A peaceful Black Friday without the Apple Cup

Good morning Coug fans. In simpler times, we’d be waking up relishing in an Apple Cup victory, or dreading our UW friends—of which I have none, thank you—calling, texting, and emailing us about their Apple Cup victory. Alas, these are not simple times. I have to admit, it was kind of nice spending Black Friday without stressing about the annual Apple Cup. If the two schools find a date to reschedule, I’m sure that stress will be waiting for me.

Instead, I got plenty of things done around the house, prepped the Christmas lights for today’s chore, and relaxed while watching a few college football games. It was quite nice.

First it was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish heading to North Carolina and dominating the second half (at least on defense) en route to 31-17 victory. My Irish-Catholic lineage requires that I root for Notre Dame even if I can name no more than five players during most seasons. Yes, I’m that fan. Yell at me.

(In my defense, my mom’s late uncle, may he rest in peace, was at one time pen pals with Lou Holtz. True story!)

Ian Book—who you might remember as a one-time WSU commit—has only lost three times in his career, which is mind boggling to me for some reason. He even showed off on this play, which reminded me of the Gardner Minshew to Tay Martin completion at the 2018 Alamo Bowl:

Then it was time for the Civil War whatever they’re now calling the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry game. Apparently there isn’t a new name yet, as the schools have bigger issues to deal with, understandably so.

The game was nearly unwatchable because of the dense fog. Just look at this yuck:

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Anyway, the fog left the stadium at about the fourth quarter and that just so happened to coincide with Oregon State’s surge. The Beavers came away with the victory, an upset for sure, but let’s not bury the lede:

The Pac-12 refs really embarrassed themselves in that one, and at a crucial time, too.

The Beavers’ game winning touchdown sequence from the one yard line was an absolute mess. Tristan Gebbia seemed to be in on his first try but was ruled down on the field. With the clock running, the refs suddenly stopped the game to go to a replay while both teams seemed to be calling timeout through the confusion.

Then, after the ruling stood, Gebbia tried again but was stopped short. However, it looked like Oregon jumped offside....but there was no flag. Nor was there much (any?) discussion about the obvious offside on the ESPN broadcast.

My goodness.

Gebbia left the game due to an injury on that play—a play that should have never run had the refs correctly ruled him in the first time—and he’s likely out for the season. Just awful. The backup came in and suck it in for the win. Woo Beavs.

Instead of the upset and wonderful comeback in a rivalry game as an underdog in some wild weather, the story will be about the end-of-game blunders by the officials.

Sigh. It never ends.

Oh, I also watched the last few minutes of Stanford-Cal, and boy did I pick the right time to tune in:

So, not a bad Black Friday for yours truly. There were times when I did miss the Apple Cup, and I truly hope they can reschedule it. But watching other teams do wild and crazy things, and other teams lose in tragic fashion was fun since I didn’t have any emotional investment.

Basketball hosts Eastern Washington tonight

This game was at one point in doubt due to COVID issues with EWU, but as of this writing, the game is on.

Regional Rivalry Renews With Eastern Washington - Washington State University Athletics
The Cougs host the Eagles for the first time since 2012.

Links

Washington State returns to practice after four-day pause; Cougars 'hopeful' about Max Borghi return | The Spokesman-Review
Washington State held football practice Wednesday afternoon.

Washington State mailbag: Why you shouldn't lose your Thanksgiving appetite over the Cougars' three decommits | The Spokesman-Review
Unfortunately, we don't have all the normal Apple Cup content to feed you in 2020, but there's still plenty of Washington State football developments to feast on as the Cougars wait for the next game on the schedule, Dec. 4 at USC.

Could UW and Washington State still meet for the Apple Cup? | Tacoma News Tribune
The Apple Cup was canceled this week due to Washington State’s COVID-19 issues. But both Washington and the Cougars have expressed interest in rescheduling for later this season.

Trash Talk: WSU coach Nick Rolovich asked if Husky Stadium was built on ‘an old garbage dump.’ Here’s the answer. | The Seattle Times
I can think of a hundred other things media in Seattle should investigate.