Cougars Set For Boeing Apple Cup at No. 4 Washington
WASHINGTON STATE (5-6, 2-6, Pac-12) at No. 4 WASHINGTON (11-0, 8-0 Pac-12)
1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023 • FOX
Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium (70,138) • Seattle
COUGARS SET FOR BOEING APPLE CUP AT NO. 4 WASHINGTON
Washington State heads to Seattle for The Boeing Apple Cup with No. 4 Washington in the 115th meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. on FOX.
WSU, UW AGREE TO FIVE-YEAR CONTINUATION OF APPLE CUP
Washington State and Washington agreed in principle to a five-year continuation of the storied Apple Cup football series through at least 2028. Next year's match-up will take place on September 14, 2024 at Lumen Field in Seattle, with the following four games alternating between the school's campuses: 2025 (Pullman), 2026 (Seattle), 2027 (Pullman) and 2028 (Seattle). Terms of the agreement are still being finalized.
SERIES HISTORY
This year's Boeing Apple Cup marks the 115th meeting between the schools, a rivalry that began in 1900. Following tradition since 1963, the winner of the game is awarded the Apple Cup Trophy by the Governor of the state of Washington. UW leads the all-time series 75-33-8 after posting a 51-33 win in Pullman last season but the Cougars won the 2021 matchup 40-13 in Seattle.
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the week with a 5-6 record including a 2-6 mark in Pac-12 Conference play after beating Colorado 56-14 in Pullman last Friday. The Cougars are third in the country in passing (339.3) led by quarterback Cameron Ward who is fourth nationally in passing (311.5) and sixth in total offense (324.3). Wide receiver Lincoln Victor is ninth nationally with a Pac-12-best 78 receptions and edge Brennan Jackson is tied for fourth in the league with 11.5 tackles-for-loss. Head coach Jake Dickert owns a 15-15 career record in his second full season and has led WSU to back-to-back bowl games.
COUGAR QUICK GAME
TEAM
• WSU has reached a bowl game in the last seven full seasons, 2nd-longest bowl streak in the Pac-12 (Utah)
• WSU owns two Gesa Field sellouts this season (Wisconsin, Oregon State), fourth in the last two seasons
• WSU scored a TD on offense, defense and special teams in the 1st quarter of last week's win over Colorado, WSU's first quarter with a TD in all three phases since 2003 (Oregon)
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT (Player Notes Pages 10-18)
• QB Cameron Ward enters the week 4th in the country in passing (311.5) and 6th in total offense/g (324.3)
• Ward is a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and to the Davey O'Brien Award Class of 2023
• WR Lincoln Victor leads the Pac-12 with 78 catches, tied for 8th-most in WSU single-season history
• EDGE Brennan Jackson owns 19 career sacks and 33.5 career tackles-for-loss, Top-10 in WSU history in both
• EDGE Ron Stone Jr. is tied for 3rd in the Pac-12 with 11 QB hits (PFF), 2nd on team with 10 TFL and 5 sacks
• LB Kyle Thornton is a semifinalist for The Burlsworth Trophy (Top former walk-on), 5th in Pac-12 in tackles (80)
• K Dean Janikowski's career-long 55-yard FG at CSU was WSU's longest since 2017, longest in Pac-12 in 2023
• P Nick Haberer was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List, is 3rd in Pac-12 in punting (44.9)
• OL Fa'alili Fa'amoe, OL Ma'ake Fifita, OL Esa Pole, WR Lincoln Victor; Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List
COLLEGE GAMEDAY RECORD
Dating back to the middle of the 2003 season, ESPN College GameDay has had the WSU flag appear throughout the show. The streak reached 299 last week at James Madison. The first appearance came in Austin, Texas (10/4/03) and the streak began two weeks later in Madison, Wisc. (10/18/03). Two flags – Ol' Crimson and Gray – have been flown in the background of the GameDay set. The Gray flag was added in 2014 after Whitey was retired in honor of Steve Gleason's "No White Flags." Appearance No. 217 was its first in Pullman (10/20/18), a 34-20 win over Oregon.
ALL EYES ON THE COUGS
- Since 2015, WSU is 4th among Pac-12 and Big-12 teams in views per game (1.59 million)
- WSU owns the 5th-most wins in the Pac-12 over the last 10 seasons (66), 5th-best winning pct (55.9), higher than Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State, California, Arizona, Oregon State, Colorado
COUGAR OFFENSE TAKING STRIDES
Washington State's offense has made big strides in year one of offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
Thru 11 games 2022 2023
Passing 254.9 (42nd) 339.3 (4th)
Scoring 27.3 (76th) 32.6 (33rd)
Total Offense 370.3 (82nd) 424.0 (41st)
3rd Down % 36.0 (90th) 43.0 (36th)
STONE AND JACKSON STRIKE TWICE, AGAIN
Sixth-year senior Edge's Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson have delivered some huge moments this season. In the win over No. 19 Wisconsin week two. Stone Jr. recorded a pair of sacks and forced fumbles on both sacks with Jackson recovering both fumbles, returning the second for a touchdown late. In last Friday's win over Colorado, Stone Jr. matched a career-high with three tackles-for-loss including a pair of sacks, the second being a strip sack that Jackson returned 40 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter, Jackson corralled a CU fumble, jumped over an offensive lineman and raced 74 yards for his second score of the game and third of the season.
- Jackson was the first Cougar with two fumble returns for TD in program history (thru 1983)
- Jackson was the first Pac-12 player since Oregon State's Rashaad Reynolds vs Boise State in 2013 with 2 fumble recovery TDs in the same game
- Jackson's three fumble returns for touchdowns this season are the most in the Pac-12 since 2014 (UW, Shaq Thompson)
- Jackson is tied for 4th in the Pac-12 with 11.5 tackles-for-loss, 5th with 7.5 sacks, owns 52 tackles
- Stone Jr. is 2nd on the team with 10 tackles-for-loss and 5 sacks,
- Enters week 5th in the Pac-12 with 43 pressures and tied for 3rd with 11 QB hits
DEFENSE TAKEAWAYS
Since 2020, Washington State's defense owns the 2nd-most takeaways in the Pac-12 (70).
at Colorado State - 37 rush yards allowed, 2 INT, Jaden Hicks 37-yard INT return for TD
Wisconsin - 90 rush yards allowed, 3 FF, 3 sacks, held All-American RB Braelon Allen to 20 rush yds
Northern Colorado - held UNC to 7 first-half points, 5 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks, 5 QB hurries
Oregon State - held OSU to 198 pass yards, INT, 2 sacks, 6 tackles-for-loss, 2 fourth down stops
at UCLA - 9 tackles-for-loss, 4 sacks, Kapena Gushiken 88-yard INT return for TD
at Oregon - held Bo Nix to season-low 18 completions (18-of-25), 2 tackles-for-loss
Stanford - allowed 75 rush yards, 2.0 ypc, 142 pass yards, 1st half shutout, 2 sacks, 6 TFL, 1 INT
at Cal - 5 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 150 pass yards allowed, 3-of-9 on 3rd downs
Colorado - 2 defensive TD, 9 tackles-for-loss, 5 sacks, 91 rush yards allowed, 164 pass yards allowed
- WSU owns 5 defensive TD this season, tied with Arkansas and Michigan for most in the country
CAMERON WARD BY THE NUMBERS
- Opened 2023 with 451 pass TD, 3 pass TD, 1 rush TD in win at Colorado State, the most passing yards in a season opener since Connor Halliday (532, 2014) and the most in a season-opening win in program history
- Ward added 2 pass TD in the win over No. 19 Wisconsin week two
- In the win over No. 14 Oregon State, Ward went 28-of-34 for 404 yards, 1 rushing touchdown
National Player of the Week (Walter Camp, Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Senior Bowl)
- Ward was the first Power-5 quarterback to start the season with 1300 pass yards, 13 TD and 0 INT in the first four games since Tua Tagovailoa in 2019
- Ward's 8 rushing TD are tied with Ricky Turner (1981) for 2nd-most by a Cougar QB in WSU single-season history, trailing Timm Rosenbach's top mark of 10 set in 1988
- Ward's 13 career rushing TD at WSU tie Ryan Leaf for the 3rd-most rushing TD by a Cougar QB
- Ward had 2 rushing TD and 2 pass TD in the win over Colorado
- Ward owns 11 games as a Coug with a rushing TD and pass TD
- Ward is the 4th Cougar QB with multiple 3,000-passing yard seasons (Falk-3, Gesser-2, Halliday-2), threw for 3,232 last season and 3,426 this season
- Ward is 4th in the NCAA in passing (311.5), 6th in total offense (324.3), 4th in completions (291)
- Ward is in WSU Career Top-10; completions (T4th, 611), passing TD (9th, 45), pass yds (8th, 6,658)
RECORD BOOK WATCH (PAGE 7)
- EDGE Brennan Jackson owns 19 career sacks, tied for 8th-most in WSU history (Scott Pelluer)
- Jackson's 33.5 career tackles-for-loss are 10th-most in WSU history
- EDGE Ron Stone Jr. owns 30.5 career tackles-for-loss, 3 away from the WSU Top-10
- Stone Jr. owns 16 career sacks, 1.5 away from breaking into the WSU Top-10
- Kicker Dean Janikowski's 228 career points are the seventh-most points by a kicker in WSU history
- Janikowski's 35 career made field goals are 6th-most in WSU history
- Janikowski's 123 career made PAT are sixth-most in WSU history
- Janikowski's 77.7 career field goal percentage (35-45) is the second-best FG% in WSU history
- Punter Nick Haberer is 10th in WSU history with 152 career punts, 8th with 6,566 career punt yards
- Jake Dickert was just the third Cougar head coach to start 3-0 in each of his first two seasons
(John R. Bender – 1906-08), Gus Welch – 1919-20)
- QB Cameron Ward among WSU single-season Top-10; passing yards (10th, 3,426), completions (10th, 291), total offense (9th, 3,567)
- WR Lincoln Victor's 78 catches are tied for 8th-most in WSU single-season history
HICKS EMERGES
Redshirt-sophomore safety Jaden Hicks opened 2023 with a pair of big nights beginning with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown to go along with seven tackles, a shared sack and two pass breakups in the week one win at Colorado State. In the win over No. 19 Wisconsin, Hicks tallied nine tackles, a tackle for loss, two pass breakups and forced a fumble to earn the best PFF defensive grade among power 5 players and the Bednarik Award National Defensive Player of the Week.
- Last season, named Freshman All-America, led Pac-12 freshmen with 76 tackles
- Enters week 8th in the Pac-12 with 75 tackles, career-high 12 tackles at UCLA (2 TFL, blocked FG)
LINCOLN VICTOR HEATS UP
Senior wide receiver Lincoln Victor, a Hawaii transfer two seasons ago has delivered all season.
- 3 career 100-yard games, all this season; 168 at CSU, 119 vs. Northern Colorado, 161 at Oregon
- Victor's 16-catch game at Oregon was a WSU single-game record and Autzen Stadium record, tied for the most catches in a game in the country this season (Tory Horton - CSU at Colorado)
- leads the Pac-12 and 9th nationally with 78 catches, tied for 8th in WSU single-season history
- 3rd with 471 yards after the catch, 5th in Pac-12 with 38 catches for 1st down
WIDE RECEIVER DUO BREAKS OUT IN OREGON STATE WIN
Transfer wideouts Josh Kelly (Fresno State) and Kyle Williams (UNLV) have put up big numbers in their first season with the Cougs. In the win over No. 14 Oregon State, Kelly matched a career-high with eight catches for career-highs of 159 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Williams caught seven passes for a career-high 174 yards including a 63-yard touchdown on WSU's second play of the game.
- 1st time 2 WR had 150+ rec yards since 2014 (California, Vince Mayle – 263, River Cracraft – 172)
- Williams among Pac-12 leaders; 9th in catches (56), 12th in rec yards (758), 2nd on team rec TD (5)
- Williams owns a catch in all 36 career games (the first 25 at UNLV, 2020-22)
- Kelly among Pac-12 leaders; 8th in rec yards (817), 9th in rec touchdowns (9), 3 100-yard games
LEYTON SMITHSON'S HOUSE CALL
Leyton Smithson's 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the win over Colorado last Friday night was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for WSU since 2018 (Travell Harris, Eastern Washington, 100) and was the first in conference play since 2016 (Robert Taylor, at Arizona State, 100).
DEAN JANIKOWSKI NAMED TO CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST, MORE THAN A KICK
Kicker Dean Janikowski was named a semifinalist for the 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy by the National Football Foundation, presented to the best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Off the field last season, Janikowski started a Pledge call "More than a Kick" where donations were made for each field goal and PAT by Janikowski and the donations went to children with cancer and helped others battling cancer in the Pullman community. Janikowski later started the Heather Janikowski Foundation and started another event called "Kicking with Cancer" with an annual goal of raising $30,000 to support the Seattle Children's Hospital Can Research Center.
- Janikowski is 10-of-14 on field goal attempts, 2 of 50+ yards (55 at Colorado State, 50 at Oregon)
- The 55-yard FG in the season-opening win at Colorado State, longest in the Pac-12 this season
- Janikowski enters the week among the WSU Career Top-10 in FG (6th, 35), FG pct (2nd, 77.7%), 50+yard FG (T4th, 3), PAT (6th, 123) and points kicking (7th, 228)
NICK HABERER NAMED TO RAY GUY AWARD WATCH LIST
Punter Nick Haberer, a junior from Sunshine Coast, Australia was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List for the second straight season and has delivered again.
- Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 of the Week, at UCLA, career-high 9 punts, 44.9 avg, 5 FC, 4 inside 20
- Punted 6 times against Stanford, averaged 48.3, 3 of 50+, matched career long of 62, 2 inside 20
- Enters week 3rd in the Pac-12 averaging 44.9 yards-per-punt with 11 inside the 20 and 5 of 50+
SIX NAMED 2023 TEAM CAPTAINS
WSU voted six players as team captains for the 2023 season; OL Konner Gomness, EDGE Brennan Jackson, CB Chau Smith-Wade, EDGE Ron Stone Jr., WR Lincoln Victor and QB Cameron Ward.
14 COUGS ENTER 2023 WITH DEGREES
Joshua Erling, LB Accounting and Finance
Konner Gomness, OL Social Sciences
Isaiah Hamilton, WR Psychology (San Jose State)
Brennan Jackson, EDGE Business Administration
Chris Jackson, DB Social Science
Dean Janikowski, K Digital Technology & Culture
Sam Lockett III, DB Social Sciences
Ahmad McCullough, LB Communications (Maryland)
Christy Nkanu, OL Marketing (Southern Utah)
Devin Richardson, LB Physical Culture and Sports (Texas)
Simon Samarzich, LS Sport Management
Ron Stone Jr., EDGE Public Relations
Kyle Thornton, LB Economic Sciences
Nakia Watson, RB Social Sciences
COUGAR FOOTBALL BROADCAST TEAM
Matt Chazanow is in his ninth season as the play-by-play voice for Cougar football, men's basketball and baseball broadcasts. Joining Chazanow for his sixth season will be former Cougar quarterback Alex Brink who is the only WSU quarterback to win three Apple Cups and was later a seventh-round draft pick by the Houston Texans. Returning for her 12th season as the sideline reporter is Jessamyn McIntyre.
NEW COACHES
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR / QUARTERBACKS
Ben Arbuckle arrived in Pullman having spent the past two seasons at Western Kentucky, serving as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2022 season. In his first season in that role, Arbuckle took the Hilltoppers to great heights as the team finished sixth in total offense (497.3 ypg) and 15th in scoring (36.4 ppg), while quarterback Austin Reed led the nation in passing yards (4,746) and was third in passing touchdowns (40).
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR / LINEBACKERS
Jeff Schmedding returns to the Pacific Northwest having spent the past two seasons at Auburn, most recently serving as defensive coordinator. In 2022, Schmedding oversaw the development of All-SEC First Team edge rusher Derick Hall, who totaled 60 tackles, 12 TFL's and seven sacks. In his first season at Auburn (2021), the Tigers ranked 29th in rushing defense and 17th in tackles-for-loss. Schmedding spent the previous two seasons at Boise State as the defensive coordinator where in his first season leading the defense saw the Broncos claim the Mountain West Championship and finish in the top 25 nationally in team sacks (37) and scoring defense (20.6 ppg).
WIDE RECEIVERS
Nick Edwards arrives in Pullman having spent the 2022 season as an offensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons, working alongside the offensive coordinator with gameplan duties. Edwards joined Atlanta's staff after spending two seasons (2020-21) as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Cal Poly. Prior to his time at Cal Poly, Edwards spent three seasons (2017-19) as the wide receivers and running backs coach at Cal and three seasons (2014-16) at his alma mater, Eastern Washington, as the wide receivers coach where he coached Cooper Kupp and Kendrick Bourne.
EDGES
Frank Maile (MY-lay) joins Dickert's staff having spent the past two seasons at Boise State where he served as the Broncos' assistant head coach and defensive line coach. During the 2022 season, the Bronco defense led the way to a 10-4 overall record, including a victory over North Texas in the Frisco Bowl. The Broncos finished ninth nationally in total defense and 16th in scoring defense.
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
Ben Iannacchione is no stranger to Dickert as the two worked together when both were on Craig Bohl's staff at Wyoming during the 2018-19 seasons. Iannacchione comes to Pullman having spent the 2022 season as the head strength and conditioning coach at Akron. A former standout offensive lineman who played collegiately at Boise State, Iannacchione arrived at Akron after spending the 2021 campaign at Pitt after prior stops on the football staffs at Kansas (2020), Wyoming (2018-19), LSU (2011-15, 2016-17) and Youngstown State (2015).