WSU Cougars vs Washington Huskies: 5 Keys to a Coug Apple Cup Victory

Stop The QB

Nov 15, 2013; Pasadena, CA, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Keith Price (17) throws a pass against the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

This is a tough one to figure out. Quarterback Keith Price sat out during last week’s game against Oregon State and freshman Cyler Miles stepped up big and helped the Huskies to a 69-27 win. But, the question still stands, as of Wednesday night, who will be the Huskies’ signal caller?

Keith Price has led his team for most of the season and has racked up 2,662 yards through the air on 201-310 passing and has scored 19 touchdowns. Miles has started one game and has appeared in 7 games for the Huskies, in 4 of those games he had only 3 pass attempts total.

Miles, who has 412 yards on 36 of 56 passing and 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, looked very good in his first start last week against Oregon State and was impressive in the second half of the UCLA game. Price was injured just before halftime of that UCLA game and didn’t come back into the game after that.

If Miles starts, the Cougar defense will have to get to him early. He has never played in an Apple Cup and has yet to see the Cougar defense. Just like in the Utah game, the Cougars will have to come out, attack him early and get in his head. The Huskies have home-field advantage this time around meaning the Cougars won’t have their full compliment of fans to back them up if needed. Miles has all the abilities to tuck the ball and run and will utilize those skills if needed so the defensive ends will have to make sure they are containing him while also putting pressure on him.

If Price starts, the Cougars will have to get into the backfield and force him to make errant throws and will count on the secondary to take advantage of those. Price is very smart in the pocket and bounces back from a mistake really easily. Also, he just doesn’t make many mistakes. Price has thrown just 4 interceptions this year and has a 156.6 passer rating so far this season.

It is also senior day in Husky Stadium giving Price that extra motivation to come out and play.