Luke Falk goes from Cornell commit to WSU’s diamond in the rough

Ordinary circumstances are rarely in play when a freshman quarterback starts for a Pac-12 team. And true to form, ordinary is not a word that is used when talking about Luke Falk and the Washington State Cougars.

The Logan, Utah, product burst onto the scene for the Cougars last week in his first start since taking over for injured senior Connor Halliday, throwing for 471 yards, five touchdowns and no picks in last week’s 39-32 win over Oregon State. But just getting to Pullman took some U-turns and fortuitous occurrences.

Falk was offered by Florida State as a sophomore, but a move from California to Utah threw a wrench into things, making him ineligible to play football for a year. He eventually committed to Cornell after a stellar prep career, but a coaching change at the Ivy League school made him reconsider.

Enter head coach Mike Leach and the Cougars.

“I committed to Cornell but their coach left, and the staff here at Washington State gave me a buzz,” Falk told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Danny, Dave and Moore” earlier this week. “They wanted me to walk-on, and I wanted to take that opportunity to come play for coach Leach in a great offense and a great conference.”

Falk has fit right in small-town Pullman, but there’s something else that drew him to the Palouse: Leach’s famous Air Raid attack.

“The town was a big attraction, but obviously the offense was probably the biggest,” Falk said. “If you wanna throw it, definitely come here. We throw it all over the place. If you’re a receiver I wouldn’t know why you wouldn’t wanna come here.

“As a quarterback, I mean, there’s nothing more fun than going up to the line of scrimmage, check leverage and getting us in a good play and just marching down the field.”

That’s precisely what he’s done in his few opportunities. In three games and one start this season, the 6-foot-4, 208-pounder has thrown for 903 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception, connecting on 84 of his 120 pass attempts (70 percent).

Having spent his redshirt season and most of this one behind Halliday, though, limited Falk’s reps both in games and in practice. He turned that into an advantage, though, using it as a way to learn from one of the best passers in the nation.

“I think the mental reps in practice (helped get me up to speed),” Falk said. “Just seeing Connor do things and learning from him and taking his advice and just putting it into play. He’s been a great mentor towards me. … I didn’t get the physical reps but I think the mental reps were a big help in just being ready.”

Now that he has the physical workload to go with the mental one, though, the question is if his arm is ready for the extreme amount of throwing expected in the WSU offense. Falk, for one, isn’t worried about it.

“In high school we had a snow game and we threw it 73 times,” he said. “(I’ve) kinda been prepped for this moment, so I think I’ll be able to handle it.”