Apple Cup
Teams | |
---|---|
Trophy | Apple Cup (since 1962) Governor's Trophy (1934–61) |
The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars. Both are members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
First played in 1900, it is traditionally the final game of the regular season and formerly took place on the Saturday preceding Thanksgiving. Since 1946, it has been held in odd years at Husky Stadium in Seattle (except 2011 at CenturyLink Field), and WSU has been the home team during even years, with games played in Pullman at Rogers Field (1946, 1948, 1954) and Martin Stadium (since 1982), with the other fifteen contests in Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium. With the extension of the college football regular season to 12 games in 2006, the game is often played at a later date. Since 2011, it has been held on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but was played a day later in 2014.[1] First awarded in 1962, the Apple Cup trophy goes to the winner. The Huskies lead the series 70–32–6 (.676).
Series history
From 1934 to 1961, the teams played for the "Governor's Trophy".[2] The game was renamed the "Apple Cup" in 1962 because of Washington being a major producer of apples.
With the lengthening of the college football regular season schedule to 12 games in 2006, there was a movement to change the date of the game from the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the weekend following, which would have allowed a bye week during the season. In 2006, both teams played 12 straight weeks without a break, leaving the two teams noticeably fatigued. For the first time, the 2007 game was played the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It returned to the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 2008 in Pullman.
The media joked that the 2008 game in Pullman was the "Crapple Cup" and "full of worms," because WSU (1–10) hosted winless UW (0–11); the Cougars won, albeit in double overtime.[3] The game returned to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2009 in Seattle and the 2010 game was played on December 4 in Pullman. The 2011 game in Seattle on Saturday, November 26, was moved to CenturyLink Field to allow an early start on the renovation of Husky Stadium.
From 1950 to 1980 (except for 1954), the WSU home games in the series were played at Joe Albi Stadium (Memorial Stadium until 1962) in Spokane. The Cougars won three of these sixteen games in Spokane (1958, 1968, 1972). In 1910, the WSU home game was played in Spokane's Recreation Park.
The first game was held in 1900 and resulted in a 5–5 tie; through the 2015 game, the Huskies lead the series 70–32–6.
Game results
Washington victories | Washington State victories | Tie games |
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^ The 2011 game was played at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
Overtime was introduced for Division I-A (FBS) in 1996 and has been used four times in the Apple Cup, all in Pullman.
Each team has two overtime victories: UW in 1996 and 2002, WSU in 2008 and 2012.
- OT → Overtime (1996, 2012)
- 2OT → Double Overtime (2008)
- 3OT → Triple Overtime (2002)
After a two-year hiatus in 1943 and 1944, two games were played in 1945.
Prior to 1959, WSU was WSC.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ Withers, Bud (January 6, 2014). "Apple Cup moving back to Saturday for 2014". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ [1] "Apple Cup Preview: After 107 rollicking years, even the trophy has a history" seattlepi.com November 22, 2007
- ^ Murphy, Austin (2008-11-20). "Washington-Washington State playing for pride in Apple Cup". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "New name for WSC near O.K." Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. February 4, 1959. p. 2.
- ^ "New name near for State College". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. August 5, 1959. p. 18.