The Apple Cup is a very special, emotional game to a lot of players, and it is no different for Kasen Williams, who inherited this rivalry through his father, former UW wide receiver, Aaron Williams.  Check out Bob Condotta’s article on Kasen adapting to his freshman season along with his thoughts on the WSU rivalry.

Several months ago, the Sarkisian family made a $100,000 donation to the University of Washington College of Education in helping graduate students who long to teach in Washington state public schools.  The College of Education has recently released a Sarkisian Fellowship promo on their website.  Check out the article at the College of Education website.

For those of you unable to make it to CenturyLink Field on Saturday, we wanted to give you a quick reminder that the game will be aired on Versus at 4:30pm.  Be sure to watch the Dawgs, whether it’s in person or at home!

This Saturday will mark the 104th meeting between the Huskies and the Cougars in the Apple Cup.  This will also be the first game held at the Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field while Husky Stadium continues its ongoing renovation.  Check out some of the other Apple Cup notes.

• During Coach Sark’s weekly press conference Monday, Coach stressed the importance of freeing the players up to make big plays: “We just want to make sure we give our players the chance to play fast and furious.”
• The Huskies play the in-state rival Cougars Saturday in the final game of the regular season. Unique to this year’s contest, it is the first time the Huskies will play in their temporary digs, CenturyLink Field. The Dawgs play at the Seahawks’ home field through the 2012 season. Coach Sark said that the team will go through a walkthrough at their interim home Friday, but he stressed that it is still just a football field: “The field is 100 yards long, 53 1/3 yards wide, and its green.”
• Just a note concerning personnel, Coach Sark confirmed that Keith Price will return to leading the Husky offense this Saturday. Also, Colin Tanigawa is probably out this week after a likely ACL sprain and either Nick Wood or Micah Hatchie will step up to fill the void. And at DT, freshman Danny Shelton has been promoted to starter.
• Despite Price being limited to the fourth quarter because of injuries, Coach Sark said that he stepped up as a leader, and did something that Coach has not seen as a coach at any level: “Keith was in the defensive huddle trying to get them fired up.”
•  The Huskies’ opponent Saturday has had a revolving door of quarterbacks this year, going through three starters. WSU expects to trot out senior Marshall Lobbestael, who started the season as the backup, after Connor Halliday went down against ASU: “The scheme hasn’t changed. Arguably the best football they’ve played was with Lobbestael.”
• Coach Sark stated that the mistakes that the team have made this year have not been because of a lack of desire, and then Coach spoke about his admiration for this group of players: “We’ve got an awesome group of kids. I love them. I really do. No one wants to win more.”

Chris Polk rushed for 109 yards on Saturday, giving him his 19th career 100-yard rushing game, expanding his UW record.  Chris has 1241 yards on the season to go along with 10 scores.  In his career, he has 3802 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Jake Locker threw his first career NFL touchdown pass against the Atlanta Falcons tonight.  Coincidentally, Washington was on the receiving end, that being Nate Washington, on the 40 yard touchdown.  Check out the hightlight of the pass.   Jake took over for Matt Hasselbeck who left the game early with an injury, and ended the day 9 for 19 with 2 touchdown passes.  The Titans came up short against the Falcons, 17 to 23.