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UW players look forward to Big Ten play despite Apple Cup loss

By Andy Yamashita

UW players look forward to Big Ten play despite Apple Cup loss

Sep. 17 -- Washington's players have a 24-hour rule when it comes to reacting to results. Win or lose, the Huskies get one day to soak in the feelings from the game. Then, they have to move forward, sixth-year safety Kamren Fabiculanan said.

"Obviously, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth knowing that's my last Apple Cup," Fabiculanan said. "But we've just got to move on."

Washington enters Big Ten conference play this week looking to rebound from a disastrous 24-19 Apple Cup loss against rivals Washington State, the Huskies' first defeat during Jedd Fisch's tenure. It was also Washington's first regular-season loss since Oct. 8, 2022 when it lost 45-38 against Arizona State.

UW hosts Northwestern at Husky Stadium for a 4 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.

"It's always tough to lose with all the work and preparation you put in," sixth-year running back Cameron Davis said. "Obviously a rivalry game is bigger than other games, so it's hard. But it's on today. Now we've got to prepare for Northwestern and have a good week of practice.

The impact of losing the Apple Cup was fairly clear during the immediate aftermath of the game. Fisch said the Huskies had a sad locker room during his postgame news conference. Fifth-year quarterback Will Rogers was despondent with tears in his eyes as he addressed the assembled media after the game with sixth-year linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala.

"It's never fun losing, especially to a rival," Rogers said on Saturday. "I don't know, just feeling the pressure of some of the success some of my other teammates have had -- I want to win. That's really all I care about."

Speaking Monday, Fisch said his message to the team was to simply look ahead to Big Ten play. The Washington coach said the Apple Cup loss to Washington State was "very disappointing," but the Huskies still have a whole season ahead of them. Losing to the Cougars won't prevent them from going to the Big Ten championship or have conference implications.

Offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick said the team's mentality has been "great" coming off the Apple Cup. Carroll said the Huskies are hungry to get back on the field and prove themselves after several self-inflicted wounds prevented them from beating the Cougars.

"Their attitudes have been just right," Carroll said. "They're ready to go attack it."

Fisch's teams generally bounced back well after losses during his time at Arizona. After going 1-11 during the 2021 campaign, his 2022 Wildcat squad only suffered one sustained losing streak when Arizona lost four games during a brutal stretch of its schedule against No. 12 Oregon, Washington, No. 10 USC and No. 12 Utah. Arizona upset No. 9 UCLA at the Rose Bowl to snap the skid.

A season later, Fisch's only consecutive losses came against No. 7 Washington and No. 9 USC. Fisch compared the feeling of losing to the Trojans and Heisman-winner Caleb Williams in triple overtime.

The Apple Cup defeat snapped Fisch's personal streak of nine-consecutive wins, dating back to that triple-overtime loss against USC on Oct. 7, 2023.

Now, Fisch and the Huskies will try to start a new win streak, starting on Saturday against Northwestern.

"We've just got to flush it and move onto the next week," Fabiculanan said. "Going into conference play, it's going to be a big week of preparation. Then we'll just go from there."

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