The odds of it happening on that drive were long—another fine Cardinal punt had pinned Falk’s Cougars on their own six-yard line, 94 yards from what was required to keep WSU’s Pac-12 title hopes alive.

Falk came into the game at the tail end of a wretched string that saw his grandfather pass away, followed by perhaps the lowest moment of his decorated WSU career: A benching at Arizona. It’s hard to know how grief will affect a person, but perhaps being just days removed from losing an important figure in his life wasn’t enough time to be fully into football.

On this day, however, Falk was looking more like his old self after a pair of second-quarter touchdown drives.

The newly christened all-time Pac-12 passing leader wouldn’t start this drive with his arm. Instead, against a Stanford front expecting a pass, he handed it to dynamic running back James Williams. The sophomore found a big hole, and danced his way to the 18-yard line. Suddenly the task felt a little less daunting for the Cougars out of the shadow of their own end zone.

“I know he’s with me out there,” Falk said of his grandfather. “I was joking at his funeral that he already had a seat in the stadium, ready for the game. I felt him with me the whole time.”

This situation looked remarkably similar to Stanford’s last trip to Pullman. In that game, WSU took the ball with 14:14 to play in the fourth quarter, down 27-22 after largely outplaying the Cardinal for much of the day. That drive ended in a touchdown, giving the Cougs the lead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a lead that would last and Falk was forced to engineer another comeback, one that ultimately came short as a potential game-winning field goal from Erik Powell hooked wide right as time expired.

The stakes were similar that day too, as WSU also needed that game to keep up in the Pac-12 North.

3^rd-and-14

While the drive started with a bang, it nearly ended just as quickly. Following the Williams first down, Falk was brought to the turf for a four-yard loss. The quarterback found himself under pressure again on the next play, heaving the ball out of bounds to avoid another sack.

Suddenly, the Cougars needed 14 yards from their own 14, or they’d be punting back to Stanford for the third consecutive time. With 10:55 to go, that wouldn’t necessarily spell doom, but at some point, the Cougars needed to score.

For an Air Raid offense, 14 yards isn’t a death sentence. A team that throws the ball as much as WSU can find its way around many a third-and-long. However, in tough weather conditions amid a season where first downs hadn’t seemed to come as easily through the air, one might have felt a little less confident in the Cougars converting.

Falk took the snap needing a little extra time for his preferred route to develop downfield. He found it by sliding just a step to his left. That opened up a throwing lane, but it also put him in a difficult position to make a strong throw.

No matter: Falk slung it over the middle into the waiting arms of a sliding Tay Martin for 17 yards. Drive extended. Hope renewed.

“He might have a record,” said WSU head coach Mike Leach, when asked about Falk’s history of comebacks. “He’s been involved with probably more comeback drives than maybe anybody in the history of the Pac-12.”

Leach may be speaking in hyberbole—he’s been known to do that a time or two before—but Falk certainly has engineered a set of comebacks that will live forever in Cougar lore.

It began at Rutgers in 2015, when he took the Cougs down the field for a game-winning score with only seconds to play; then it happened again just weeks later at Oregon when Falk brought WSU back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit, tying the game on a TD pass at the end of regulation in a game that the Cougs would eventually win in overtime; then it happened again at UCLA when Falk connected with Gabe Marks for a 21-yard TD at the end of a 75-yard drive that spanned just 66 seconds to beat the Bruins.

While most of the Coug wins in 2016 were of a more comfortable nature, Falk and crew did need a 21-point comeback to beat Oregon State in Corvallis—which also required a fourth-quarter go-ahead TD.

There’s a pattern there: None of those legendary comebacks came at Martin Stadium. Sure, there had been game-winning drives, such as earlier this season against USC, but none when the Cougs were trailing in the fourth quarter at home (with the aforementioned Stanford game coming oh-so-close).

Who Needs Third Downs Anymore?

When an Air Raid drive hits its stride, it’s a beautiful thing to witness. After converting that 3^rd-and-14, the Cougars hit another gear. Williams cut back against the grain to pick up nine yards. A quick pass to Tavares Martin, Jr. netted another first down. Another screen out to Tay Martin picked up eight, Williams grabbed three more and WSU had set up shop in Stanford territory with new set of downs. The Cougs were rolling.

First down runs had netted big gains on this drive, but never forget: This is the Air Raid. With 8:10 to play at the Stanford 47, Falk and WSU smelled blood. (Or sap?)

Falk stood alone in the backfield while running back Jamal Morrow split out to the slot, creating a five-receiver set. Falk took the snap in rhythm, needing just a half step to gather himself before throwing a perfect strike to Morrow over the middle. The do-it-all senior split the Cardinal defense right up the gut, and he pushed the ball all the way down to the 26-yard line.

It was Morrow again on the next play, taking a Falk swing pass for 15 yards down the sideline. WSU was on the Stanford 11, having used five different players to pick up first downs on the drive.

“Everyone made huge plays at the right time,” said Falk. “I think it was just a real gutsy performance by everyone. I mean I could name off everyone down the line who made a big play in that game. So, it’s just everybody doing their job and that’s how football should be.”

Falk’s first touchdown pass at Martin Stadium is a nice piece of trivia, and while it came fittingly in the fourth quarter, the needle on the pressure gauge was just a little to the left. His first TD actually came against Portland State in 2014.

Falk checked in late in the fourth quarter of a blowout, and on his second pass found a wide-open Dom Williams for 84 yards and a score. That play still stands as the longest pass in Falk’s WSU career. The largest chunk of the Pac-12’s all-time passing leader’s yardage came on just his second throw.

There were 61 more touchdown passes for Falk in Martin Stadium between that seemingly meaningless score against Portland State during his freshman season and this highly meaningful drive against Stanford on his Senior Day.

One More Martin Stadium TD

Color commentators often like to go on and on about how the Air Raid should struggle when it gets close to the goal line. The windows become tighter as there is less ground for the defense to cover, and a team reliant on the passing game will struggle to get those last yards. Facing first down from the 11-yard line, the Cougs found a way to not just open up a window, but burst through the wall like the Kool-Aid man.

Falk dropped back and coyly surveyed the field—three of the four wide receivers in the formation had dashed toward the end zone, and much of Stanford’s defense followed, forgetting to cover that all-important fourth man. Jamire Calvin flashed in front of Falk, with nary a Cardinal defender within eight yards. Falk hit the freshman in stride on the left hash, and he coasted to a go-ahead and eventually game-winning WSU touchdown with 6:56 to play.

On his Senior Day, following his worst week at WSU both on the field and off, Falk’s 63rd and final Martin Stadium touchdown was his most meaningful, and added one more memorable drive to his long list of heroics at WSU. That’s enough to make even the typically stoic Falk let his guard down.

“I mean it’s the last time you get to play in Martin Stadium and the way that we won it against a great opponent in Stanford, you know a lot of emotions came together when it was all said and done,” said Falk. “I didn’t really think about them during the game.

“Once we were able to get the win, I allowed myself to think about some stuff like that and people that have helped me along my path. Coach Mastro and Coach Mele, people like that and all my teammates and the seniors. You know it got pretty emotional, heck I might get emotional right now. It’s just been a great ride, we gotta finish it right.”

However, the good news is that WSU gets to play Stanford and UW in two of the last three games. Therefore if the Cougs take care of business against the Cardinal at home this Saturday and at subsequent road games against Utah and UW, they will the Pac-12 North. They will hold all the head to head tiebreakers and it won’t matter what Stanford or Washington do in their other games. This would of course lead WSU to the Pac-12 championship and a likely rematch against USC. The Cougars are probably out of the playoff hunt at this point, but the Fiesta Bowl would be a nice consolation prize.

This scenario is of course more unlikely than not, but hey it’s nice to have something to dream on that isn’t totally out of the question.

Football

Pac-12 picks: Up north and down south, there’s plenty on the line this weekend | The Spokesman-Review
Theo Lawson makes his picks for Week 9 of the Pac-12 football season.

Washington State’s Mike Leach on the great candy corn debate: ‘I think it’s just awful’ | The Spokesman-Review
There’s a reason that seasonal treats are only seasonal, Mike Leach believes, and when it comes to candy corn, the Washington State coach thinks the popular Halloween confection belongs in the same category as mint juleps and fruitcake.

Hilinski certainly seemed to command the offense better Saturday, finishing 25-for-33 with 240 yards passing, three touchdowns and a pick. Falk struggled mightily, going 24-for-34 for 193 yards, 59 coming on a pass to Renard Bell near the end of the first half.

So there was at least some question as to who would be under center against the Oregon State Beavers this Saturday. Head coach Mike Leach put an end to any speculation early in the week.

Falk has struggled not just this year, but stretching back to the final three games of 2016 as well. The good news is the Oregon State Beavers are likely just what the doctor ordered for Falk to get himself right mentally and physically. Here’s his career line against the Beavs:

126 for 157, 1,293 yards, 16 touchdowns, 2 interceptions

That’s ... quite good. OSU is a team Falk has feasted on and he’ll need to do it again this Saturday if for no other reason than to get a little confidence back in himself.

It’s tough to put a number on just how good WSU, let alone any fan base, is feeling. But ESPN went ahead and took a shot.

The worldwide leader released their Fan Happiness Index yesterday, pegging WSU as 13th in the nation. That’s ahead of everyone in the Pac-12 except for the Washington Huskies at 11th and the Stanford Cardinal at 7th.

What led them to such a high number? High marks in program power and recruiting trend got them most of the way there. Another benchmark helped considerably as well: rivalry dominance. Assuming they mean literally everyone WSU might be rivals with other than Washington (Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Idaho Vandals) then sure, they’re right!

Curiously, WSU scored low marks on coaching stability (I can’t see Mike Leach going anywhere) but less curiously on revenue growth (yeah) in the survey.

The Ohio State Buckeyes topped the Fan Happiness Index follow by the Florida State Seminoles and Alabama Crimson Tide. As far as the Pac-12 goes, the UCLA Bruins snuck into the top-25 at 24th. Arizona finished worst in the conference at 116th.

So, what say you? Too high, too low or Goldilocks for the Cougs at 13?

This is the latest in our series of stories previewing the 2017 Washington State Cougars football season. For previous installments, click here.

WSU will be in either northern or southern California

Good morning, and welcome to college football's version of Christmas Day. By 9:15 (PST) this morning, the College Football Playoff committee will have announced its four participants (almost certainly Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington - probably in that order). Once that is complete, and once everyone commences yelling about how the dumb stupid morons on the CFP committee got it wrong because they're all dumb and stupid, the rest of the bowls will announce their matchups.

It is then that we all expect the Holiday Bowl to extend an invitation to WSU, which will be happily accepted. The signs all point to the Cougs facing either Iowa or Minnesota. The guess here (and elsewhere) is that Iowa ends up in Tampa and the Golden Gophers head to San Diego. If WSU does indeed face Minnesota, it will do so 10 years after Mike Leach faced the Gophers in a bowl game. You might remember that as the greatest comeback in bowl history, as the Red Raiders rallied from a 38-7 deficit to force overtime, ultimately winning 44-41.

A rematch between Leach and the Gophers would probably be a fun one, as it would be a clash of styles. While the Cougs are well-known for the Air Raid, the Gophers had more rushing yards in 2016 than passing yards. They also don't beat themselves, giving up 37 points off of turnovers while scoring 93 points off opponent turnovers.

Since I spent three paragraphs talking about the likelihood of a trip to San Diego to face Minnesota, the Cougs are all but guaranteed to either draw Iowa, or head to the Foster Farms Bowl. Either way, we get to find out pretty soon. And at least we know that WSU won't be in El Paso the day after Christmas.

The CFP selection show begins at 9 a.m. PST on ESPN and lasts four hours, during which you will hear every lava-hot take from every ESPN analyst who ever lived. If that isn't enough for you, flip on over to ESPNU at 1 p.m. for the Championship Drive Bowl Selection Show. Hopefully they'll dedicate a minute or three to the Cougs. Merry College Football Christmas.

Football

Washington State likely headed to Holiday Bowl | The Spokesman-Review
Washington State will know its bowl destination by early Sunday afternoon, and all signs right now point to the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27 in San Diego.

Pac-12 Final Regular Season Rankings, Bowl Projections, Scores | College Football News

Welcome to the Pac-12 rankings, bowl projections and scores in the final week of the college football season.

Bowl watch: Still plenty of options for Holiday, Poinsettia bowls - The San Diego Union-Tribune

The Cougars, who haven’t been to the Holiday since a 2003 win over Texas, are expected to bring plenty of fans after a resurgent season. Stanford has turned its season around with five straight wins, has never played in a bowl game here and has one of the country’s most exciting players in Christian McCaffrey.

Basketball

WSU's bad basketball team played a bad basketball team from New Orleans Saturday. Once all the bad basketball was over, the Cougars were once again on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

New Orleans downs cold-shooting Washington State | The Spokesman-Review
For the second time in a week, the Washington State men’s basketball team competed on its own floor and played a lackluster game that resulted in a loss against an inspired opponent.

Beer

Best beer I had this week: I was all set to come in here and tell everyone that Dogfish Head Pennsylvania Tuxedo Imperial Pale Ale was easily the best of a lot of good beer I had. It is tremendous. Then I tasted another beer I bought at the same time, and a new winner emerged. Genesee Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter is one of the best beers I've had this year.

Non-Sports

Lee Harvey Oswald’s little green book shows JFK wasn't the real target - LA Times
James Reston Jr. offers an address book belonging to Lee Harvey Oswald as additional evidence indicating that President Kennedy wasn’t the target of the Dallas assassination.

The 38-24 loss to the Buffs in Boulder cost the Cougs one spot in the rankings ahead of the Apple Cup against the Huskies.

After two small gains in the first weeks of the College Football Playoff rankings, the Washington St. Cougars’ first loss in more than two months has dropped them a spot to No. 23. The 38-24 loss in Boulder is what the CFP considers a “good loss”, considering the Colorado Buffaloes ranking at No. 9 this week which helped keep the Cougs in the top-25.

Ahead of their annual rivalry meet up, the Washington Huskies jumped one spot to No. 5, thanks in large part to the Louisville Cardinals’ blow out loss against the Houston Cougars 36-10, dropping them to No. 11.

The USC Trojans made easy work of their rival UCLA Bruins last weekend as Clay Helton’s squad continues their late season surge, now up to No. 12. The Stanford Cardinal moved nowhere in the rankings following their retention of The Axe in Berkeley last weekend, staying at No. 24.

The Utah Utes, meanwhile, plummeted following an embarrassing 30-28 loss at home to the struggling Oregon Ducks, down from No. 12 all the way to No. 22. That loss combined with Colorado’s win means the Utes can only play spoiler to the Buffs this weekend and vault the Trojans in the Pac-12 Championship.

Here’s the rest of the top-6: 1. Alabama Crimson Tide 2. Ohio State Buckeyes 3. Michigan Wolverines 4. Clemson Tigers 5. Washington Huskies 6. Wisconsin Badgers.

What do you think of this week’s rankings?

Stefanie Loh of the Seattle Times reports that Barber will now appeal the suspension, which runs through July 2017.

Washington State nose tackle Robert Barber’s expulsion from the university has been reduced to a suspension, according to Stefanie Loh of the Seattle Times.

The suspension is expected to run through July 2017, though Loh reports that Barber will appeal the ruling in hopes of getting the suspension delayed until spring semester.

Barber, who has 10 days to appeal, will be allowed to play against Arizona State this weekend pending the appeal process. The senior is close to obtaining his degree.

Barber was expelled from Washington State last month for his role in a July altercation that left several students injured, including one who suffered a broken jaw. Barber and redshirt freshman T.J. Fehoko were arrested for their role in the July incident, though both players have yet to be charged with a crime.

In a press conference last month, the Pullman Police Department recommended that both players be charged with second-degree assault, a Class B felony in the state of Washington. Loh reports that Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau has received the investigation file, though the off no timetable for a charging decision in the the case.

While his expulsion has been under appeal, which included a 20 day window to file, Barber has been allowed to play for the Cougars, starting every game at nose tackle.

Barber will likely use the full 10 days allowed to appeal his suspension, meaning he’ll be eligible to play against the Sun Devils and Oregon State. Beyond that is up to the appeals board, as anything less than a delayed suspension would result in Barber’s collegiate career coming to an end.

This story will be updated.

You know, 15-yard penalties aren’t always the worst thing. Make Football Fun Again!

There were plenty of awesome moments during WSU’s beatdown of Oregon on Saturday night, but I’m toying with the idea that my favorite one wasn’t even an actual play.

Cole Madison got himself a 15-yard penalty on behalf of the group for this little demonstration, which everyone knows is BAD, but you know what’s good?

This team finally looking like football is fun again.

Different teams deal with the weight of expectations differently, and while I try to avoid playing sports psychologist, it sure looked like this particular collection of players was tight right out of the gate. It’s the kind of thing that makes fans question the actual talent level of their team when it can’t stop an FCS opponent and looks frustratingly slow doing it.

Then Boise State happened, and it sure felt like there were all sorts of opportunities missed that could have turned the game in WSU’s favor, but the team was again unsure of itself, making us wonder if we had it all wrong to begin with.

But Idaho came along at the perfect time, and while not a virtuoso performance, you could see the team getting its footing as the contest rolled along, particularly in terms of exerting its will on the opponent through physical strength. Then something happened during the bye week.

Someone convinced somebody that they could do the exact same thing and shove the football right up Oregon’s ass.

I have no idea who was pushing the point, or if it was even explicitly said, but I know this: In the ultimate demonstration of belief in WSU’s ability to physically dominate Oregon, Luke Falk handed the ball off in a number of situations that would have defaulted to “pass” in past years. Defenses often try to disguise what they’re doing to make WSU think they’ve got six guys in the box to discourage a run before sending one of those guys directly into coverage. On Saturday, Falk looked at some of those six-man boxes and said, “LOLOLOLOLOL fine leave six guys in there because that’s not even going to stop us.”

A great example is Gerard Wicks’ four-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter. Oregon’s got six guys clearly in the box and not only does WSU run it anyway, it just doesn’t matter because four of our linemen wash out their entire front — seriously, if you want to see something funny, watch Madison (the right tackle) try and find someone to hit as his running back is slamming his way into the end zone:

Here’s an even better one: Morrow’s first TD. Oregon’s got six in the box with a seventh immediately running downhill in run support, and this time ... Morrow scampers in untouched.

Is it any wonder that play resulted in a celebration penalty? It’s like a swagger switch flipped on — “We knew Oregon couldn’t stop us and YEP WE WERE RIGHT.” The result was a loose, confident bunch of guys that looked about as different as could be from that group that crapped the bed against Eastern Washington. And if a 15-yard penalty is the price to be paid? Well, as left tackle Andre Dillard said when he met with the press on Monday, “It was worth it.” He also added, “To an extent,” because of course you can’t do this after every touchdown or every week.

But for this team in this moment? Yeah. It was worth it.

The fascinating thing to me is that this physical nature appears to be quickly becoming the identity of this offense. Football is a physical, violent game, and while Mike Leach has insisted that his teams can and will be physical even while throwing it 60 times a game, some teams really just need to punch people in the mouth* to feel that.

*Not literally, guys.

Beyond that, it seemed like for the first couple of games, everyone was looking around for someone to fill the leadership void left by the guys who graduated, take up that leadership mantle, and light a fire under the team. Gabe Marks seemed like a great candidate, but it’s hard to do when you can’t catch the ball because teams are rolling two and three guys at you in coverage on every play. (That’s not an exaggeration; Jason Gesser has a film breakdown on WSU’s Gameday app of Luke Falk’s 10-yard scramble, and there are literally three guys covering Marks.)

Eventually, these guys figured out that everyone had to do it, and they’ve done it by collectively smacking their last two opponents around.

Teams will adjust to what the Cougs are doing, probably as early as this Saturday. But here’s the thing: There’s absolutely zero mystery to it. This isn’t smoke and mirrors, which means Stanford better be ready to hit — and there actually are serious questions about whether the Cardinal will be ready to do that after getting truck sticked by Washington on Friday.

And if Stanford isn’t Stanford and the Cardinal are forced to adjust by dropping a seventh guy closer to the line of scrimmage ... well, that’s when the passing game takes off. This is how the Air Raid is supposed to operate. Do you realize WSU still dropped back to pass on 60 percent of its plays? That’s pretty darn close to the sweet spot, which I’d guess is around 65 percent, if Leach had his druthers.

That’s when this offense gets vicious. That’s when it gets fun again.

What We Liked

Brian Floyd wrote on Sunday about this team being on script, and it’s hard not to look at 2015 and see this season following a similar narrative arc. Could Boise State have been this season’s Cal? Could Oregon have been this season’s, well, Oregon — just a game earlier?

It sure seems like these guys are figuring it out faster than last season, which is obviously a really good sign, since Stanford and UCLA loom in the next two weeks.

A big part of this is Falk taking a big step forward this past week to reclaim his status as the Crimson Messiah. There still were times it appeared he held onto the ball a little bit, but on the whole, he seemed much more decisive and in command of the offense. Incredibly, he threw for 371 yards on 36-of-48 (75 percent) for a pretty good 7.7 yards per attempt ... and was a complete afterthought.

I don’t know if that’s the way Falk would prefer it, but here’s to betting he didn’t mind it one bit.

Who Impressed

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Shalom Luani, step right up. With Parker Henry sidelined with a case of Happy And Healthy, Luani has shifted from his role as free safety into nickelback.

And he’s been awesome.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s thriving in a hybrid DB/LB role; although he’s only played safety here up until a couple of weeks ago, he’s a hard-hitting guy whose strength is his ability to roll downhill at a guy with the ball. Having him in that nickel against the run-heavy teams WSU is currently facing — and Stanford and UCLA certainly qualify — is a huge bonus.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Gesser’s film breakdown, you should do that. He highlighted Luani’s sole tackle for loss where he shot into the backfield and beat the WR block to smother Royce Freeman just after the mesh point six yards behind the line of scrimmage. It was a tremendously athletic play and the sort of thing I’m sure Alex Grinch visualized when he put together his #SpeedDefense.

Luani was a big part of the reason why, outside of a 75-yard run when the game was more or less already out of reach, WSU held Freeman to just 63 yards on 18 carries.

Also, I’m just going throw this in here because it’s #Speedy and fun and indicative of the way the defense flew around all game:

What Needs Work

Thank goodness #SpecialForces didn’t cost us the game, as it (maybe might have) in the first two games. But for goodness sake, CAN WE FIX THIS INEXCUSABLE ABOMINATION OF A PLAY??

This plus another missed field goal in addition to the piss-poor assignment responsibility on Freeman’s TD kept this from looking like the total blowout that it actually was. This could have easily been something like 60-20. That it wasn’t that lopsided was a little bit of a shame.

Up Next

Let’s go cut down some trees: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. from Palo Alto, California. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Cougs are 29th as five other Pac-12 teams debut in the initial poll.

We're still more than six weeks away from an all important game against the Ducks but there won't be an empty seat in the house for it.

The three-star defensive end from Lacey, Washington, picked WSU over Missouri.

Let’s try and make an educated guess.

Sports Illustrated came out with its Top 25 yesterday, and while WSU being ranked No. 18 is fun (try not to laugh too much at No. 7), much more interesting to me is something embedded within the team preview: An opposing coach’s take on the Cougs.

SI has been doing this kind of stuff for years, giving people anonymity in exchange for candid thoughts, and I find it fascinating because nobody else is able to get this kind of stuff on the record.

I suppose people talk to SI because the publication has a great reputation of protecting sources, and it’s generally futile to try and figure out who said what, given that it’s often anonymous players, scouts or executives who are being quoted, and they are either too numerous or too obscure to pin down.

However, in this case, I think we can make some educated guesses about who might be the one offering his opinion on WSU. (Because, why not?)

Before we read what he said, here’s my working assumption: It’s someone who either played WSU last season or who will play WSU this season — given the specific nature of the comments, you figure it’s someone who has taken a close look at them, and generally only people who have played or are going to play you are going to do that.

Now, let’s take a look at the comments:

“It’s the same pass-happy, Air Raid offense that coach Mike Leach has always run. He’s all about leverage of the defenders. He’s going to run his spacing routes and then his crossing routes. He puts a lot in the receivers’ hands—they have to read the leverage of the guys covering them. They do a damn good job and the quarterback knows exactly where to throw it.

“[Junior] Luke Falk is probably more talented than some of Leach’s past signal-callers ...”

OK, here’s our first clue. This sounds like someone who has some context for Mike Leach and his offense throughout the years, which means it’s probably someone who’s been around college football for a while.

“... but it’s hard to know because he doesn’t read anything, he just runs through progressions.”

Clue No. 2: This person doesn’t have a lot of respect for the Air Raid — calling the offense “pass-happy” seems a bit like a pejorative, and saying “(Falk) doesn’t read anything, he just runs through progressions” implies that what Falk does is somehow inferior. Perhaps this coach is more of a pro-style advocate?

“Falk took way too many hits last year, and I’m sure he will again this season, but protection has always been a huge issue for Leach’s quarterbacks. Falk and his receivers are so quick throwing the ball that it talks you out of blitzing them a lot.”

I’m not sure there’s much of a clue here ... but the juxtaposition of these two statements is pretty humorous. The interesting thing is that WSU was middle of the road last season in sacks per pass attempt — 51st nationally — and actually finished 31st in 2014. Of course, the raw number of hits on the QB is higher just because of the volume of pass attempts, which I suppose would potentially put this in the category of “more of a pro-style advocate.”

“The teams that hit Falk the most last season did it using three-man rushes and dropping eight in coverage, which made him hold the ball longer. [Senior wide receiver] Gabe Marks is dangerous outside, and their inside possession receivers do exactly what’s expected: catch the ball, get whacked and carry on.

Three statements here, all of which are fair and two of which are not particularly revealing. However, maybe there’s something to the comment about Marks being dangerous.

Defensively, their strength has always been their big linemen, and they’ve got another budding star in [sophomore] end Hercules Mata’afa. Senior safety Shalom Luani isn’t great in coverage, so you want to attack him, but he’s a sure-tackling, heavy hitter.

OK, this might be our best clue yet: The observation about Luani might be revealing if we think about which teams appeared to try and isolate Luani in coverage.

If you can run and make them pack the box, I’d take matchups all day against their corners in man coverage, which they don’t play much.

It’s true that WSU mostly played zone last season — a major factor in drastically reducing explosive plays, which was the main driving factor behind the defensive improvement. That said, I find it interesting that he’s not projecting improvement there with what was a really young set of corners.

More revealing? The idea of trying to establish the run to make WSU bring guys into the box in order to create favorable passing matchups.

They went 9–4 last season but I thought the whole Pac-12 was down, so I’m not sure they were much better than when they went 3–9 in 2014. This year they might be an even better team, but they might not have as good a record.”

Well that’s certainly dismissive.

When you put it all together, you know who it sounds a lot like to me?

UCLA coach Jim Mora.

Consider:

• Coached against WSU last year or is going to this year? Check.
• Doesn’t think much of the Air Raid, or Falk? A guy who spent most of his time coaching in the NFL would seem to be more likely to see the Air Raid as gimmicky. The only question mark here would be the inclination to think the person has been around the college game for a while, but Mora’s been at UCLA for four years, so that might be explain the initial comment — he’s seen three WSU QBs in that time. Additionally, Falk got hit a bunch against the Bruins (obviously), and the Bruins have hit all of WSU’s QBs repeatedly over the years. Also, despite the game-winning TD throw, Falk didn’t put up great numbers against UCLA — 331 yards on 53 attempts.
• Is a pro-style offense advocate? Guess who is switching to a power-based pro-style offense this season?
• Thinks Marks is dangerous? Marks had 92 yards and a pair of TDs — including the game winner — Against UCLA. The coach also essentially said in that same part that the inside receivers weren’t anything special; none of the inside receivers had a particularly strong game against the Bruins, and River Cracraft was out with an injury.
• Doesn’t think much of Luani’s coverage ability, but respects his ability to hit and tackle? UCLA seemed to target Luani in coverage, and given how much he preaches physicality, Mora seems like the type of guy who would love a safety’s ability to light up a ball-carrier.
• Prefers running the ball to set up the pass? See above.
• Is skeptical of WSU’s success last year? Given all his whining after losing to the Cougs, would it shock you if Mora believed he got beat by an inferior team that wasn’t as good as its record?

There were some other coaches who came to mind for me. David Shaw was one, but the tone just doesn’t strike me as him. One dark horse candidates I thought of? Idaho coach Paul Petrino.

Point: Petrino likely has done a lot of studying of WSU this offseason in preparation for their week three matchup in September.

Counterpoint: I’m not sure he’d have thought much about the strength of the Pac-12 overall.

Another guy I thought of is Dennis Erickson, who is noted for studying anyone and everything for ideas, would certainly have a historical handle on Leach, and is known to speak in the type of candid tone in which this coach spoke.

Those are my ideas. You got a better one?