Apple Cup Has Former Husky Now Wearing WSU Uniform

Punter Troy Petz has switched sides since playing in the UW Spring Game.

Troy Petz (96), punter from Bellingham, has transferred from the UW to WSU. | Skylar Lin Visuals

For Apple Cup purposes, consider Troy Petz the player to be named later in the football trade for Taariq "Buddah" Al-Uqdah.

While Al-Uqdah jumped sides from Washington State to play linebacker for the University of Washington by going through the winter transfer portal, Petz, a 6-foot-1, 193-pound walk-on punter from Lynden, Washington, did the opposite by moving from the Huskies to the Cougars.

For 15 practices this past spring, Al-Uqdah and Petz were teammates in Montlake, though it's unclear if they ever met.

Petz spent two seasons at the UW, joining the roster while Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff was in place in 2023 and going through Jedd Fisch's first season in charge of the program.

He seemed like a decent enough punter, but he couldn't make inroads to replace former Husky starter Jack McCallister, who's now at Purdue, so he left for Pullman, again as a walk-on. He has not appeared in a game yet for WSU.

The last Petz sighting at the UW was in the Spring Game, but it wasn't a memorable moment for him or place-kicker Sam Finnegan, who's also no longer with the program either.

Getting their big chance to make good on the first series of the Friday night spring finale, Petz was the holder on a 29-yard field-goal attempt by Finnegan but bobbled the snap and the kick never got off the ground. For them, that was it. Opportunity wasted.

Petz came to the Huskies with heady credentials after being named the 2021 and 2022 all-state punter for all levels of Washington high school play while at Lynden.

He was part of two 2A state championship teams, lining up for a 12-1 team as a junior and one that went a perfect 13-0 in 2022.

Clearly a versatile athlete in high school, Petz played wide receiver and defensive back, returned kicks and served as the place-kicker as well as the punter for the Lions. He also won a state title as a Lynden high jumper.

For the curious, Petz never played against Huskies tight end Kade Eldridge, who was a fixture across town for Lynden Christian High School before initially playing his college football at USC and transferring to Montlake.

Once enthusiastic rivals in this border town, the two Lynden high schools, both highly successful, play in different leagues and don't schedule each other.

The Apple Cup at least will bring them together for the same football game in Pullman.

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