November 21, 1998
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Washington beat archrival Washington State and likely qualified for a bowl game, but the Huskies are losing quarterback Brock Huard. The junior announced after Saturday's Apple Cup game that he will forego his senior season and enter the NFL draft. "If I'm going to go out, this is the way to do it," Huard said as he hefted the Apple Cup trophy, the reward for beating the Cougars 16-9. The star of the game was freshman running back Willie Hurst, who rushed 28 times for 155 yards and a touchdown. It was his second consecutive 100-yard game. "We've been running a lot more north and south, not east and west," Hurst said of the Huskies' new-found ground game. "We're trying to go through the tackles, not around them." Hurst fell just two yards shy of Joe Steele's single-game team rushing record for a freshman. The win assured Washington (6-5, 4-4) its 22nd consecutive winning regular season. Kicker Joe Jarzynka said that was the mark he really cared about. "The relief of not ruining our streak is off our shoulders," Jarzynka said. He also said the Huskies should have had an easier time with Washington State (3-8, 0-8), which lost for the eighth consecutive time. "I was not impressed with them," Jarzynka said. "We should have beaten them more than we did." The Huskies will likely be invited to a bowl game in Hawaii or Las Vegas. It would be their fourth consecutive bowl, and coach Jim Lambright isn't making a secret about which he prefers. "It would be a nice place with a warm beach and palm trees," Lambright said. Washington State coach Mike Price said the game summed up a disappointing season in which the Cougars became the first team to go from first to worst in the Pac-10. "Just one mistake after another was costly this year," Price said of a Cougar team that entered the game leading the nation in turnovers with 39, and finished with 40. This was also the Cougars' first winless conference campaign since 1975. Both teams had trouble scoring in the rainy, windy, 40-degree conditions. Washington State's offense was shut out until the final two minutes. The Cougars rotated quarterbacks Paul Mencke and Steve Birnbaum on each series, but again neither proved effective. The Huskies scored first, on an 80-yard drive early in the second quarter. Hurst, whose 45-yard run drove the Huskies deep into WSU territory, scored on a 1-yard burst up the middle. Jarzynka missed the point after. Washington State got its only points of the half on a safety when Scott Ask snapped the ball over the head of punter Ryan Fleming and through the end zone. Huard fired a 27-yard touchdown pass to Dane Looker on the Huskies' first possession of the second half. The Huskies, starting on the Cougars 39, settled for a 44-yard field goal by Jarzynka and a 16-2 lead with 14:49 left in the game. It was a career-best kick for Jarzynka. Washington State's DeJuan Gilmore capped a 69-yard drive late in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard run, narrowing the UW lead to 16-9 with 2:36 left. Washington's Reggie Davis recovered the onside kick but the Huskies had to punt. The Cougars started on their 7 with 1:31 left, but went nowhere. Huard's first pass completion of the second half, a 9-yarder to Pat Conniff, broke the Huskies' career passing record of 5,692 held by his brother, Damon, since 1995. Huard completed just 8 of 14 passes for 84 yards, by far his lowest output of the season. Washington extended its lead in the series to 58-27-6, and this was the third consecutive Apple Cup in which the home team lost.
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