No. 20 Washington State Might be without Starting QB Luke Falk vs. Washington in Apple Cup
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
College football fans on the east coast maybe unaware of the standout season Washington State has put together after a tough start to the year. The Cougars are 8-3, 6-2, second in the Pac-12 North Division behind Stanford, and have quality wins over Oregon (45-38), Arizona (45-42), Arizona State (38-24), and UCLA (31-27). If Washington State can close out the regular season with a win over Washington, the Cougars could receive the No. 2 bid out of the Pac-12 for a quality national showcase bowl game.
As great as things are shaping up for WSU on the field, for a second consecutive year Washington State head coach Mike Leach and WSU Cougar fans have been dealt a tough blow, the loss of their starting quarterback due to injury.
In 2014, Connor Halliday was leading the FBS in passing yards with 3,873 yards while tossing 32 touchdown passes through nine games but against USC on Nov. 1 suffered a horrific broken ankle ending his collegiate career and his chance to possibly break several Pac-12 and NCAA passing records. Despite missing the final three games of the season and without benefit of a bowl game, Halliday still finished ranked No. 9 in total passing yards for the season a year ago.
When Halliday went down, Luke Falk took his place. The sophomore from Logan, Utah, has picked up the Mike Leach “fun and gun” Air Raid offense completing 71 percent of his passes for 4,266 yards with 36 touchdowns against just eight interceptions in 591 passing attempts. Trouble is, much like Halliday, Falk is now dealing with injury problems of his own. Falk suffered a concussion against UCLA on Nov. 14 but returned last week to face Colorado. In the third quarter Falk was taken off the field after apparently suffering another concussion.
Leach is keeping his cards close to his chest not letting Washington know if they should prepare for Falk or backup quarterback Peyton Bender. Bender, a freshman from Florida, has completed 17 of 33 passes with 210 yards gained along with two touchdowns tossed against two interceptions thrown playing in parts of four games. The future is bright with Bender, another big arm with a quick release, but he lacks the game experience of Falk.
Falk could still be cleared to play if he passes concussion protocol tests. Speaking with the media about Falk’s potential injury, Leach said he will announce the starter “27 seconds” before the game begins.
Washington (5-6, 3-5) enters the game one game shy of being bowl eligible in head coach Chris Petersen’s second season in Seattle. The Huskies have played tough this season but are 2-4 down the back stretch of their 2015 campaign. Washington has turned to freshman Jake Browning (2,468/16/9) this season to lead the team showing a lot of promise for the future.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday at Husky Stadium with Fox covering the game.
Photo credit: thenewstribune.com; No. 6 Peyton Barber