COUGARS SET TO FACE WASHINGTON IN BOEING APPLE CUP SERIES
Washington State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) will make the trip to Seattle to face Washington (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) in the Boeing Apple Cup Series set for 1 p.m., Friday on FOX.

SERIES HISTORY - 112th Meeting, 57th APPLE CUP
Washington leads the all-time series 73-32-6 against Cougars including the last six matchups. WSU's last win in the series came in 2012, a 31-28 overtime win in Pullman. The Huskies own a 41-15-3 record in the series when playing in Seattle including the last five meetings with WSU's last road win in the series coming in 2007.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the regular season finale with a 6-5 overall record and 3-5 in Pac-12 Conference play after scoring the go-ahead touchdown with two seconds remaining in a 54-53 home win over Oregon State last Saturday. The Air Raid leads the nation in the passing (456.7), fifth in total offense (533.0) and ninth in scoring (41.5). The Cougar defense entered the week tied for fourth in the Pac-12 in takeaways (17). Head coach Mike Leach is in his eighth season at Washington State, owns a 55-45 record with the Cougars and last week saw WSU become bowl eligible for a program-record fifth-straight season.

COUGAR QUICK GAME
TEAM
•  WSU is bowl eligible for a program-record 5th straight season
•  3 WSU WR were named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List (Arconado, Patmon, Winston Jr.), most in Pac-12
•  WSU has seen 27 players make their WSU debuts this season and 17 make their 1st career start
•  WSU's roster features players from 19 states and from British Columbia, American Samoa and Australia
•  Since 2015, WSU owns 43 wins, 4th-most among Pac-12 schools (UW - 45, Utah - 45, Stan - 44)
•  Since 2015, WSU owns 29 Pac-12 wins, tied for 3rd-most among Pac-12 schools (USC - 32, Stan - 30, UW - 29)
•  WSU is the only Pac-12 team with four shutouts since 2013 (6+ seasons) (Utah - 3, Stan and UW - 2)
•  WSU has produced an All-America offensive lineman in each of the last 4 seasons
•  3 starters from the 2018 team have made starts in the NFL this season;
    QB Gardner Minshew II (JAC), LT Andre Dillard (PHI), S Jalen Thompson (ARZ)

INDIVIDUAL
•  Mike Leach was named the 2018 AFCA National Coach of the Year and 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
•  QB Anthony Gordon leads the country in passing yards (4,920), passing yards/g (447.3) and passing TD (45)
•  RB Max Borghi is 2nd in the Pac-12 with 14 total TD, leads the Pac-12 at 6.7 yards-per-carry
•  Borghi leads all RB nationally with 69 receptions and has rushed for a 100 yards four times in 2019
•  Borghi is only Power-5 player with 700+ rush yards, 500+ rec yards and 14 total TD
•  WR Brandon Arconado leads the Pac-12 with 6 100-yard efforts, 5th in Pac-12 with 908 receiving yards
•  WR Easop Winston Jr. is tied for 8th in the country with 11 TD receptions, 3rd in the Pac-12 with 77 catches
•  K Blake Mazza is a finalist (3) for the Lou Groza Award, is 18-for-19 in FG attempts
•  LB Jahad Woods is 10th in the country with 111 tackles, owns 7 games with 10+ tackles in 2019

COLLEGE GAMEDAY RECORD
Dating back to the middle of the 2003 season, ESPN's College GameDay has had the WSU flag appear throughout the show. The streak reached 239 last Saturday after appearing in Columbus, Ohio. The first appearance came in Austin, Texas (10/4/03) and the streak began two weeks later in Madison, Wisc. (10/18/03). Two flags – Ol' Crimson and Gray – have been flown in the background of the GameDay set by dozens of friends and alumni. The Gray flag was added in 2014 after Whitey was retired in honor of Steve Gleason's "No White Flags." Appearance No. 217 was its first in Pullman (10/20/18), a 34-20 win over Oregon. 

COUGARS IN THE RANKINGS
Washington State reached No. 19 in the week four Associated Press Top-25 Poll after starting the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll, just the second time in the last three seasons appearing in the preseason poll and just the fourth time since 1952. The Cougars finished 2018 ranked No. 10 in both the Associated Press Poll and Coaches Poll, their highest ranking to finish a season since finishing the 2003 season ninth in the AP poll. The No. 10 ranking was the highest by any Pac-12 Conference team, the first time that happened in conference history. 

COUGARS FEATURED ON HBO'S 24/7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
HBO Sports' landmark franchise 24/7 broke new ground this October with an all-access college football series chronicling four programs in-season; Florida, Penn State, Arizona State and Washington State. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, the voice of HBO Sports' Emmy award winning documentaries and HARD KNOCKS franchises, the series documented the head coach, players, assistant coaches and more over one week during the regular season. WSU was featured with an hour-long special highlighting the home game against Colorado.

AIR RAID
The Air Raid has continued to put up big numbers in 2019.
• WSU leads the country in passing (456.7), 5th in total offense (533.0), 9th in scoring (41.5) • WSU has tied the Pac-12 single-season record for team TD passes (47, Washington - 2016) • WSU has 3 players on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List (nation's top receiver); Brandon Arconado, Dezmon Patmon and Easop Winston Jr., the most in the Pac-12 and second nationally only to Alabama's 4 • WSU has seen Max Borghi post 4 100-yard rushing games (New Mexico State, UCLA, Colorado, Stanford) • vs. New Mexico State, 6 passing TD to 5 different WR, 618 yards of total offense, Max Borghi 128 rushing yards • vs. UCLA, 63 points, 720 yards of total offense, 570 passing yards, 9 passing TDs, 150 rushing yards • vs. UCLA, the 2 teams combined to set a Pac-12 single-game record with 130 points, WSU's 720 yards of total offense is 2nd-most in WSU single-game history, Anthony Gordon's 9 TD passes was a WSU/Pac-12 record • vs. Colorado, recorded 497 yards of total offense, 4 different players caught TD, combined to rush for 128 yards • at Oregon, 406 pass yards, 3 passing TD, 6.9 yards-per-play • vs. Stanford, 520 passing yards, 5 TD passes, 8 receivers caught a pass, 624 yards of total offense • vs. Oregon State, 606 passing yards, 6 TD passes, 2 rush TD, 641 yards of total offense • WSU has led the Pac-12 in passing in 6 of Mike Leach's 7 seasons, finishing 2nd to Cal (Jared Goff) in 2013  • WSU has led the nation in passing three times under Mike Leach (2014, 2015, 2018)

MIKE LEACH AMONG NATION'S BEST
Now in his 18th season as a head coach and 8th in Pullman, Mike Leach owns a 139-88 career record including a 55-45 mark at WSU • his 55 wins at WSU are 3rd-most in school history, O.E. Hollingberry (93, 1926-42), Mike Price (83, 1989-2002) • is the 1st Cougar head coach in school history to lead WSU to 4 straight bowl games  • is the 1st Cougar head coach in school history to lead WSU earn bowl eligibility 5 straight seasons • is tied with Mike Price for the most bowl appearances with 5  • 2nd Cougar Head Coach to be named National Coach of the Year (2018 AFCA), Mike Price in 1997 • Named a George Munger Coach of the Year semifinalist (2016, 2017, 2018) 
• 2015 Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year and 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year • WSU has sold out Martin Stadium 18 times since Mike Leach arrived in 2012, twice in 2019 (Colorado, Stanford) • under Leach, WSU has recorded 14 4th-quarter comebacks in his 8 seasons (Oregon State last week)

YOUNG COUGS TAKE THE FIELD 
• 26 total freshman have played this season, 17 redshirt-freshmen and 9 true freshmen
• 27 players made their WSU debuts; CB Derrick Langford, DB Daniel Isom, RB Deon McIntosh, FS Bryce Beekman, OL Hunter Mayginnes, LS Tyler Williams, DL Brennan Jackson, LB Travion Brown, DL Nicholas Sheetz, QB Gage Gubrud, DL Lamonte McDougle, WR Brandon Gray, DB Chad Davis Jr., DB Shahman Moore, OL Cade Beresford, LS Simon Samarzich, WR Mitchell Quinn, OL Seth Yost, WR Lucas Bacon, DL Cosmas Kwete, LB Peni Naulu, DB Trey Davis, DL Michael Van Beek, DL Christian Mejia, CB Armaunie Archie, RB Jouvensly Bazil, LB Rocky Katoanga
• 15 freshmen have made their collegiate debuts including 9 true freshmen; LB Travion Brown, DL Cosmas Kwete, LS Simon Samarzich, DL Nicholas Sheetz, LB Peni Naulu, DB Trey Davis, CB Armaunie Archie, RB Jouvensly Bazil, LB Rocky Katoanga
• 17 players have made their first career start; CB Armani Marsh, END Karson Block, NT Misiona Aiolupotea-Pei, FS Bryce Beekman, SS Daniel Isom, QB Anthony Gordon, X Rodrick Fisher, Liam Ryan made his 1st career start at left tackle, Rob Valencia made his 1st career start at left guard, Tyler Williams as the field goal longsnapper, Simon Samarzich as the longsnapper on punts, CB Derrick Langford, CB George Hicks III, NT Dallas Hobbs, NICKEL Pat Nunn, DL Tristan Brock, NICKEL Travion Brown

FRIENDLY CONFINES OF MARTIN STADIUM
Washington State went 7-0 at home in 2017, 6-1 in 2018 and 5-1 mark this season to push it's Martin Stadium record to 18-2 over the past three seasons. WSU saw it's 13-game home winning streak snapped in the 2018 Apple Cup. 

COUGARS IN CLOSE GAMES
Since 2012, the Cougars have played a number of close games under head coach Mike Leach and own a 25-18 mark in games decided by one possession including a 11-9 mark in games decided by three points. Since Mike  Leach arrived for the 2012 season, WSU has recorded 14 4th-quarter comebacks in his eight seasons, the last coming last week against Oregon State. Last season, the Cougars went 4-1 in games decided by one possession while this season, WSU has gone 2-3.

GORDON SHINES IN STARTING ROLE (Ratings Based On PFF College) 
Not much was known about redshirt-senior quarterback Anthony Gordon outside of the program prior to the 2019 season but he put on a show in his first career start in the opener against New Mexico State. The Pacifica, Calif. native opened the game by completing his first 15 passes and led WSU to points on all nine of the drives he started including the first six that resulted in touchdowns. Gordon finished the night 29-of-35 for 420 yards and five touchdowns, tying Luke Falk (2014 at OSU) for the most touchdown passes in a Cougar starting debut. 
• Gordon enters the week leading the country in passing yards (4,920), passing yards/g (447.3), passing TD (45) and total offense (449.5) • Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist, given to the nation's best QB • 3-time Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (New Mexico State, at Houston, Stanford) • named to Manning Award Watch List, Maxwell Award Watch List • Gordon set the Pac-12 single-season record for passing TD (45) during last week's win over Oregon State, breaking the previous record of 43 (Jared Goff - 2015, Jake Browning - 2016) • Gordon set the Pac-12 single-season record for passing yards (4,920) during last week's win over Oregon State, breaking the previous record of 4,779 (Gardner Minshew II, 2018) • Gordon is looking to record the 16th 5,000-passing yard season in NCAA FBS history, the first since Patrick Mahomes in 2016, and 6th by a quarterback coached by Mike Leach • Gordon's 4,945 yards of total offense are most in WSU single-season history, 2nd in Pac-12 history behind Marcus Mariota's 2014 mark of 5,224

IT'S A CITY SITUATION
Since 2015, the Cougars have seen six players from San Francisco City College take the field and the 2019 roster holds four players from the school; QB Anthony Gordon, WR Easop Winston Jr., OL Robert Valencia, CB Derrick Langford. Past Cougars who played at SFCC, DB Shalom Luani (2015-16) and S/KR Rob Taylor (2016-17)
• In their only season played together at SFCC in 2015, Winston Jr. tallied 62 receptions for 986 yards and 12 touchdowns while Gordon threw for 3,864 yards and 37 touchdowns, leading SFCC to a 2015 California JUCO title
• In 2019, Gordon has connected with Winston Jr. for 77 receptions for 914 yards and 11 TD • Easop Winston Jr. moved into the WSU single-season Top-10 for catches last week, sits 7th with 77 receptions • Winston Jr.'s 11 TD rec are tied for 7th-most in WSU single-season history • Winston Jr.'s 19 career TD rec are tied for 7th-most in WSU history

COUGAR WIDE RECEIVER NOTES (Ratings Based On PFF College)
• WSU's wide receiver corp is rated 5th-best in the country, tops in the Pac-12 • WSU has 3 players on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List (Brandon Arconado, Dezmon Patmon, Easop Winston Jr.), the most in the Pac-12 and second nationally only to Alabama's 4 • Winston Jr. (914) and Arconado (908) are looking to become the 2nd Cougar duo to record 1,000-yard seasons in the same year since 2015 (Gabe Marks, Dom Williams) • Arconado's 6 100-yard rec games are tied for 2nd-most in WSU single-season history, 1 away form tying Mike Levenseller's 1976 WSU record of 7 • Tay Martin's 18 career TD rec are tied for 10th-most in WSU history • WSU owns 7 receivers with 30 catches, 7 players with multiple TD catches, 4 players with 500+ rec yards • WSU owns 3 of the top 6 rated slot receivers in the Pac-12, Travell Harris (2nd), Arconado (4th), Renard Bell (6th) • at least 8 receivers caught a pass in every game except at Oregon, 7 caught a pass

ALL-PURPOSE, ALL THE TIME
The Cougar running backs serve all-purpose roles for the Air Raid. In the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the Cougar backs combined to record 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. The group just missed making it three straight seasons in 2018, combining for 974 rushing yards and 1,044 receiving yards while scoring 28 total TD.
• The 2019 running back group has combined for 862 rush yards, 610 receiving yards, 83 catches and 17 total TD • WSU RBs combine to average 7.2 yards-per-carry led by Max Borghi's 6.7 yards-per-carry, best among Pac-12 backs • Borghi is 2nd in the Pac-12 with 14 total TD, 3rd with 10 rushing TD • Borghi is 1st player in WSU history to score 10 total TD in each of his 1st 2 seasons • Borghi leads all RB nationally with 69 receptions and 22 missed tackles forced after the catch • Borghi only Power 5 player with 700+ rush yards, 500+ rec yards and 14 total TD • Borghi has recorded 100+ all-purpose yards 7 times this season, is averaging 6.9 yards per touch • Borghi's 14 total TD are tied for 5th-most in WSU single-season history • Borghi's 26 career total TD are tied for 5th-most in WSU history • Borghi's 18 career rushing TD are tied for 10th-most in WSU history

OFFENSIVE LINE NOTES (Ratings based on PFF College) 
• WSU has allowed 13 sacks on 627 dropbacks, fewest sacks allowed in the Pac-12 and tied for 10th-fewest in the country • WSU has blocked for four 100-yard rushing games by Max Borghi • left tackle Liam Ryan was named the Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week after the New Mexico State • center Fred Mauigoa is a 2-time a Rimington Trophy Watch List selection, has started 37 straight games • right tackle Abraham Lucas was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List, earned Freshman All-America honors last season • Lucas was named the Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Oregon State win, played every snap, did not allow a sack in 70 pass attempts, 606 passing yards, 6 pass TD, 2 rush TD • WSU returned 65 starts to its 2019 offensive line, the most OL starts returning since starting 2016 with 69 starts • WSU produced the nation's best passing attack in 2018, rated the 2nd-best pass-blocking line in the country • WSU allowed just 13 sacks in 2018 on 677 pass attempts, fewest sacks allowed in the Pac-12 and tied for 8th-fewest allowed in the country, allowed one sack for every 52 pass attempts • WSU has produced an All-America offensive lineman in each of the last 4 seasons (LT Joe Dahl, 2015; LG Cody O'Connell, 2016; LG Cody O'Connell, 2017; LT Andre Dillard & RT Abraham Lucas, 2018) 
• 3 former Cougar offensive linemen are in the NFL including a pair of starters; 
- 2016 5th-round draft pick Joe Dahl starts at left guard for the Detroit Lions, 
- 2018 5th-round draft pick Cole Madison is a member of the Green Bay Packers, 
- 2019 1st-round pick Andre Dillard has made 3 starts for the Philadelphia Eagles

MAZZA NAMED LOU GROZA AWARD FINALIST
Redshirt-sophomore Blake Mazza was named a Lou Groza Award Finalist Monday. Mazza is one of three kickers up for the award given to the nation's top collegiate place-kicker and is the first Cougar to be named a finalist for the award in program history. The finalists will be honored at the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet Dec. 9 in Palm Beach County and the winner will be announced live on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show Dec. 12.
• Named to Midseason All-America Second Team by The Athletic • 18-of-19 in field goal attempts, made first 18 FG to start the season, longest consecutive FG streak in WSU history • tied for No. 12 in the country with a Pac-12 leading 18 made field goals, tied for 6th-most in WSU single-season history  • tied for ninth in the country with a Pac-12 Conference best 51 PAT • named 1 of 3 Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week after hitting all FG (35, 38, 35) in win over Stanford • tied for the second-most points (105) by a kicker in the country, 5th-most by a kicker in WSU single-season history • 2 FG of 50+ yards attempts (50 vs. New Mexico State, career-long 51 at Utah)

SPEED D
The "Speed D" defense enters the week tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 17 takeways and tied for third in the league with eight fumble recoveries. Since 2015, the Cougars are 29-5 when forcing multiple turnovers including a 5-0 mark when doing so in 2019. Last season, WSU led the Pac-12 in sacks (38), was second in  takeaways (23) and 5th in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (23.3), the 9th-best mark in WSU single-season history.
• Jahad Woods owns 111 tackles, WSU's first 100-tackle season since 2015 and most since Deone Bucannon's 114 in 2013 • WSU held New Mexico State to 7 pts, 317 yards of total offense, 3 sacks • held Northern Colorado 139 passing yards allowed, had 4 takeaways, 9 tackles-for-loss • held Houston 128 passing yards • recorded 5 tackles-for-loss included 4 sacks at Arizona State • recorded 7 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions against Colorado, 141 pass yards allowed • held Oregon's Justin Herbert to 222 passing yards and 0 TD, recorded 3 sacks • held Stanford to 6 rushing yards, 10th-fewest allowed in WSU history

FOUR FORMER WALK-ONS EARN SCHOLARSHIPS
This past summer, the Cougars awarded scholarships to four former walk-ons. (stats prior to 2019) 
Karson Block (RS-Sr., DL) - Pac-12 All-Academic 2nd Team, 12 GP, 11 tackles
Oscar Draguicevich III (RS-Jr., P) - All-Pac-12 HM, WSU record 45.7 avg in 2018
Clay Markoff (RS-Jr., RB) - Pac-12 All-Academic 2nd Team, 16 GP, special teams
Armani Marsh (RS-So., CB) - 5 career games played, competed for starting CB spot

FOUR COUGS EARN BACHELOR'S DEGREES
Four current Cougars entered the 2019 season already owning their bachelor's degree.
WR Brandon Arconado (management information systems)
QB Gage Gubrud (business)
OL Robert Valencia (social sciences)
WR Easop Winston Jr. (sociology)

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
The Cougar roster features a number of players who have family members who played professional sports. 
• QB John Bledsoe's dad, Drew Bledsoe played at WSU from 1990-92, was the No. 1 overall pick by the New England Patriots in the 1993 NFL Draft and played 14 seasons • LB Travion Brown's great, great uncle is Jackie Robinson (dad's side) • P Oscar Draguicevich III's dad, Oscar played professional soccer for 10 seasons including 3 for the San Jose Clash of the MLS • WR Calvin Jackson Jr.'s dad Calvin Sr. played DB at Auburn, played 6 NFL seasons with Miami • CB Derrick Langford's dad Derrick Sr. was a 52nd-round MLB draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1994 • NT Lamonte McDougle's dad, Stocker played OL at Oklahoma for offensive line coach Mike Leach and 7 NFL seasons, uncle Jerome McDougle played DL at Miami and 4 NFL seasons • RB Deon McIntosh' brother RJ played DL at Miami and is with the Giants • WR Dezmon Patmon uncle, DeWayne Patmon played LB at Michigan and 2 seasons for Giants • DL Will Rodgers III's uncle is former NBA start Jason Richardson, played 13 NBA seasons • S Tyrese Ross' dad, Dominique Ross played FB for Dallas Cowboys in late 1990's • RUSH Ron Stone Jr.'s dad, Ron Sr. played OL in the NFL for 13 seasons, 3x Pro Bowler, 2x Super Bowl Winner • CB Marcus Strong's brother, Victor played DE at Oregon State and in the NFL for 6 seasons • QB Trey Tinsley's dad, Scott played QB at USC and for Philadelphia Eagles in late 1980's