Best Apple Cup Trash Talk By The Cougars

Verbal pre-game decorum rarely prevails in the Apple Cup rivalry, regardless of whether Washington and Washington State are ranked or wretched or both. The tradition of rivalry trash talk dates to Nov. 27, 1900, or three days before UW and WSU engaged in the inaugural scrum.

On that day, WSU State coach William Allen provided the first “bulletin board” material in the rivalry by predicting that WSU would romp by a score of 30-0. That WSU fell considerably of Allen’s prediction – the teams played to a 5-5 tie on Nov. 30 – hardly ushered in an era of diplomatic oratory.

For more than 100 years, the Huskies and the Cougars have traded zings, barbs and insults, with the Golden Age of Apple Cup gum flapping starting in the 1980s. The following represents the best Apple Cup trash talk by a Cougar.

“Nothing in my job – not the Rose Bowl, not the Holiday Bowl, nothing – is more important than beating the University of Washington.” — JIM WALDEN, WSU coach, before the 1982 Apple Cup

“There are four important stages in your life. You’re born, you play the Huskies, you get married and you die.” —  DAN LYNCH, WSU offensive lineman, explaining his view of the rivalry in 1984

“Everybody needs something to hate. The Huskies make it nice.” — JIM WALDEN, WSU coach, before the 1986 Apple Cup

“I’ll count every one of them. I’m going to ask myself, ‘What did I do as a football coach today to beat the Huskies?’” — DENNIS ERICKSON, WSU coach, after the 1987 Apple Cup, referring to the 365 days before the next Apple Cup

“They’ve got a lot of great dancers on their team. Too bad they can’t hit as well as they dance.” — TIMM ROSENBACH, WSU quarterback, before the 1987 Apple Cup

“I’d rather beat them all the time than go to a bowl. ’We and the UW will never get along.” — TONY SAVAGE, WSU defensive tackle, after the Cougars defeated Washington 32-31 in 1988

“This is the potatoes, gravy, stuffing, peas and everything.” — MARLIN BROWN, WSU defensive end, after the Cougars’ 32-31 victory over the UW in 1988

“One game doesn’t make a season, but the people who say that haven’t participated in the Apple Cup.”– MIKE PRICE, WSU coach, before the 1991 Apple Cup

“I’ve really grown to hate ’em. I can’t stand to look at them, talk about them or anything.” — ROBBIE TOBECK, WSU center, before the 1992 Apple Cup

“Their O-line is the weakest thing they have on the team, and our D-line is the best thing we have on our defense. I watched how (Ohio State’s) Big Daddy Wilkinson abused them. Just killed them. I’m hoping Damon Huard is in the game, hopefully starting. I cannot wait for the first play I see him.” — CHAD EATON, WSU defensive tackle, before the 1993 Apple Cup

“I thought we could pick on him and the corners. Maybe they thought that was a little snotty thing to say by a little freshman, but somebody had to do it.” — RYAN LEAF, WSU freshman quarterback, on why he hurled pre-game barbs at Lawyer Milloy and other Husky DBs before the 1995 Apple Cup

“It doesn’t matter if you have a 1-10 season. Beating the Huskies is everything.”–WILL DERTING, WSU linebacker, after the Cougars defeated the Huskies 26-22 in the 2005 Apple Cup