Does Washington State’s Luke Falk deserve Heisman consideration?

We know Richard Sherman’s stance on this season’s Heisman Trophy race, but is there a chance that college football’s highest honor could end up in the State of Washington?

WSU quarterback Luke Falk landed No. 9 on ESPN’s Heisman Watch list, behind players from Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State, LSU, Clemson, Florida State, Stanford and Baylor.

After knocking off then-No. 18 UCLA in dramatic fashion Saturday, Cougars head coach Mike Leach stumped for his quarterback, saying “the entire thing is political.”

“Now it’s just a byproduct of trying to speculate who is the best player on the national championship team,” he said. “… But failure to do that, I think they ought to go back to the original definition, which is who’s made the biggest contribution to his individual team. And if that’s the case, virtually everybody needs to vote for Luke Falk, and anybody that doesn’t needs to reexamine why they’re voting for the Heisman to begin with.”

710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard has a vote for the Heisman and said he doesn’t believe Falk has ever been placed in any other ESPN voter’s top five thus far this season. Still, he sees a jump that high as being possible, albeit unlikely.

“If he wins the next two, and he continues to sling it, and they’re 9-3, and you see fall-off in others, could he be invited to New York City?” Huard asked. “Possibly.”

Huard noted that Falk currently ranks No. 1 in terms of total percentage of his team’s offense. The main factor working against Falk is Washington State’s 7-3 record.

“This is also a team award, and unfortunately, when you have three loses in a Heisman race, your odds of winning it – unless you’re Tim Tebow – are very slim to none,” Huard said. “You have got to either be undefeated or darn-near close to it.”

Falk benefits from Leach’s prolific passing offense, leading the nation in passing yards and is near the top in efficiency with 35 touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions. He’s completed more than 70 percent of his passes.

“Yes, Luke Falk has contributed an immense amount, and as far as total offense and he being the trigger-man, he’s No. 1,” Huard said. “But, unfortunately, some early stumbles and the supporting cast are not what Clemson or Alabama has.”

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