Washington State Football: Cougars can clinch Pac-12 North with Apple Cup win

Washington State Football hosts Washington in the Apple Cup in Week 13. A rivalry game win will propel the Cougars to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Washington State and Mike Leach have been almost an afterthought in the Pac-12 North in recent years. Chris Petersen brought the Washington Huskies to prominence quickly, but it’s taken Leach a bit longer to put the Cougars in contention for a Pac-12 North Title. If Leach’s team can defeat Petersen’s Huskies in Saturday’s Apple Cup they will clinch their first Pac-12 North title in school history.

It’s fair to note that the Pac-12 has only been in existence since 2011. During that time it’s been primarily a two-team race at the top. Oregon and Stanford won the first five division titles before Washington broke through last season. Could it be the Cougars turn?

The No. 14 Cougars have had a tremendous season thus far. Their signature win came over Pac-12 South Champion USC in Pullman. USC was undefeated and ranked No. 5 at the time. They’ve also earned wins over No. 21 Stanford and Utah. Their two blemishes on the year both came on the road. They were demolished by Cal 37-3 and routed by Khalil Tate and the Arizona Wildcats.

They’ve been far from perfect, but they have a chance to secure a piece of program history on rivalry weekend. The quarterback duel between Luke Falk and Jake Browning juxtaposed against two intimidating defenses should make this one of the more fascinating Apple Cups in recent memory.

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If Washington State is unable to pull out the win, the Stanford Cardinal will advance to the conference championship game as the representative from the North. Wazzu would like to interject a new face into the title game. And once they’re there, aim for a second victory over Sam Darnold in 2017.