Mike Leach, Chris Petersen provide Apple Cup contrast befitting their schools

Hall of Fame coach Don James, known as the Dawgfather of Washington football, volunteered that he was a "2,000-word underdog" to then-Washington State coach Jim Walden before the 1985 Apple Cup. That rated as a colorful moment from the typical dry and laconic James, and it seems an apt entry point for the 2015 Apple Cup, a rivalry that is beginning to hint that its long period of national irrelevancy might be close to ending.

So let's start with that: Is second-year Huskies coach Chris Petersen, a coach who shies away from quotable quotes, the new "2,000-word underdog" in the rivalry when compared to fourth-year Washington State coach Mike Leach, a man known to loquaciously spin a news…