Washington wins Apple Cup: Demond Williams Jr., Huskies pull away for blowout of rival Washington State

FINAL: Washington 59, Washington State 24

The Apple Cup is no stranger to outstanding quarterbacks, and the 117th edition saw two monster performances. Washington's Demond Williams Jr. outdueled Washington State's Zevi Eckhaus with five touchdowns (four with his arm and one on the ground) in one of the best and most eye-catching performances of his young career. Behind Williams' dynamics, the Huskies recaptured the rivalry trophy and will take it back with them across the Cascades, getting revenge for last year's neutral-site loss in Seattle.

Williams set a career high with 88 rushing yards and has now run for at least 64 yards in each of his three outings to open the year. The four passing scores set a season high and matched the personal best he logged in the Sun Bowl last December. And from an efficiency perspective, it would be hard to be much better than the 16-for-19 completion rate Williams posted against his rivals.

On the other side, Eckhaus was terrific for much of the day and proved coach Jimmy Rogers right for inserting him into the lineup. Two interceptions and a fumble overshadowed the playmaking ability he flashed throughout the contest, though. Two of those turnovers came on consecutive snaps, and both led to Washington touchdowns.

It was during a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that the Huskies separated themselves for good. The aforementioned turnovers were the catalyst behind that surge.

Washington was in control for the game's entirety. It scored on the opening drive and had an answer to every single Washington State score. The offense looks like an absolute juggernaut and has not been held off the scoreboard on a single drive since the season opener, save for a kneeldown. It reached the end zone on every one of those drives except for the two on which it had to settle for field goals.

With its in-state supremacy established and a perfect run through non-conference play complete, Washington now turns its attention to the Big Ten opener. And it is a big one. No. 1 Ohio State heads to Montlake next week for a 3:30 p.m. ET showdown with the Huskies on CBS.

Early 3Q: Washington 52, Washington State 24

That should just about do it. Three touchdowns for Washington in less than three minutes has this game quickly at blowout status. Things are snowballing on the Cougars after back-to-back turnovers turned into points for the road team.

Three plays after scooping up the Zevi Eckhaus fumble, Washington capitalized with another in a long line of highlights from Demond Williams Jr. The rising star hit his running back, Jonah Coleman, for a 34-yard touchdown for scoring pass No. 3. It's also Coleman's third touchdown of the night and his first as a receiver.

Early 3Q: Washington 45, Washington State 24

Right after they saw one of their top defenders leave with an injury, the Huskies stepped up with a colossal play, likely putting the Apple Cup on ice.

Alex McLaughlin hauled in his second interception of the game and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. It is the biggest play of the day and gives Washington three possessions of separation.

But that's not all. On the very next snap from scrimmage, the Husky defense jarred the ball loose from Zevi Eckhaus and scooped up the fumble for another takeaway.

This is not what Washington needed as it tries to fend off a red-hot Washington State offense. Standout linebacker Taariq Al-Uqdah went down with an apparent leg injury early in the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the field after a Washington State lineman rolled up on him.

Al-Uqdah is a transfer from the other side of this rivalry and spent the last three seasons with the Cougars. He was one of the top players on the entire Washington State roster a year ago and is off to a great start with the Huskies with 11 tackles and a tackle for loss in two outings.

Early 4Q: Washington 38, Washington State 24

Like clockwork, Washington answers the call. The Cougars simply cannot get over the hump as the Huskies match every single scoring play with one of their own. The latest is a clutch 7-yard touchdown pass from Demond Williams Jr. to Denzel Boston to convert a 3rd-and-goal. It's the second time Williams and Boston linked up in the end zone today.

End 3Q: Washington 31, Washington State 24

The only thing that could make this a better 2025 starting debut for Zevi Eckhaus would be a win. The Washington State quarterback is putting on a show to start the second half and did it all on his last possession. A 48-yard bomb to Landon Wright put the offense back within striking distance, and a few plays later, Eckhaus turned to the ground for the Cougars' first rushing score.

Call it the Palouse Push, perhaps? Eckhaus snuck into the end zone with some help from behind.

There is still work to be done, though. Washington has answered every Washington State score thus far and is on the move with the ball at the Cougar 38.

Mid 3Q: Washington 31, Washington State 17

Every time Washington State cuts into the lead, Washington has an answer. This time, it was a quick five-play drive to capitalize on the terrific field position after the Cougars' failed onside kick attempt. Jonah Coleman punched one in from 2 yards out for his second rushing score of the game, making Jimmy Rogers pay for his aggressive special teams call.

Early 3Q: Washington 24, Washington State 17

Whatever message Jimmy Rogers delivered at halftime, it seems to have resonated with Washington State. The Cougars rushed out of the gates in the second half with their best drive of the day -- an eight-play march to the end zone for a potential momentum-building touchdown. Zevi Eckhaus continued his stellar day through the air and is now 16-for-19 with his second scoring strike, this one coming on an 8-yard connection with Devin Ellison.

The home squad tried an onside kick after the score and nearly gave up a touchdown on the Huskies' return.

HALF: Washington 24, Washington State 10

Demond Williams Jr. had a career high in rushing yardage before a negative play brought him back down to 65. He is well on his way to the best performance on the ground of his two-year run with the Huskies. The sophomore led Washington into field goal range on its final drive of the half, and Grady Gross delivered a 51-yard boot to push the lead back to two full touchdowns.

The Husky offense is on an absolute tear to open the Apple Cup, and the hot start continues a prolific run dating back to halftime of the season opener. Since that point, Jedd Fisch's squad racked up 15 touchdowns and two field goals over its last 18 drives with the only empty possession coming on a kneeldown.

"Another great first half for the offense," Fisch said to CBS Sports' Tiffany Blackmon. "I thought Demond did an unbelievable job escaping some pressures. We gotta do a little better up front. They got clear way too many times. Too many negative runs. Jonah had to make a couple guys miss back there. But altogether, we've got to clean a lot up to be much better for the second half."

The last-minute field goal was a response to the 36-yarder Washington State notched on the previous drive.

Early 2Q: Washington 21, Washington State 7

Eight different Washington State receivers already have a catch through 18 minutes of action. Tight end Beau Baker is the latest to put a tally on the ledger. He hauled in a 12-yard touchdown grab on a beautifully designed third-down play that put him in the open field all by himself.

Zevi Eckhaus has bounced back admirably from his opening-drive interception and stands at 8-for-10 for 63 yards with a touchdown. He is back in the scoring column for the first time since his starting debut in last year's Holiday Bowl.

As quickly as the Cougars made it a one-score game, the Huskies rebuilt their lead. It took just four plays and 2:03 of game time for the visitors to silence the Martin Stadium crowd. Demond Williams Jr. racked up 61 passing yards on two plays to set up a 12-yard Jonah Coleman rushing score.

End 1Q: Washington 14, Washington State 0

The Washington defense put on a clinic with a takeaway on its first drive. Pressure got to Zevi Eckhaus and forced an errant throw, and after one defensive back tipped his pass, Alex McLaughlin hauled it in for an interception, which he returned 27 yards to set the Huskies up just shy of midfield. The quarterback change did not solve Washington State's turnover issues, at least in the early going.

Demond Williams Jr. capitalized on the field position with a second scoring drive in as many opportunities. Washington's second possession again opened with a negative play, but Williams took matters into his own hands after a Jonah Coleman 3-yard loss. The speedy quarterback rattled off runs of 26 yards and 23 yards, the second of which went for six.

Early 1Q: Washington 7, Washington State 0

A sack on the opening play from scrimmage did not stop Washington from drawing first blood. Demond Williams Jr. bounced back from the negative play and led the Huskies on a scoring drive, ultimately connecting with Denzel Boston on a 29-yard touchdown strike.

Boston made an excellent play on the ball for his second touchdown of the year, turning around in the face of a Washington State defender and dropping a foot in bounds as he fell to the turf.

Quarterback Jaxon Potter started the Cougars' first three games but will open the Apple Cup on the bench after a disastrous Week 3 performance. The third-year sophomore tossed three interceptions in the 59-10 loss at North Texas and came out of the game late in favor of Zevi Eckhaus. That was the lone blemish on an otherwise solid start to the year, but the quarterback competition was so tight in the offseason that it was all it took to prompt a change.

Eckhaus is set to make his second start as a Cougar and first since the 2024 Holiday Bowl, when he dazzled with 363 yards and three touchdowns, plus another score on the ground, in what seemed like an audition for the 2025 starting job.

A spread near three touchdowns is practically unheard of in this series, and it requires some courage to side with Washington against the points given Jedd Fisch has yet to win a game outside Husky Stadium in his young tenure. This number also seems skewed by the massive disparity between the teams' most recent results. Cougar quarterback Jaxon Potter should revert to the turnover mean after a three-interception game, and Jonah Coleman is unlikely to bash Washington State for five more touchdowns. Fisch finally gets his first road win and probably doesn't have to sweat it too much, but the home team keeps it within the massive spread on the Palouse. Pick: Washington State +20.5

Washington vs. Washington State prediction, pick, odds, spread: Huskies seek revenge after last year's upset

Carter Bahns

Washington State's goal-line stand sealed last year's win, but history leans toward the Huskies. Washington has won the last four meetings in Pullman, and the Cougars haven't posted back-to-back Apple Cup victories since 2007-08, when Washington was in the depths of its worst era.

Washington State is in the early stages of a rebuild after losing 59 players to the transfer portal last offseason. Jimmy Rogers' debut team started 2-0 but needed a late field goal to edge Idaho, then was blown out 59-10 at North Texas. The Cougars will need their sharpest effort yet to upset Washington.

Washington running back Jonah Coleman may be the best player on the field. He leads the nation with seven rushing touchdowns despite the Huskies playing one fewer game than most teams. Coleman opened the season with 177 yards -- just shy of his career high -- and followed with 111 yards and five scores in Week 2.

Washington coach Jedd Fisch dismissed speculation linking him to the newly opened UCLA and Virginia Tech jobs, saying the rivalry is his only priority this week. A former UCLA assistant, Fisch has been floated as a candidate for both vacancies, but he insisted the Apple Cup is "literally the only thing that I'm thinking about."

"Yeah, I'm focused on the fact that we're playing a team that beat us 24-19 and that is literally the only thing that I'm thinking about," Fisch said Monday at his weekly press conference. "We had a really tough game against [Washington State] a year ago. We got stopped on the 1-yard line. My mind is strictly on that. And a lot of players want to come here recruiting-wise. A lot of players want to be a part of our program. I don't worry about what other coaches say about what I'm going to do."

Fisch has the West Coast background and NFL experience to be an attractive fit at UCLA. He is also a proven program builder after his successful run at Arizona and positive early returns at Washington. Still, it's full steam ahead towards the Apple Cup, the second-year Huskies coach said.

Washington's Jedd Fisch dismisses coaching questions amid UCLA vacancy, focused on Apple Cup

Cody Nagel

The 117th Apple Cup is set for Week 4 on CBS as Washington and Washington State renew their rivalry in nonconference play. The former Pac-12 foes are in the second year of a five-year agreement signed after Washington's move to the Big Ten. Last year's meeting was held at a neutral site; this season, the series returns to campus with Washington State hosting its cross-Cascades rival.

Conference realignment altered the stakes and cast doubt on the rivalry's long-term future, but not the passion that divides the state. The Cougars enjoyed a cathartic win in 2024 after being left behind in the Pac-12 breakup, snapping a skid against the Huskies.

Through three weeks, the programs appear headed in different directions. Washington is 2-0 coming off a bye, while Washington State just suffered a lopsided loss to North Texas. First-year coach Jimmy Rogers seeks validation for his rebuilding Cougars, while Jedd Fisch chases his first Apple Cup win as Washington's head coach.