SEATTLE — Jedd Fisch has been part of some big rivalries during his long collegiate career.
The Washington coach was on the sidelines as an assistant with the Wolverines when No. 3 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State played a double-overtime thriller in 2016. During his second season with the Wildcats, Fisch guided Arizona to a 38-35 victory against Arizona State, snapping the Sun Devils’ five-game winning streak in the Territorial Cup.
A year later, Fisch and Arizona dropped 59 points on ASU, the most points the Wildcats had scored in the Territorial Cup since 1946.
“I would love to say you practice the same way no matter who we’re playing,” Fisch said. “But when you do have a rivalry game, your practices are a little more amped up. The competitive nature is a little more amped up. The energy on the field is a little higher.”
Fisch held his weekly media availability in the new team room — where the Apple Cup trophy glitters in its case to the Washington coach’s right — at Husky Stadium on Monday as UW began preparations for an oddly early Apple Cup.
Saturday’s game, the 116th Apple Cup, will be played at 12:30 p.m. at Lumen Field after Washington and Washington State agreed to a five-year extension of the rivalry following the Huskies’ move to the Big Ten. The next four years will feature games alternating at each school’s home stadium. Martin Stadium will host the game next season.
“We’ll continue to make sure our guys understand the importance of the game without making the game (mean) so much that you lose the discipline, that you lose your preparation,” Fisch said.
Fisch, for his part, is relishing the opportunity to play a rivalry game this early in the season. He said it will force his team to lock in and experience a level of intensity the nonconference schedule might’ve been missing otherwise.
He also said the Huskies (2-0) are planning to bring in some guest speakers and will continue some of the program’s traditions for the Apple Cup even if this year’s edition is a little bit different.
The emphasis will be on discipline, which Fisch said has generally been the key to winning rivalry games in his experience.
While Fisch was clearly excited to be playing the Apple Cup for the next five seasons, he admitted the long-term future of the game isn’t clear. This is the first time the Huskies and Cougars (2-0) don’t share a conference since 1962, when Washington State joined the Athletic Association of Western Universities, a Pac-12 predecessor.
Fisch cited Iowa and Iowa State’s annual game for the Cy-Hawk Trophy as an example of a rivalry that’s lived on despite the Hawkeyes (Big Ten) and Cyclones (Big 12) belonging to different conferences. Iowa and Iowa State have played every season except the 2020 campaign since the rivalry was restarted in 1977.
The Hawkeyes and Cyclones announced a two-year extension to their scheduling agreement in 2022, which means the two schools will continue to play each other every season through 2027.
The Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia is more proof a rivalry game can continue despite conference realignment, Fisch said. The Panthers and Mountaineers had played annually since 1919 — outside of a brief hiatus for World War II — but the rivalry halted after the 2011 season when West Virginia left the Big East and joined the Big 12. Pitt eventually found a home in the ACC.
The Backyard Brawl was restarted in 2022 and will be played each season through 2025. The two schools have since agreed to another extension to play from 2029 until 2031 after a three-year break.
Iowa and Iowa State may be the best-case scenario for the Apple Cup, but it’s far from a guarantee as demonstrated by the Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M. The Longhorns and Aggies played each other every season between 1915 and 2011, when A&M departed the Big 12 for the SEC.
Various attempts to force Texas and Texas A&M to play each other in football, including multiple efforts by the state senate and the governor, failed and there were no announced plans for the two teams to play in the future until the Longhorns joined the Aggies in the SEC before this season.
Fisch said making sure the Apple Cup doesn’t follow the same path as Texas and Texas A&M’s rivalry will likely come down to the appetite of Washington and Washington State fans for the game to continue.
“I know we have it for the next five years,” Fisch said. “So it’s going to be really important over these next five years that we continue to make this game as important as it is.”
Notes
• Fisch said he won’t know for sure until at least Tuesday, but the Washington coach said sixth-year tight end Quentin Moore is doubtful for the Apple Cup. Fisch added he’s not considering switching any players over to tight end, where the Huskies only have two scholarship players, unless Moore’s rehab doesn’t go as planned. Washington also used redshirt freshman offensive lineman Zachary Henning as a tight end for a few plays against Eastern Michigan.
• Junior defensive tackle Jayvon Parker was named the “Dawg of the Week” by the coaching staff. Fifth-year quarterback Will Rogers, sixth-year receiver Giles Jackson, fifth-year wideout Jeremiah Hunter, fifth-year linebacker Carson Bruener, fifth-year safety Cameron Broussard, senior linebacker Bryun Parham and sophomore receiver Denzel Boston all received game balls.
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