The Cup is going back to Seattle.

The 13th-ranked Washington Huskies (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) went into Pullman Saturday night and shut down the Washington State Cougars (7-5, 4-5 Pac-12) in the second half to claim the 114th Apple Cup with a 51-33 victory.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

DeBoer’s finest at the best time

Washington State brought what was statistically one of the Pac-12’s best defenses into the contest. It was the Pac-12’s best run defense. It was a defense built around a ferocious front seven. If there was a team designed to make Washington’s pass-happy attack uncomfortable, it felt like it would be the Cougars.

And the offensive braintrust of Kalen DeBoer, Ryann Grubb, and Michael Penix Jr. absolutely shredded it.

This was a masterclass in offensive football.

Penix missed some throws early as he settled in, but finished the night completing 25 of his 43 passes for 485 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He added 34 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground, as UW broke out a throwback to Penix that went for a 30-yard score.

Grubb and Penix had Washington State on the back foot for most of the game. The first possession featured a punt after nine plays. Then UW scored touchdowns on five straight drives. It had 11 real possessions in the game and scored touchdowns on seven of them. It got points from eight of them. UW had a fumble and a pick in the second half, so you could argue that Washington State actually stopped UW only once all game.

The Huskies opened the third quarter with a one-play, 75-yard bomb from Penix to Jalen McMillan.

Washington’s offense produced 703 total yards and scored on plays of 26, 47, 30, 75, and 40 yards. UW had nine pass plays that gained at least 25 yards. And it had eight explosive run plays! Runs! Tailback Wayne Taulapapa had 126 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. UW didn’t give up a sack and ran for 9.1 yards per carry as a team. Washington State entered the game allowing less than 4 per carry on the season.

The pièce de résistance came in the fourth quarter after the Cougars downed a punt at the Washington 3-yard-line. Nursing an eight-point lead in what had, to that point, been a back-and-forth kind of affair, Penix proceeded to march Washington 94 yards in 15 plays while bleeding six minutes off the game clock.

UW has done this before. The Huskies have gone blisteringly fast and then they’ve ground out drives. The adaptability of DeBoer and Grubb to what the situation demands, and the execution of the group to get it done, has been impressive all season.

Defense secures the Cup in the second half

Washington State’s first half: six drives, five scores, 27 points, 304 yards, 6.1 yards per play.

Washington State’s second half: six drives, one score, six points, 129 yards, 3.3 yards per play.

UW’s defense struggled to find its footing in the first half. Wazzu quarterback Cameron Ward found his way out of several near-sacks and threw touchdowns to Robert Ferrel (34 yards) and Nakia Watson (15 yards) in the second quarter. He went into the locker room at the break with 229 passing yards. UW just couldn’t find ways to get him on the ground.

The Husky defense sacked him five times in the game’s final 30 minutes, finishing with six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Jeremiah Martin got to him twice. Bralen Trice, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Kris Moll, and Jayvon Parker all each recorded sacks as well.

Wazzu was 8-for-20 on third downs. It was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. The 84 combined points were the most in the Apple Cup’s 114-year history, but the defense has to be coming out of the game feeling good about itself.

DeBoer’s first season gets the perfect capper

Saturday night was DeBoer’s 100th game as a head football coach. He has a career 89-11 record.

Washington’s 10 wins this season are the most by a first-year head coach in program history, beating the previous mark by two games. And UW still has a bowl game to play. Chris Peterson won eight his first year. Jim Lambright and Rick Neuheisel each won seven games their first year.

In fact, DeBoer has just the fifth 10-win regular season in program history.

With the way Penix immediately shined, with the way the offense consistently tore teams apart with precision and excitement, and with the way DeBoer has promoted and built this program, this was as positive a debut season as anyone on Montlake could have hoped for. Washington will have a chance in its bowl game to reach 11 wins for just the fifth time in program history.