Five. That's how many consecutive Apple Cups the Washington Huskies have taken home after Friday's post-Thanksgiving feast on the Palouse. I say feast because the Huskies absolutely ate the Cougars alive in front of their own home crowd.

This was supposed to be one of the best Apple Cups we've seen in years, maybe decades. Both teams came in with prolific offenses, ranked in the top 25 and with the winner punching their ticket to the Pac-12 championship game. In the end however, only one prolific offense put their skills on display, and that was Washington.

Despite all the intensity that would surround an in-state rivalry, UW raced out to a 28-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. But even with a double digit and multiple possession lead, the Huskies could never really let up, not when you're up against Mike Leach and his Air Raid offense.

Therefore the win was never in the bag early, especially as the Cougs seemed to catch some momentum towards the end of the third quarter. A Luke Falk touchdown pass to Gabe Marks closed the gap to 35-17 and the hope alive that they could surmount the deficit facing them, a la their last Apple Cup win. That year, Washington came in ranked 25th and the Cougars overcame an 18-point Husky lead and beat Keith Price's UW team.

After getting the ball back, Falk marched WSU down to the goal line, where they called on their running game to get them six. After three failed attempts, the Cougs tried one more time to punch it in, only for Buddha Baker to make the stop and leave the Cougars coming up empty.

On their next drive, all hope was lost as Baker came up big yet again and jumped his man's route to pick off a pass for the second time this season. One can't help but start imagining where he is spend his Sunday's next fall, it won't be in Montlake that's for sure. 

Next up for the Huskies is either Colorado or a rematch against USC in the Pac-12 Championship game. 12th ranked USC finished their conference slate last week, finishing 7-2, putting them at the mercy of the outcome of no. 9 Colorado's match up against no. 22 Utah. Colorado currently sits at 7-1 in conference play, therefore with a win tomorrow in Boulder, they book themselves a date with Washington for the 'ship.

UW has done what it needs to do, with one more hurdle remaining. Although even if they clear it, their national championship hopes are largely out of their hands.

Image: Flickr/McD22