM I am a wcu grad as of 2016 and it's my goal to help share information on the teams that I care about the most that is when I'm not working my full-time job as a mortgage broker here in the Pacific Northwest so if you're looking to buy sell or refinance in Washington Oregon or Idaho make sure to reach out to myself the couch GM Connor web and I'd be happy to help you with your mortgage financing Social Media of the Week needs and with that let's get into the podcast with Dylan H all right big week this week it's rivalry week in the former Pack 12 we got two big rivalry games we have the apple cup which is happening this weekend against Washington State and the University of Washington Huskies this is going to be on a neutral site at Lumen field in Seattle we also have the Civil War that is happening again this year versus you know Oregon and Oregon State but first off Dylan you sent me a screenshot of a Reddit post and it's showing the former Pack 12 schools this year the group of teams are 21-2 and 3-0 against the SEC on the year imagine if the pple was still here maybe they would be getting some recognition that they deserve but instead that was just a weird mess of trying to find figure out how to watch these games in the Big 10 you know with their separate separate subscription networks you got the big 12 you have the Pack 12 it's just a mess what what are your thoughts on you know the conference realignment and what's going on I mean we saw it last year Pack 12 is arguably the best football conference in the nation and you know this season I saw a tweet uh from Jeff O'Neal Big Time Cougar Fan and he said you know it's like these these these postgame Recaps Sports Center this and that I mean hardly glossing over Oregon and boisey state hardly glossing over these new West Coast schools that are now uh in the Midwest and and East Coast time zones you know it's like this East Coast bias is still sticking and it it's hilarious you saw softy State I just cut the cord on cobcast I'm I'm buying uh YouTube TV well softy six months ago you're saying hey linear's the way you know so it's it's just kind of funny seeing uh some of these huskys and Ducks fans with their uh foot in their mouth and we'll have to see how things shift moving forward you know P 12 these two teams Washington State and Oregon State they have this year next year until they have to have eight teams in the conference otherwise it wouldn't be a power five conference so there's some Reign realignment that has to happen but yeah the East Co the East Coast bias continues we're still having to you know try to push out content for the West Coast teams because no one else is talking about them so we'll keep doing our thing to try to get the word out there also from social media this week a big shout out to Mike Evans of the Buccaneers he was rocking the Klay Thompson basketball jersey Washington state number one heading into the game this week white as we transition into the Texas Tech uh WSU portion we have our Texas Tech but hurt fan of the Week on X and it is Mr Ryan Evans Ryan e 836 it's wild that the most resource poor Talent poor program in the P5 who literally got relegated out of the P4 is a better program than 110 million Revenue program in Texas well enjoy loic Ryan I'm sure it's great this time of the year and a big shout out to Texas Tech for allowing johnan to set the school record for rushing yards in a WSU vs Texas Tech recap game by a quarterback with 197 rushing yards big shout out to you guys tag him in this tag him in this let's let's do a little recap of the Washington State Texas Tech game it was a wild game John MTI ends up setting the single game record for wcu for a quarterback with 197 rushing yards I mean even is this guy even a quarterback at this point or is he just an rb1 that's able to throw the ball as well dude that 62 yard rush man I mean it was insane he wouldn't go down and he talked about it at the end of you know in his press conference man I didn't want to get laughed at by my teammates I didn't want to get caught I mean that is a big boy most rushing yards just absolutely Clips Tim Rosen box record and he was just insane you know I texted uh Greg Whitter of coug fan during the game he said football is so weird man he said I'm just I was telling my brother the same thing he at the time mattier was two for nine 17 yards and WSU was up three scor course I mean what a what a also an intro to that game I remember coach Dicker was really talking up our kickoff specialist and I'm sorry I do not have his name at the moment I'm sure you will dub in uh his photo and uh name as we're talking about this but you know he said we brought him hin specifically to kick off and just have touchbacks je Dean Janowski focused on kicking I mean he booted touchbacks all week long against Portland State first play of the game Pooch um onside kick we get it two plays later John Mater interception I'm like gosh we're we're cougan we're back we're back baby that that opening was insane I mean it showed I love to see the the aggressiveness you know if it doesn't work out I mean they have decent field position but the fact that it worked out and then just yeah the entire first quarter of that game was just a sloppy mess from both sides really johnan tier throws a interception the second play from the line of scrimmage but then beyond that it was really Washington State dominating across the line the first game for for WSU John maner was 11 for 17 352 yards with five touchdowns in the air in this game he was 9 for 195 yards in the air one touchdown one interception and then he had 21 carries 197 yards in a touchdown on the ground so I mean this this next game against udub is going to be their first real big test and we're going to see what John Mater is making of in this app a cup yeah and you know hey we didn't really throw the ball against Texas Tech I mean the over under was at 66 points yeah had Tech scoring 52 week one US scoring 70 and it went under 300 total yards of rushing though I mean Wayan Parker with another touchdown John mattier with a touchdown you know javoni Slimer uh coming in and getting getting a touchdown as well so it's going to be interesting to to see how John mattier looks uh this week because let's be honest he looked a little rattled in that first half a little nervous you know missed some some wide open throws now in the second half too you had guys drop some balls that John you know kind of put right on the numbers so you're hoping hey you know nationally televised game big one Big 12 Conference school first home game let's let's see how mattier and his nerves look next week uh Apple Cup Preview at a neutral sight uh facility and that kind of takes us into the next aspect of of the apple cup you know being at Lumen field and and Connor kind of kind of update us on on what this ticket situation looks like yeah so as far as ticket sales are concerned apparently as of right now we're recording on the Monday leading up to the apple cup apparently ticket sales are somewhere around half sold at Lumen field there's a few reasons to this first off udub season ticket holders don't have a free ticket or that's not a part of the package since it's a neutral site they have to buy their own ticket at Lumen field also apparently what what I've speculation is that Washington State fans are protesting them not being in a conference so that could be playing into this a bit but not a good look right now if if it's goingon to be a nationally televised game this coming Saturday 12:30 it's on peacock yeah is it on peacock it's on peacock yeah so you know you don't want a half sold Stadium on on TV there uh it's going to be a huge game and I mean we could talk about the ticket sales more but then we'll get into the implications of what this game really means yeah I I mean the implications it's a totally different feeli I mean typically Apple Cup right around Thanksgiving it's usually kind of you know during the last three or four leech years that game really kind of determined who was going to win the Pack 12 North um so now fast forward Washington State way different boat than udubb we got a rattle off at 111 12-0 season took care of Texas Tech remaining two games udub and boisee state and then all of a sudden like we said we've got That Mountain West schedule up until that final you know Road game against Oregon State uh so from our standpoint from WSU standpoint is this is a must-win game it's it's one of the last Marquee games on the schedule from udub standpoint now this is their last game before they have to get into their big 10 schedule I think they open up with Northwestern at home and then they fly to Ruckers have fun in Piscataway all right um ridiculous so um that's just kind of the tale of the differences in terms of hey this is the Marquee game for for WSU you know I I figure tickets are going to pick up with WSU beating Texas Tech but there is still a lot of of cougs and renowned cougs online that are against it and will'll be watching the game from home so you know that just that's what happens with these neutral sight games continue the home in home and and and that's that that's the snake oil salesman Pat Chun coming right in there he leaves Washington State goes to udub I mean and you talk about the implications yeah these are the biggest implications in this rivalry game that we've seen in both of these rivalry games that we've seen really in years all four teams are undefeated heading into the apple cup into the Civil War and as you mentioned you know it's big for udubb and Oregon because this is big for their playoff hopes um if they were to lose one of these rivalry games as you mentioned now they have the the full Big 10 schedule that's going to be tough for them and then with wcu and OSU it's big implications not just for this year but for next year and for 2026 if they want to really keep themselves or put themselves back on the map say like hey we just beat these you know Big 10 teams WC just beat a big 12 team handily at home we need to be in the these big conferences competing with these big teams because everyone knows that the talent is there and as Dicker said in his postgame press conference after the tech game this is not a statement win you don't W wcu has been doing this forever as he said and they deserve to be in a big conference yeah I mean this is going to be big time we got to have eyeballs on the TV set cou fans need to step up we need to be able to watch this game there's going to be a lot of implications like we said there's only four games that matter this year for us in terms of TV viewership um and attendance and it's going to be the Oregon State um boisey State Texas Tech and udub okay so we're one out of four done took the dub against Texas Tech let's see uh you know how things turn out this week and and you're and you're looking at a a a udub team that has to replenish a lot and and we have to replenish a lot on our defensive side of the football too but I mean they lose Michael penx they lose pulk they lose radun they lost a lot this is a new team um now there are still some some some synes between WSU and udub and one of them is Will Rogers the transfer quarterback from Mississippi State so let's go let's go back before Gardner mchu was a quarterback his offensive coordinator was will rogers's Dad Wyatt at Brandon High in Mississippi so that's where Gardner learned the air raid was through will rogers's father Wyatt Mike Leech takes off after the menu season goes to Mississippi state who's his start his first quarterback it's Will Rogers obviously tragedy Mike Leech passes away the defensive coordinator took over as the head coach had a poor season brought you know brought in a pro Style offense as opposed to the air raid and Rogers only played eight games got hurt then transferred to udub under kayin dor and Ben grub well hey they H decide udub is the typical Stepping Stone program you know they're gonna win there to get that better job that happened once again he takes Alabama job and all of a sudden Will Rogers opens his recruitment back up but Jed fish gets higher they had played Mississippi State when he was at Arizona last year so he liked what he saw on the tape was able to keep him and and Rogers has looked good uh through his first two games but it's Eastern Michigan Weaver State so this is going to be his first test as a udub quarterback and really the skill positions at udub we're going to see what they have as well you know for the first time so their game plan is going to be pretty simple it's going to be run the ball and put pressure on John Matti you expect a lot of Blitz packages and and and they're going to really try to make things tough for Mater disguising coverages at the line so it's going to be a real lit Miss test for John this week you know we thought it would happen this past week against a really undermanned Texas Tech secondary which is a little concerning going into this week but we'll see uh we'll see what they can do in terms of uh looking at last week's tape and and moving forward a bit more on Will Rogers you know this is a highly touted quarterback in the transfer portal that was coming out of Mississippi State he played 43 games over Four Seasons at Mississippi State making 40 40 starts he set a total of 29 single game season in Career School records at Mississippi State his 94 career touchdown passes ranked number four in SEC history while his career yard age total was number two so this is not just a a small transfer that was coming to udub this is a a bigname quarterback that has the the history and the stats kind of like a bow Nick to where he has a ton of experience in college this year so far he's 41 of 52 a 79% uh completion percentage so far on the year 51 yards an average of 9.8 five touchdowns no interceptions a QB rating of 193.130 yards on the ground which is more than ub's leading rusher on the ground so we'll have to see what happens it's going to be a good game it's going to be a big test for Will Rogers for this entire udub team as well as the WC team and it's going to be a completely different environment and an NFL stadium you just really don't get that true College aspect you know so yeah it's it's gonna be interesting and how about the the potential injuries for wcu I know in the first half of the the wcu game there was a couple scares first Kyle Williams he was taken down by like three or four guys looks like all of that weight went onto his shoulder I thought he dislocated his shoulder something like that he had to go to the locker room but then he comes back out right before the second half catches that tip drill in the end zone for a touchdown and so he seems that he should be okay it was like kind of very Paul Pierce like you know like camera angle kind of zoomed in on Kyle hey we're glad like's okay it looked like he was almost like in tears just because yeah he might have thought hey my season's over knows he come back in go in the locker room figure out okay hey we're okay comes back out and makes that incredible like said touchdown catch in the corner where he kind of bobbled it lost it and then found it at the end so that was huge because we're we're already thin at wide receiver and one of those designations is Carlos Hernandez you know I talked to uh Jamie vinnick League beat Rider of cou fan obviously we're we're taping this on a Monday so the current press conference for Coach Dicker happening right now as we speak and know he thinks Jamari Coulson start a corner gonna most likely be out again this week as well as Carlos Hernandez and the guy that filled in for Jamari Ethan oconor we talked about last week he was fantastic nine pass attempts against him only one completion he had an interception he did a fantastic job last week so he's going to be in the thick of it once again Hunter Nick harborer he thinks it we can be anywhere from a questionable standpoint obviously Dean Janikowski has been handing handling the punting didn't look too bad punting the football unfortunately he looked better punting the football than actually kicking a Miss extra point as well as a field goal last week so that just goes to show you H having to handle both of those duties you know it's it's it's tough so it' be great to have Nick back and then F Al Mo check the pronunciation Dills got it looks like it's goingon to be questionable and that's arguably our best offensive lineman so getting him back to add to hillborn and Brock du is gonna be huge that's that's that's where we have a you know a little bit of our age is on that offensive line and you know if we can get a f Le back that's going to be huge going forward and also a true freshman running back Wayan Parker he's been a stud so far this year he he looked like he was limping a little bit in that game are there is there any word onit haven't seen too much on that again you know we'll uh we'll see what comes out of that press conference today not good you know obviously seeing him limp off near the end of that game so uh that's just kind of where we're at in terms of uh the injury report this week for the cougs so kind of go from there yeah so it'll be it'll be an interesting apple cup it'll be a huge apple cup in bias not bias this is the the biggest opportunity that I think Washington state has had in a few years to really take down the huskys last year when the huskys made it to the national championship game the cougs nearly pulled off an upset in the AL cup yeah there was some stuff that that happened in that game the penalties right towards the end yeah that were questionable maybe trying to keep the Huskies husky playoff hopes alive yeah cam Ward just you know he runs the football on that third and third wide open 20 30 yards we we're maybe kicking a you know an expiring field goal to win that game but hey you know but yeah essentially ub's entire roster is turned over I think it was an article in January to where there were something like 40 different members of of ub's football team that either transferred decommitted retired it's basically a completely different team they're trying to learn they're trying to get their chemistry in order they're trying to figure things out so it'll be a big game Civil War Preview now moving into to the civil war between Oregon and Oregon State this is going to be another big matchup we've seen organ nearly lose a couple games that they should not be losing close games you know the first one University of Idaho nearly takes them out at oddson in Eugene second game against Boise State Boise State Boise state is a highly touted team this year with their their running back being a potential Heisman hopeful what are your thoughts on on Oregon this year and then also Oregon State as we head into the Civil War I mean Oregon $20 million n nil roster baby and and they're just squeaking by you know I but they're getting dubs and you take a look at this organ team could be similar to what the udub team was last year not a lot of people remember that udub team had eight one score victories you know leading up to that final four and national championship appearance so hey they are they they haven't looked you know as vly as as we as we thought they would this season but they're still two and 0 and this game this Civil War it's it reminds me of an old fable the tortoise in the hair so far through two weeks this year Oregon State leads the nation in time of possession that 210 victory over San Diego State last week I mean it was just total utter line domination and rushing domination they had the ball for 38 minutes as opposed to stsu 21 minutes and change and they're led by another dynamic duo at running back and and this year it's an old face Jam Griffin and uh Anthony henerson now henerson transferred from Colorado he was there the past two seasons Jam Griffin started his career at Georgia Tech then transferred to Oregon State in 2022 transferred out to ol Miss and Lan kein in 2023 only had seven rushing attempts so he's back after Oregon State lost Damen Martinez to the whole nil conundrum with with Miami so they have a great two-pronged horse over there and again you know if they can control the clock they can use that home environment and rese if going to be sold out you know these Bieber fans are going to be jammed up because they have the same thoughts as us in early you know preseason a lot of people thought Oregon state was just a little bit further ahead than where WSU was and had a a you know more of a likely chance of maybe run an 11 win 12 win season 16-point underdogs at home the uh the over under is 50 on that I don't know how you don't take Oregon state in the points at home this weekend 16 with how Oregon has has looked so it's going to be interesting to see Dylan Gabriel you know the big time transfer quarterback coming in from Oklahoma he just has not looked great you some Miss throws last week against uh boisey State and then the other aspect is Oregon State's transfer quarterback is uh javanni McCoy he played his football under cooch and Idaho last season so you know what they're really relying on him to do nine for 10 first week against Idaho State 15 for 20 160 yards against San Diego State he's just your game manager you know I similar what Jimmy G was with with the 49ers don't make any credle mistakes let our rushing and our defense handle the handle the game and and time of possession and and we're really just gonna try and hold on to that football and not make any mistakes so my opinion no bias I'm taking the points in Oregon State this week yeah and Dylan Gabriel on the year he is 59 of 70 623 yards in the air four touchdowns javanni McCoy for Oregon state is 25 of 36 295 yards and two touchdowns Jordan James for the Ducks is the leading rusher on the team 32 carries 197 yards and one touchdown and then Jam Griffin is Oregon State's leading rusher 38 carries 249 yards and three touchdowns as you mentioned the the current line is is Oregon by 16 and a half as far as the the udub Apple Cup game is concerned right now Washington is favored four and a half points so opened at eight and a half um so that's that's open at eight and a half yeah almost chopped in half over the last 24 hours that oh they changed over the last 24 hours yeah so uh interesting lines um you I got a friend that's probably gonna take WSU with the points this week you know so I'll uh we'll see what he says about it you might have two of those Yeah well yeah it's gonna be it's gonna be an awesome week make sure to like And subscribe to the couch GM to stay up to date in all things Washington State football moving forward forward and we'll see you on the recap