Washington State Football: Could Luke Falk be the best QB in the Pac-12?

Washington State football’s Luke Falk is one of the most under-the-radar star quarterbacks in the nation. Could he be the Pac-12’s best?

There are two quarterbacks that get all of the praise in the Pac-12: Sam Darnold of USC and Jake Browning of Washington. After those two, many would say the next best is UCLA’s Josh Rosen. But everyone forgets Washington State’s Luke Falk.

Falk is the star quarterback of the resurgent Washington State Cougars. In the past two years, Falk and head coach Mike Leach have turned Cougars into a true power in the Pac-12 last season.

In 2015, Falk led the Cougars to a 6-3 record in the conference and finished third in the Pac-12 North. Falk passed for 4,561 yards and 38 touchdowns, which were both second in the conference behind first round NFL draft pick Jared Goff. Moreover, his 69.4 percent completion rate was first in the conference and second in the FBS.

But, it always seemed like Falk fell under the radar. It could be because it was his first year or because he played at Washington State. Even with that amazing year, 2016 was an even better year.

In 2016, the Cougars improved their conference record to 7-2 and finished second in the Pac-12 North. Once again, Falk passed for over 4,400 yards and threw 38 touchdowns. Both marks were second in the nation. His 70 percent completion rate was once first in the conference and second in nation. Once again, he fell under the radar in the Pac-12.

Let’s take a deeper look at these last two years for Falk.

Right now, he’s the only active QB to have two seasons completing over 69 percent of his passes. Since 2010, Falk has two of the five highest completion percentages in the Pac-12. The only other quarterback that shows up on that list twice is Andrew Luck.

With his three seasons at Washington State, he now holds the tenth spot among college football’s all-time completion rates and is the only quarterback from the Pac-12 in the top ten.

Also, he has improved his game every year since 2015 and he does not seem to be slowing down. With Leach as head coach, Falk will once again possess an offense that could set the country on fire. Three of five offensive linemen, a group of talented receivers return and a trio of running backs will be back for the Cougars.

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Browning and Darnold both had great 2016 campaigns. While Falk had great 2015 and 2016 seasons. He deserves a little more respect in the conference for what he has done the last two years. By the end of 2017, Falk will not fall off of your radar, rather his stock will rise.