Apple Cup Coverage: How Much Is Riding on the Game for UW Coach Chris Petersen?

Some call it "Hate Week". It's a week where records seldom matter. It's a week when houses are often divided. It's a week in the State of Washington where intrastate bragging rights have resided on the western side of the Cascade Mountain Range for 6 years. But with a 6-5 record for the Huskies the stakes are just as high as they were last year with the victor heading to the Pac 12 Championship Game.

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Former Ohio State Buckeyes' Coach, Urban Meyer recently stated that beating Michigan was more important than winning a National Championship.   The Apple Cup Trophy has the victor's name, Washington, stacked 6 times in a row.  Can they make it 7 and salvage a disappointing season?

The Iron Bowl, The Civil War, The Apple Cup...It's rivalry weekend in college football.  The trophies range from the "Gold Pants" if Ohio State beats Michigan, Paul Bunyan's Ax, to a Platypus Trophy to an Apple Cup Trophy.  But, perhaps the biggest reward is 365 days of bragging rights.  

It's a measuring stick for whose system is better.  For 2,562 days Air Raid has been grounded.  Every year the cries from "The Palouse" have been "this is our year!" followed by "Whatever Girl" the "Crying Mustache" and a very quotable Mike Leach.  

Over the past 6 Apple Cups, weather it's been played at 3800 Montlake Boulevard or 1775 NE Stadium Way the result has been the same: Air Raid has become Ground Chuck.  For whatever reason, Jimmy Lake's defense rises against Gardner Minshew, Luke Falk, Peyton Bender and a fleet of under-recruited receivers.

But this is no ordinary year for what Washington fans have come to expect from Chris Petersen-led teams.  Sure, they lost 9 defenders but by the day-after-Thanksgiving game the Washington defenders aren't exactly green.  They've seen two Heisman trophy candidates, they've seen the bevvy of 5* receivers that USC had to offer, they've seen a re-born Beavers offense.

However, sitting at 6-5 is disconcerting for Husky coaches, players, and fans a like.  Coach Petersen's seat is anything from being hot but a win on Black Friday will certainly take a bit of heat off that he faces from reporters on a daily basis.  A loss and there's 4 weeks of questions, 4 weeks of theories of what the problem is, but 365 days of bragging rights for the Evergreen State...and yet another tough pill to swallow.