Surprising Stuff about Apple Cup (We Bet You Don’t Know)
The Apple Cup is entering it's 112th edition Friday, making it one of the OLDEST rivalry games in all of college football. There's been some surprising games in it's history. UW holds a 73-32-6 edge over it's cross-state neighbors. But the Cougs have far evened it up the last 30 years, and WSU has spoiled UW's Rose Bowl dreams at least 3 times.
Here's some surprising facts you may not know about the Cup:
- The very first game (1900) ended in a 5-5 tie
- For three years during WWI and WWII the game was not played
- Because no games were played 1942, '43' and '44 (WWII) TWO Apple Cups were played in 1945. UW won 6-0 in Seattle, WSU 7-0 in Pullman.
- The lowest scoring game in Apple Cup history was a 0-0 tie, that happened THREE times: 1932, 1934 and 1942.
- WSU has never won three Apple Cups in a row. They've won back to back 8 times, most recently in 2007-20008.
- The biggest WSU blowout was 1973, when the Cougs doubled up the Huskies 52-36.
- The biggest UW win was in 2000, a 51-3 win.
- From 1956 until 1980, WSU 'home' games in the series were played at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, in part because it was felt it would draw a larger crowd. For much of that time Albi held slightly larger crowds than Martin Stadium in Pullman. Albi could hold around 37,000, a little more than Martin. Now Martin Stadium has thousands more, while Albi has had end zone seats removed during it's modest renovation a few years ago.
- The only WSU coach with a winning record in the series is the infamous Bill Doba, who went 3-2. Current coach Mike Leach is 1-6. Dennis Ericksen, who went on to coach Miami U to a national title and then a short stint in the NFL with Seattle, went 1-1.
- Probably the biggest WSU upset was in 1982, when the 2-8 Cougs dumped the #5 ranked Huskies 24-20, knocking them out of the Rose Bowl and a chance at the national title. Chuck Nelson, the Husky kicker, had not missed a FG all season--he missed in the Apple Cup.