USA TODAY International Edition
Wash. State’s Falk proves he belongs
Once- overlooked QB’s work ethic, drive, talent pay off
In brief, the story of how and why Luke Falk ended up at Washington State:
He once held an offer from Florida State, his favorite team ( the Seminoles’ garnet- and- gold scheme matched his high school colors) but was told upon attending a camp in Tallahassee that his scholarship was no longer available — the coaching staff had found someone else.
“It was a long flight home, I can tell you that,” Falk said.
His junior season was a lost year, split between time at Oaks Christian High School in Southern California and Logan High School in Utah. Why a prospect’s junior year is important: It’s when most offers go out and most quarterbacks commit, in a game of musical chairs that leaves the last man standing out in the cold.
But he had a great senior season. Wyoming offered a walk- on spot. There was little interest from nearby Utah State, which was looking for a more athletic option under center. Idaho tendered a scholarship but pulled back after a coaching change. Falk held an offer to Cornell and was briefly committed to the Ivy League program despite lingering doubts: Will I regret playing on a lower level of competition?
Late in the recruiting cycle, a quality control assistant at Washington State saw Falk’s tape and passed it along to coach Mike Leach, who saw potential. He also saw a problem: WSU had no scholarships to give. Like Wyoming, the Cougars offered a preferred walk- on spot on the roster. Falk, who dreamed of playing in the Pac- 12, accepted the offer.
So that’s how and why Falk, the overlooked and under- recruited prospect, ended up at Washington State.
The Cougars, at 3- 2 and 2- 0 in the Pac- 12, host UCLA this week.
“That always drove me. I had people doubting me,” he said. “But I never doubted myself at all. I knew the type of player I was. And once I got up here, I saw I could definitely play with the guys here.”
But that doesn’t explain what happened next — how he went from walk- on to second- stringer, from on scholarship to starter and from starter to one of college football’s most productive players.
“No matter how you get somewhere, how you perform from there is what counts,” Leach said.
Being a walk- on defined his path to Washington State. The ensuing growth into an all- conference performer and borderline Heisman Trophy candidate, on the other hand, can be credited to Falk’s tireless work ethic, said Leach, and a commitment to film study that long predated his arrival in the Pac- 12.
His coach at Logan, Mike Favero, met Falk when he was in seventh grade as part of a youth team attending a local all- star camp. Falk hung around all week, intrigued by Favero’s offensive approach, and joined Favero for a three- hour breakdown of his playcalling philosophy.
Favero gave Falk his criteria for quarterbacks.
Every defense has a weakness, he said, and here’s what we look for: numbers, angles, athletes, first downs and touchdowns. Falk took notes. Nearly a decade later, Favero called it “unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“His mind, his football IQ, his intelligence, his ability to process information is phenomenal,” Favero said. “His mind was trained at an early age to read defenses. He processes information in a splitsecond, in a nanosecond. That guy can see it and process it; he knows where every defender is supposed to be and what coverage they’re in. And away he goes.”
This film work has been a hallmark of his time with the Cougars and a key factor behind a hit- theground- running start: Falk tossed 13 touchdown passes in five games as a redshirt freshman in 2014, finished second in the Pac- 12 with 38 TD throws a year ago — trailing only overall No. 1 NFL draft pick Jared Goff of California — and has 16 in 2016, while completing 74.1% of his passes to lead the Football Bowl Subdivision.
He shines on the field and in the film room. Falk is, after all, a Leach quarterback, following in the footsteps of a laundry list of great players to excel in Leach’s pass- happy system.
It’s not just the system, however, said Stanford coach David Shaw, who spoke this week after a 42- 16 loss to the Cougars on Saturday.
“This guy has every tool that you’re looking for to play on Sundays,” Shaw said. “I don’t think he’s one of those guys you say, ‘ He’s a spread quarterback, you don’t know if his game is going to translate.’ No, this guy can sling it, throw it accurately, throw it on time. He’s very, very good.”
Leach credits Falk’s constant quest to improve.
“Just constant,” Leach said. “With regard to football in particular but also academics, he’s on the job 24/ 7. He’s always thinking about it, all the time. He never quits thinking about it. If he has a flaw, it’s because he thinks about it too much.”
There are worse problems to have, of course.
And the same potential flaw — to overthink a snap, a throw, a series — is instead an asset: After a combined 122 pass attempts in WSU’s first two games, both losses, Falk has thrown 125 passes during the Cougars’ three- game winning streak, often shifting into running plays at the line of scrimmage upon locating a flaw in the defense.
“If I could throw for 50 yards every game and we win every game,” Falk said, “I’d much rather do that than fill the record book with all these gaudy stats and stuff like that. I really just focus on what I can do to help my team win.”
Maybe there’s something to being a walk- on, even if Falk’s days at the bottom of the Cougars depth chart lasted only until the spring of his redshirt freshman season. But some habits die hard: What drove Falk to Washington State — his work ethic, his film work and, yes, his talent — is what has made him one of the nation’s best.
“He was able to overcome being told no by a lot of people,” Favero said. “It didn’t affect his talent level or his dream to be great.”