Instant reaction to developments on and off the field …
1. WSU’s big wins
If there has been a better 60 hours in the history of Washington State athletics, we are unaware.
Thursday morning: Pac-12 expansion secures a home for the Cougars after 13 months adrift in the realignment game.
Saturday afternoon: One of the sweetest of Apple Cups, in which the Cougars outplayed Washington, out-coached Washington, out-smarted Washington, out-quarterbacked Washington and celebrated a 24-19 victory at Lumen Field.
In fact, let’s expand the timeframe to eight and include WSU’s beatdown of Texas Tech on Sept. 7 in what, at the time, seemed like an audition.
It seems like months ago, but as recently as last weekend, Washington State and Oregon State formed a two-team conference with a murky future.
Each matchup with a power conference opponent — Texas Tech from the Big 12 and Washington from the Big Ten — felt like a chance for the Cougars to prove they belonged.
But Thursday morning brought security, in the form of a four-school raid of the Mountain West. With the Pac-12 set to endure, the pressure for WSU (and Oregon State) to impress seemed to dissipate.
Then came a narrow victory over their rival — over the school that took a leading role in the collapse of the Pac-12 on Aug. 4, 2023. The Cougars were tougher, more physical, more creative and more resilient.
“Just a helluva win,” coach Jake Dickert said. “I’m really proud for Cougs everywhere. To come on this neutral field — it’s just awesome.”
Would they trade an Apple Cup win for membership in the Power Four? Sure. They would trade 10 Apple Cup wins for membership in the Power Four. But in the real world, the Cougars were left to make the best of a brutal situation.
After a plethora of twists and turns over the course of 13 months, they produced a momentous week.
As a result, the Cougars are 2-0 against Power Four opponents, 3-0 overall and halfway to becoming bowl eligible with nine games remaining.
Above all, they wanted to be relevant this season. So far, so good.
2. Rotten Apple
The Cougars did not win the Apple Cup by themselves. They had plenty of help from Washington, which looked exactly like a team that has a new coach, overhauled starting lineup and one-way ticket to the middle of the Big Ten standings.
The Huskies committed 16 penalties and had two offsides penalties that allowed WSU to run out the clock in the final minute.
But before that undisciplined debacle, Washington had a chance to take the lead with first-and-goal from the 9 yardline with two minutes remaining. That eventually became fourth-and-goal from the 1.
On the biggest play of the season to date, they ran a lemon: A slow-developing quarterback option to the short side of the field in which Will Rogers pitched to tailback Jonah Coleman too close to the sideline for Coleman to make positive yardage.
At least give one of your primary playmakers, Coleman and receiver Giles Jackson, a fair chance to win the game.
“That’s on me. I made a bad call,” coach Jedd Fisch told reporters after the game. “We didn’t execute the call. We lost the game, so I’ll take that.”
This figured to be a tough assignment for the Huskies given their retooled new roster and WSU’s massive motivational edge.
This also figured to be a difficult season for the Huskies given the roster situation and the competition in the Big Ten.
That said, the performance Saturday was below an acceptable standard.
3. That’s more like it
Four hours down Interstate 5, Oregon announced its arrival on the scene.
After two surprisingly poor performances against Idaho and Boise State, the Ducks looked like the team we expected to see all along — a team expected to contend for the Big Ten title and the national championship.
They were unstoppable on offense, immoveable on defense and decimated Oregon State 49-14 in a rivalry game that meant as much to the Beavers as the Apple Cup did to the Cougars.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel looked comfortable for the first time, the offensive line was in sync and Oregon averaged 9.3 yard per play.
The Beavers struggled to generate offense, which could quickly become a trend as opponents gain clarity on quarterback Gevani McCoy’s tendencies.
Put another way: We aren’t sure OSU has enough playmakers to reach the six-win mark that secures a bowl bid — even against a schedule loaded with Mountain West teams.
4. The next gen
The Hotline plans to track the success (or failure) of the four schools set to join the Pac-12 in the summer of 2026 — and a few of the candidates to fill the seventh and eighth spots.
We won’t address all of them here, but a few are worth noting:
— UNLV is making a strong case for membership in its second year under coach Barry Odom. The Rebels won nine games last year and are 3-0 this season after an impressive win at Kansas. (They also thumped Houston, which nearly beat Oklahoma.)
— Memphis, another possible addition to the Pac-12 — although the Tigers are far less likely than UNLV to accept an offer — improved to 3-0 after a victory at Florida State.
— Of the four schools that accepted membership invitations this week, one was idle (Boise State), one was victorious (Fresno State) and two lost (Colorado State and San Diego State).
5. Temperature check in the desert
One of the Arizona schools is undefeated, and it’s the one that was picked to finish last in the Big 12.
Arizona State’s narrow escape at Texas State on Thursday night continued an impressive early-season showing for second-year coach Kenny Dillingham.
The Sun Devils are 3-0 for the first time since 2019 thanks to wrecking-ball tailback Cameron Scattebo and an opportunistic defense.
Meanwhile, Arizona, which was picked fifth in the Big 12, lost its first game since the middle of last season — and it was a particularly bad loss, in our view.
Yes, Friday night road games are difficult, but the logistics did not fully explain the 31-7 loss at Kansas State.
In fact, they didn’t come close.
Arizona was outscored 17-0 in the second half, outplayed at the line of scrimmage throughout the game and did not look like it belonged on the same field as one of the Big 12 favorites.
The Sun Devils and Wildcats have not completely swapped roles — the sample size is far too small for conclusions — but certainly the gap between the teams appears markedly smaller than we would have expected.
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