Washington Pushes Through Slow Start in 24-10 Win Against Washington State

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The Washington Huskies football team celebrates after winning the 118th Apple Cup in a 24-10 victory against the Washington State Cougars on Sunday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports

SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team was able to overcome a sluggish start from the offense and an undisciplined first half from the defense en route to a 24-10 win in the 118th edition of the Apple Cup against the Washington State Cougars on Sunday at Husky Stadium.

"Thought Washington State had a really good plan, played really hard, did a nice job," UW head coach Jedd Fisch said after the game Sunday. "Very challenging week one to really make sure that we kind of knew what we wanted to get done. We felt like we didn't play at the level we would like to play at, but we also are very happy with the victory."

The Huskies held the advantage for the past majority of the game, although that lead was often hanging on by a thread almost begging for an opportunity for the Cougars to pounce.

The first quarter of the game ended without a touchdown and a 3-0 Washington lead after a 48-yard field goal from fourth-year kicker Tyler Robles with three minutes, 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

The first touchdown of the game didn't come until 10:09 left in the first half. Third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. scored on a 5-yard keeper to bolster UW's lead to 10-0.

Williams' score was the last of the first half. Washington had an opportunity to go into halftime with a three-possession advantage but fourth-year running back Jayden Limar was stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

The missed goal line opportunity came after the Huskies squandered a red zone opportunity on their previous drive following a fumble recovery. Robles missed a 28-yard field goal, which would have put UW up by 13.

Washington State's subsequent drive following Robles' missed field goal was extended after second-year safety Rylon Dillard-Allen was flagged for a late hit out of bounds. Dillard-Allen was ejected later in the game after a targeting penalty later in the game.

Washington finished the game with 12 penalties totaling 130 yards.

"You can hear it in practice, but if you don't feel the repercussions in a game, it's just more challenging," Fisch said. "And I feel like today was an opportunity to sit back and realize, what we're saying practice wasn't not the case. What we're saying in practice is what's going to happen if we don't rein certain things in. Still play with an exceptional physicality, but it has to be disciplined."

The defense went by without a score and the Huskies carried their 10-0 lead into the final 15 minutes of regulation.

The Cougars were finally able to strike on their first drive of the fourth quarter. It was capped off with an 11-yard quarterback keeper from Caden Pinnick that cut Washington's lead to 10-7 with 10:15 left in the game.

The Huskies promptly responded on the next drive on got to the two-yard line in two plays after a 29-yard completion from Williams to second-year receiver Chris Lawson and a 44-yard catch the next play on a flea flicker to fourth-year wideout Rashid Williams.

Rashid Williams' play was originally ruled a touchdown before review ruled him out at the 2-yard line. His quarterback of the same namesake gave him the score back on a 1-yard completion two plays later that bolstered Washington's lead to 17-7.

Rashid Williams finished the game with three catches for 74 yards and his aforementioned score. Lawson had four catches for a team- and game-high 87 yards. Demond Williams finished his day with 24-for-35 through the air for 268 yards and a touchdown. He added 61 yards and a score on the ground on seven carries.

"It starts with the (offensive) line," Rashid Williams said after the game. "They're talking to us on the sidelines, 'we got this next series,' and stuff like that and bringing us up. Talking to us, and we just go out there and we try to do what the coaches tell us. … Made a big difference."

Washington State wasn't out of the game yet. Following the Williams-to-Williams score, the Cougars marched down the field (with an assist from the targeting call against Dillard-Allen) and capped it off with a 42-yard field goal from Jack Stevens that cut the Huskies' lead to 17-10 with 4:30 left in the game.

Washington put the game away for good on the following drive. A 21-yard run from Demond Williams extended the drive, which was ultimately capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run from fourth-year running back Jayden Limar for the eventual final of 24-10 with 2:18 left in the game.

Washington State had one more opportunity to potentially pull off a miracle but fourth-year safety came up with the interception on a tipped pass, Pinnick's second of the game, and the Huskies ran out the rest of the clock for the win.

Washington will look to clean up the defensive mistakes and come out quicker on offense in its second game of the season against the Utah State Aggies at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at Husky Stadium.

Other notes

— True freshman quarterback Jeron Jones, who split time at nickelback with third-year Rahshawn Clark, had UW's other interception of the day.

— Fifth-year linebacker Jacob Manu was all over the field for the Huskies. He had a game-high 11 tackles (seven solo), including one tackle for loss and a sack.

— Starting running back, second-year Quaid Carr, and Limar both exited Sunday's. Fisch had no update on their condition postgame.

— Sixth-year wide receiver Christian Moss, who earned a starting spot at receiver for UW, exited after the second play of the game and was in street clothes for the second half. There was no word on his condition postgame.

— UW's defense was able to stop the Cougars in crucial situations. Washington State went 0-for-11 on third downs and 1-for-1 on fourth-down conversions.

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