THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: A disaster from the outset for the Huskies in Apple Cup

The instant the ball was snapped, you knew. 

Pictures of this play will wind up on the wall of every pub in Pullman. 

And several counties in every direction. 

Seriously. 

You knew. 

Washington quarterback Will Rogers was going down like the Titanic. 

In seconds, we were going to see crimson chaos, and Wazzu would be clinging to an Apple Cup for the ages. 

This one, for the reasons we all know, was THE Apple Cup — and Washington State bulldozed that Big Ten team to win it.  

UW coach Jedd Fisch was going to be staring at the sky, and saying: “Why in the hell did I call that timeout?” 

Among other things, Fisch later threw his own players under the bus, and singled out some mistakes before and during the critical fourth down play. 

Classy. 

All of these things became perfectly obvious just one heartbeat after the Huskies snapped the ball on the Cougs’ 1-yard line. 

About a minute left. 

No timeouts. 

UW with a fourth down for history. 

Rogers is no runner, never has been, which makes it funny that Fisch called for a “speed option” with a QB who lacks any speed. 

It was a catastrophe in a nanosecond, as Cougs edge rusher Andrew Edson blasted a blocker and whacked Rogers. 

YES, THE play is called an “option,” but Rogers’ had roughly the option of a guy in an electric chair who is asked: “AC or DC?” 

He could get immediately flattened by Edson, or pitch the ball to Jonah Coleman, which he did. 

Wazzu linebacker Kyle Thornton almost reached Coleman before the ball, and drilled the running back for a two-yard loss. 

Ballgame. 

And not just any game, either. 

That’s why there was so much meaning to that final play. 

It likely will be known simply as “The Play” on the Palouse. 

Forever. 

Edson, Thornton and sophomore linebacker Taariq Al-Uqdah were the Cougs involved in swallowing up Rogers and Coleman — but Fisch insisted it was his own players who got the thing all wrong. 

Specifically, the coach singled out his senior tight end, Keleki Latu. 

Fisch said that Latu was supposed to leave Al-Uqdah unblocked, with Rogers making the option on whether to cut inside if Al-Uqdah stuck with Coleman — or make the pitch if it went the other way, with Latu blocking Thornton. 

I’m sure Latu and plenty more UW players were impressed with Fisch’s detailed explanation of how Latu let down the university. 

Now there’s a real recruiting tool. 

In fact, that was Fisch’s second huge screw-up on the play. 

First, he’d called a pass to Giles Jackson, who had eight receptions and had been almost impossible to cover — but THEN Fisch called timeout to change the play to that option. 

Among other things wrong with Fisch’s decision was that the Huskies had to run the option from the “short side” of the field. 

Hash marks in college are 60 feet from the boundary, as opposed to 70 feet, 9 inches in the NFL. 

In other words, Rogers had almost no space or time for his decision to keep the ball or pitch to Coleman. 

Oh, and finally, Fisch tried to compare his decision with an option that worked in the 2023 Apple Cup. 

UH, COACH? 

Kalen DeBoer’s call in last year’s Apple Cup came way back in Husky territory, meaning there were acres of open space, and the ball carrier was Rome Odunze, a fast and bruising athlete. 

Hardly the same thing. 

Fisch’s attempt to sell his call long beyond the game — and after he actually took responsibility for it at a press briefing immediately after it happened — was the final strange part of the whole drama. 

Bottom line: The way this thing played out made Cougs coach Jake Dickert look very good. 

Fair enough, since Jake actually is very much a guy you’d like to have coach your son — as a player and as young man transitioning properly into adult society.

That’s the long-range look at how this thrilling Apple Cup ended. 

Up close, Wazzu made the plays necessary to deserve this Cup. 

I’m not sure if the Cougs are serious, but there are rumors that they intend to keep this one forever and bring a new Apple Cup to next year’s game. 

Why not? 

The trophy they just took back to Pullman was a Pac-12 symbol. 

Maybe the Huskies can get a new model from the Big Ten. 

I’m all for that. 

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”