Zach Durfee Takes Bite From The Apple

The Apple Cup war of words -- always ever so tame if not extra witty but never malicious -- basically ended when Jim Walden and Don James retired as the Washington State and Washington football coaches, respectively.

Oh, former Cougars leader Mike Price could still level a good zinger, such as the time he encountered a Seattle writer interviewing his quarterback in the athletic facilities, made small talk and then said he had to go.

Asked where he was headed next, Price, who kept a private bathroom in his coaching office, had a mischievous look on his face when he wisecracked, "I'm going to go sit on my Neuheisel."

Take that.

Leave it to Zach Durfee, the always very direct Husky edge rusher, to liven up things ever so slightly heading into the 117th rivalry game.

Asked on Tuesday if he was curious to see Pullman for the first time this weekend, the 6-foot-5, 258-pound senior, who hails from Dawson, Minnesota, a town of population 1,346 located 145 miles west of Minneapolis, had a deadpan answer.

"I don't think I'm really curious to see it, no," Durfee said. "I've actually never been there. I've heard it's cornfields."

To be fair, the Palouse crop of choice is wheatfields, but close enough. Either way, it's good to have the Husky defender back to offer blunt opinions as a team captain after a lost season in 2024 to double turf toe injuries and surgery.

He heads to Pullman with a pair of games under his belt against Colorado State and UC Davis, stacking up 4 tackles, including a sack. He's feels healthy, ready to go. He's just needed to ease his way back into action and shake off the rust.

Zach Durfee engages in hand to hand combat with UC Davis. | Dave Sizer photo

"I feel pretty good," he said. "I think Game 1 was a little bit of that, 'OK, this is playing a game again.' It's always different the way it feels, the way it sounds. The smell of the game is different than practice."

Sort of like the difference between cornfields and wheatfields.

Injured the week before, Durfee was dealing with his turf toes injuries during last year's Apple Cup, won by WSU 24-19 at Lumen Field in downtown Seattle, and barely made it to halftime.

He's been a little surprised by his team's lingering emotional response to last year's loss and welcomes getting another shot at the Cougars.

Zach Durfee looks for someone to hit in the season opener against Colorado State. | Dave Sizer photo

"It lights a fire in you," Durfee said. "It makes you angry. Quite a bit."

Certainly it's reason enough for him and his UW teammates to pay a visit to Pullman and see the sights.

See what happens.

Put that opposing town in the rear-view mirror.

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