PULLMAN -- For all of Mike Leach's coaching acumen, in four years he's never figured out what to do about RB Myles Gaskin. And for five years, he hasn't figured out what to do about coach Chris Petersen. Even after receiving simultaneous visits from the Palouse football imps -- snow, cold, dark and wind, all at once -- he still can't change the Cougars' fate against the Washington Huskies.

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PULLMAN -- Following the crash of a bus Thursday night on the way to Pullman that temporarily hospitalized 47 members, the University of Washington band didn't continue to the Apple Cup Friday.  Ambulances transported the passengers to nearly hospitals, where none of the injuries were considered serious.

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You may think that Friday's Apple Cup is a big game for both Washington and Washington State, given the traditional bragging rights, the unusual West Coast football stakes for each program, and even a national discussion surrounding the Cougars' distant shot at a berth in the College Football Playoffs.

While all of that is true, there is potentially a more lasting consequence for Wazzu.

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A drunk pro football game broke out Monday night. Lots of outrageous moments, hilarious episodes, embarrassing acts and questionable judgments. You know, like the office Christmas party when someone spikes the punch with Fireball.

In the Los Angeles Rams' 54-51 ammo-dump explosion over the Kansas City Chiefs, team and individual marks and milestones were everywhere. The 105 combined points were the third-most in NFL history. It was first game in which both teams scored 50 points, and thus the first time a team lost scoring 50 or more. The 14 combined touchdowns tied for second-most in league annals.

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Reporters who helicopter, or wagon-train, into Pullman for one-off interviews invariably find Mike Leach amusing, irreverent, original and iconoclastic, especially for his industry. However, reporters who deal with the Washington State football on a regular basis often find him circumspect, contentious and surly. And, often, late.

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It seems as if James Paxton has been a Mariner a long time. Not Felix Hernandez long (since 2005) but long enough (2013) that he is a fixture. Which is why I've been amazed at his total accumulation in the simplest measurement of a starting pitcher's contribution.

Wins.

His career total is 41. For most of six seasons at the MLB level.

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While a few others in the dwindling field of elite college football teams wobbled Saturday, Washington State wowed.

Piling up 407 yards and 55 points by halftime, the Cougars splattered Arizona 69-28 (box) Saturday night in Pullman -- Gardner Minshew had a school-record seven touchdown passes -- to set up an Apple Cup lollapalooza at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Martin (box)Stadium.

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Entering the game, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson were ranked N0. 1 and No. 2 in quarterback passer rating. Career. In NFL history.

So this is what happened Thursday night on national TV.

Wilson threw a backward pass that went forward, and a forward pass that went backward. Rodgers, on third-and-two on the Packers 33-yard line with 4:20 left that represented the final chance for Green Bay to win, chunked a pass maybe six yards into the Clink's rubberized dirt that might have been the worst pressure pass of his illustrious career.

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Here's a provocative question entering the Thursday night game at the Clink against the Green Bay Packers:

What if the Seahawks are good?

As in, nearly-run-the-table good. As in, winning six of their final seven, starting with the Packers, to finish 10-6 and qualify for the playoffs.

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Leading off, Philip Rivers. Batting second, Jared Goff. Hitting third, Aaron Rodgers. And at the cleanup spot, Cam Newton.

If you've been following this ruthless little four-week run of of top-shelf NFL quarterbacks, you know that the Seahawks are 0-2 against the Chargers' Rivers and the Rams' Goff, and face No. 3 Rodgers Thursday (5:20 p.m., FOX) at the Clink. Worthy of note is that the Green Bay Packers have won the past three games between the teams by a combined score of 82-36.

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Well, that hire certainly didn't go well.

Dr. Lorena Martin, seen a year ago as a cutting-edge figure, in the sport -- the Mariners' first director of high performance -- was fired Oct. 10 and unleashed Monday a social media tirade against general manager Jerry Dipoto, blaming him for a culture that produced derogatory racial remarks she alleges were made by club officials about Latino players, and also firing Latino trainers at their Dominican Republic facility.

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One way to look at the events of Sunday afternoon in the Coliseum is that among the beleaguered people of Southern California who were able to seek a three-hour respite from despair, the Seahawks and Rams provided distraction with some splendid entertainment. The Rams won. Good for all concerned.

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After 120 minutes of intense physicality Thursday, after consecutive games this week, after 43 years of rivalry, the best game ever between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers came down to damnable penalty kicks.

The Timbers were better. The Sounders were aghast. The sellout crowd of nearly 40,000 was stunned.

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A good defensive catcher is a little like a good middle linebacker in football. Fortunately for the Seahawks' Bobby Wagner, they don't ask him to play running back, even even if he volunteers.

But as with all MLB teams, the Mariners wanted points out of catcher Mike Zunino too. So much so that they shipped him to Tampa Bay Thursday, despite it being one day after he received national recognition as MLB's best defensive catcher.

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When the Los Angeles Rams last were seen locally Oct. 7, Seahawks LB K.J. Wright watched from the Clink sidelines, recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. He remembered that things were bad that afternoon, but as often is the case with things like car accidents, the brain, out of self-preservation, obscures many details.

Such as 30 first downs and 468 yards of total offense.

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The Seahawks have lost games by three, seven, two and eight points, the latter two to likely playoff teams in the 6-2 Chargers and 8-1 Rams.

The outcomes have the Seahawks 4-4 at the regular season's mid-point, suggesting a team not far from consideration as playoff-worthy. But as with a PGA tournament field, there are many premier golfers who have missed the cut for want of a longer putt or shorter iron shot.

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The best sports teams are able to do over and over that which they do best. Which explains how the Seahawks are 4-4 at the seasonal midpoint. A week after they were running with BMW smoothness for a win at Detroit, they came home Sunday for the first time in a month and blew gaskets, threw rods, overheated and under-performed.

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Washington's 27-23 survival win over Stanford Saturday night at Husky Stadium vaulted the Huskies (7-3, 5-2) back into the latest Associated Press college football poll Sunday at 20th, a week after a 12-10 loss at Cal dropped them from the top 25. Washington State (8-1, 5-1), following a 19-13 win over Cal at Pullman, stayed put at No. 10. The Cougars were eighth in the first College Football Playoffs rankings released last week.

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The cold wind off Lake Washington Saturday night was no match for the heat coming from Jake Browning.

For a while, anyway.

Furious over a benching for two series in an upset loss at Cal a week earlier, Browning turned his anger into two of the best drives of Washington's season. But after the adrenaline that powered a 21-0 halftime lead dwindled, the Huskies found themselves hanging on for dear life against relentless Stanford that, for want of an extra point, probably would have prevailed.

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Complimenting QB Philip Rivers on his football intelligence, LB Bobby Wagner recalled from the preseason game between the Chargers and Seahawks when Rivers called a timeout at the line of scrimmage, knowing his play call would be doomed against Seattle's defensive set. More impressively, Rivers even knew the name of the Seahawks' play.

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