For those who haven’t been paying attention to the Pac-12 this year (can’t say I blame you), Washington State QB Luke Falk is the absolute fucking truth.  Mike Leach has a knack for cranking up stats with the air raid offense, but this kid is looking like a legit Heisman contender and pro prospect…

-4,266 passing yards, 1st in the country

-36 touchdowns (on 8 interceptions), 3rd in the country

-418 completions (1st), 7.2 YPA, 148.8 rating

He’s fucking awesome.  And he’s not like any of the other pretty boy west coast quarterbacks we’re used to seeing roll through the Pac-12.  He’s a legit gladiator.

That being said, Falk took another bad fall against Colorado on Saturday and now it’s looking like his brain is getting dangerously rattled…

His head hit the ground with a lot of force, but to warrant a straight board to cart him off the field is concerning to say the least.  Fortunately, Colorado sucks and the Cougars were fine without him.  Falk’s performance at UCLA was awesome to watch, and it was refreshing to see such a vintage level of courage from a quarterback these days, but now he should take a long rest for his brain to get settled back into place.

Or should he?

Next up on the docket is a mega showdown in Seattle against Washington for the Apple Cup.  Most people assume this game is irrelevant, but this is quietly turning into marquee rivalry.

We’ve touched on Washington coach Chris Peterson before, and it will take a lot for me to waver on him.  He is one of the best in the country, as in a legit top 5 guy.  His run at Boise State was incredible, and his impact is greater exemplified when you look at the Broncos slide this year (two home losses to New Mexico and Air Force in the last two weeks, woof).  Now he’s in Seattle with a lot more resources and talent to pull from and he’s got this program on a definite up and up status.

While Chris Peterson is elite, Mike Leach will forever be a legend.  He had Texas Tech of all programs only one win in Norman away from a national championship, and seemingly overnight he’s taken Washington State from a doormat to a rising Pac-12 power.  What makes him cool as shit is that not only did he revolutionize the sport with his new school air raid tactics, he still maintains an old school mentality in terms of his player discipline and expectations for toughness.

Some people say that he’s reckless, but his job is to win football games, especially big rivalry games, and that is why Falk needs to play.  Let’s be real here…  CTE and all these suicidal former pros are scary to hear about, but most of them are linebackers and linemen that are repeatedly colliding their heads into players on almost every single snap.  Quarterbacks don’t have quite that level of danger.  Steve Young, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, Phil Simms….  All of them have played through concussions and they seem fine lapping it up on your TV screen.

Falk is gonna play, he’s gonna dominate, and he’s gonna be fun as shit to witness.

 

PS – FSU needs a quarterback next year and Falk would be perfect for them.  I bet Jimbo Fisher wants a do over on revoking his scholarship…