Washington State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Cal in Week 7

1. Luke Falk has another monster game

When Luke Falk decided to forgo the greener pastures of the NFL draft in favor of returning to Pullman for one final season as the Cougars’ quarterback, it was viewed by many as a perplexing decision.

The 22-year-old from Logan, Utah was coming off of his second consecutive 4,000-plus yard passing season and was viewed by many outside talent evaluates as one of the top-five or six prospect at the quarterback position, and a near surefire lock to be selected in the first three rounds of the draft.

But Falk instead decided to return to campus in favor of improving his eventual draft stock under the tutelage of Mike Leach, WSU’s eccentric head coach who plucked the three-star recruit out of relative obscurity and molded him into the perfect air raid quarterback.

And so far, the results have been better than expected.

After one bad game against Boise State in Week 2, a game in which Falk failed to throw a touchdown pass and actually finished the game on the sideline due to a third quarter injury, Falk has played like arguably the best quarterback in the Pac-12.

Seriously.

In the Cougars’ Week 5 shootout against fellow Pac-12 unbeatens the USC Trojans, and their potential first overall selection quarterback Sam Darnold, Falk, not Darnold, was the best player on the field, and ultimately imposed his will on the Trojans’ secondary, and unit that contains former five-star recruit Iman Marshall.

Virtually all of the Cougars’ offensive success can be credited to Falk’s near flawless execution of Mike Leach’s offense, and his 2,000 yards passing on 188 completions with a 19-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio only highlights that point.

And after cruising through USC and a road trip to Eugene to face off against the Oregon Ducks, Falk and company will have an absolute cake walk against the Cal Golden Bears in Week 7.

After having a mild resurgence behind the arms of Jared Geoff and Davis Webb, the Golden Bears have been an absolute mess in 2017, ranking in the bottom 100 in virtually every statistical category, including passing defense.

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Currently ranked the 108th-worst passing defense in the nation, the Cougars’ 23rd-ranked passing offense should have a field day in Berkeley, with Falk being able to dismantle the Golden Bears’ secondary with surgical precision.