UW Coaches Downplay Revenge Motive Suggested for the Apple Cup
The Apple Cup ended a year ago and a wild celebration immediately commenced for Washington State players and fans. All sorts of people in crimson colors rushed to the middle of the field at Husky Stadium following their lopsided 40-13 victory, where then-quarterback Jayden de Laura punctuated the moment by planting a Cougar flag in the ground.
Husky players stood scattered around the madcap scene and just stared at what seemed to them like piling on or rubbing it in.
“Right now, we’re going to celebrate this win, but tomorrow we’re back for some revenge,” UW wide receiver Jalen McMillan said following last weekend's 54-7 win over Colorado. “The Apple Cup, we take seriously.”
Well, reality is these are two teams that have gone through considerable makeovers, each with a newly installed head coach this season, and plenty of roster reconfiguration. Even de Laura is long gone from Pullman and returned to Husky Stadium with Arizona more than a month ago and received his comeuppance in a 49-39 setback to the UW.
Husky co-defensive coordinator William Inge, who's never been to the Palouse before yet has watched the Apple Cup on TV in seasons past, adroitly summed up the task at hand when asked how much the revenge factor might play into this 114th rivalry game.
"I think overall, with everything you have going on, with everything you have at stake, if you have to find motivation for this game, you're in the wrong place," Inge said. "There's a lot at stake. There's a chance to go 1-0 for the week, to have a chance to win 10 games, to put yourself in the scenario to where you can still be in the conversation to earn a conference championship. There is a motivation that's needed — now you put that on top of all of those things, then you have a pretty big cherry on top."
WSU players and fans celebrate a 2021 Apple Cup victory.
Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports
UW coach Kalen DeBoer will have his 9-2 Husky team take more of a cerebral approach to this game, demanding a full week of preparation and focus rather than simply an emotional venting next weekend. It worked out well this way for the Oregon game.
"If there's not an emotional element to your preparation, you won't have that emotion and energy that you want come Saturday, or at least it won't be deep enough to carry you through an entire game — it's going to wear off," DeBoer said. "That's where these weeks are easier because the energy and excitement are there from the beginning. If anything, you're trying to temper it."
As for the flag-planting and offering possible payback in terms of any gloating that might have been done last November, that's just not going to happen for this UW team.
DeBoer continues to speak to his players about carrying themselves in a respectful manner at all times, though he certainly didn't see the overly hyped-up Husky player who ran up to edge of the Autzen Stadium stands near the end of the game in Eugene multiple times and told somewhat stunned fans, "To shut the [bleep] up!"
Or maybe the coach found out about that unruly exchange, though it wasn't volunteered.
"We want to make sure we handle it in our program," DeBoer said. "Not that we're perfect. I'm sure you can find some area where someone, one person here and there, probably did something that was just a little big beyond what you consider first class. ... I think in the end, you want to talk with your pads. The win is what you're going to remember the most. It's not about the moment and celebration."
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