New date for Apple Cup?

Saturday's Apple Cup will mark the end of a meat-grinder schedule of 12 straight games without a bye for the Huskies and Cougars, and that has prompted talk about moving the game back a week or two in future years.

Moving the Apple Cup could create a bye in the schedule for each team, giving players some needed rest during the season.

Presently, the Huskies seem more interested in moving the game than the Cougars.

"We need to address it," said Washington athletic director Todd Turner. "We need to look at a lot of things, not just the Wazzu game. Once you move that, it creates a lot of other dominos that fall into place, so it's just being creative and trying to find a way to be fair to your kids. It's almost unfair to expect them to play 12 consecutive weeks. Our offensive line has played every snap for 12 consecutive weeks and you can see the lack of energy."

Washington State coach Bill Doba said he doesn't like the idea of moving the game to Thanksgiving weekend or the week after Thanksgiving.

He prefers playing the first game of the season a week earlier in late August and having a bye midway through the season. It would take NCAA legislation to permit that change.

Said WSU athletic director Jim Sterk: "I'm kind of like Bill. From our standpoint, starting in August would be beneficial."

Classes begin at WSU in August, and school closes for a one-week "fall break" on Thanksgiving week. Washington students don't start school until late September and get only a four-day break for Thanksgiving.

"Right now, I really like being able to finish the regular season and let the guys get away for Thanksgiving," Doba said. "Hopefully, if you're in a bowl game, they come back pretty fresh and you can get ready for the bowl season."

Doba said the WSU campus is deserted during Thanksgiving week.

"It's not a great place to be, in Pullman over the holiday with nobody here," he said.

Doba said another problem with moving the Apple Cup back is that it interferes with recruiting. He said when the Cougars moved their 2002 game against UCLA to December in Pasadena for network TV, they lost a valuable recruiting weekend.

Doba said he doesn't like seasons without a bye, especially now that the NCAA has gone to a 12-game schedule.

"It's wear and tear on the kids and also on our coaches," he said.

The Huskies and Cougars don't have byes in 2007, either. Sterk said the 2008 schedule has room for a bye plus the 12-game schedule. However, Washington is not scheduled for a bye in 2008.

Sterk said he and Turner "have talked a little bit," but "nothing is in the works right now as far as changing right away."

Turner said a Pac-10 conference call is set for Wednesday to discuss scheduling.

WSU quarterback Alex Brink said moving the Apple Cup after Thanksgiving "would be kind of a toss-up," in which the positive would be a chance for players to heal, but the negative is losing the much-anticipated week of vacation.

Injured WSU receiver Jason Hill said, "It's killing us not having a bye week."

Said Washington linebacker Scott White: "I think a bye right in the middle of the season is the best time to have it. I don't want to have it right after the first game; that's a waste. If you have it around this time, that would be great. So many beneficial things come with having a bye."

Traditionally, all the Pac-10 schools except Arizona and Arizona State have played their "rivalry games" the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year, UW-WSU is the weekend's only rivalry game.

The Cougars and Huskies have played on the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year since 1967. Turner said that while "you don't want to disturb tradition, the important tradition is that we play the Cougs, whether it's the first game or the last game. That's secondary to making sure the rivalry stays strong."

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com; Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com