Saturday night was an incredible one for the Cougs, absolutely demolishing Arizona 69-28 with Gardner Minshew setting a WSU record for the number of touchdowns he threw in a single game.
It was seven, to be exact.
But folks, today is a new day. And that means it's time to delve into one thing: The Apple Cup.
This has got to be one of the most important Apple Cups to ever be played with the Pac-12 North title on the line for both squads, and thus a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line as well.
So today we're going to break this matchup down. Let's start with both schools offenses.
OFFENSIVE MINDSET
WSU's offense definitely towers above UW's. They both come in similarly in terms of yards per game. The Cougs are averaging 482 compared to the Huskies 415. But, to be frank, WSU does whole a lot more with that extra 67 yards they get. The Cougs are averaging over 12 more points a game than Washington.
There is a pretty glaring reason as to why the Cougs are getting more bang for their buck.
RED ZONE WOES
The Cougs are only second to Utah in red zone percentage in the Pac-12. Utah comes in at 90% while the Cougs come in at 88%. Washington is 10th in the conference in red zone percentage at 80%. Just bye the bye- Washington ranks 100th in the country in this category out of 129 teams.
Here's where things get even more sticky for the Huskies though: They're only scoring touchdowns 56% of the time in the red zone. That is not good.
Washington State, on the other hand, leads the Pac-12 in scoring touchdowns in the red zone. They do so 77% of the time.
It's a pretty obvious thing to say, but if the Cougs score touchdowns instead of field goals, they are going to be in a good spot against the Huskies.
DEFENSIVE MOMENTS
We've taken a look at the offensive situation, so now lets go to the other side of the coin and look at defense.
This is where the Huskies really shine. The squad has only allowed 16.6 points per game. That's top in the Pac-12.
They also come in at second in the conference in both rushing yards allowed per a game (125), and in passing yards allowed per a game (193). That is well below Washington State's average passing yards per contest, but we'll get into that in a bit.
Another thing that you have to note with this Husky defense: They are really well disciplined. The majority of penalties come on defense. Well, the Huskies as a team are averaging a conference low 4.8 penalties per contest. This squad is not going to beat itself.
On the other hand, the Cougs defense allows 22.6 points per contest, but they do lead the conference by far and away in sacks at 34. Being able to rattle Jack Browning will be key.
WSU's OFFENSE vs. UW'S DEFENSE
I hate to be captain obvious here but the outcome of this game comes down to this: Can WSU's offense overcome UW's defense.
As I said earlier, Washington is averaging 16.6 points per game allowed on defense. The Cougs are scoring 40.5 points per game.
Washington is only allowing 192 pass yards per game. The Cougs are averaging 400 passing yards per contest.
Let's be frank, we can boil it down to simpler terms than even what I just said: Will Washington be able to contain Gardner Minshew? If they can, this game is over. And yes, I know, I sound super obvious saying that, but the stats truly do back up that claim.
The Cougs are the best offense the Huskies have seen this season, and the Huskies are the best defense the Cougs have seen this season.
Frday can't come soon enough.