One of Falks best games

[CougPatrol]

i know stats don't suggest it, but I thought this was one of Falk's best games ever. Oregon has a very good pass rush and speed in the back 7. Falk had numerous big "progression" completions, he took good sacks, checked down well. We were confident.

The offense was never in sync, but Falk was in charge all night.

 

[Whitworth-Coug]

Nope.

 

[Coug90]

i know stats don't suggest it, but I thought this was one of Falk's best games ever. Oregon has a very good pass rush and speed in the back 7. Falk had numerous big "progression" completions, he took good sacks, checked down well. We were confident.

The offense was never in sync, but Falk was in charge all night.

I don't think it was as bad as my initial thoughts, but he wasn't sharp. I think he would tell you things were a little off as well. Wasn't terrible, but wasn't brilliant either, just kind of eh...the way the D played, a good night for the offense would have been turning two of those FG into TD and coming out w 41-45 pts.

 

[fingerdisco]

I don't think it was as bad as my initial thoughts, but he wasn't sharp. I think he would tell you things were a little off as well. Wasn't terrible, but wasn't brilliant either, just kind of eh...the way the D played, a good night for the offense would have been turning two of those FG into TD and coming out w 41-45 pts.

I remember two pretty bad misses, and then he kept going to that sideline throw on the left side that was well covered every time, one of which should have been a pick. Not horrible, but not sharp either.

 

[CougPatrol]

It was the best defense we've faced this season by a wide margin. Great pass rush. Game plan wasn't there.

 

[Coug-Vandal]

No it wasn't one of Luke's best games especially in the first half but he hung in there in a tough environment and made some great throws in the 2nd half. What is interesting is to compare what actually happened to the commentary on the game thread. On the Ist drive of the 2nd half with the game on the line and a very rowdy crowd (I was there) Luke hit Johnson-Mack with a perfect back shoulder throw for thirty years to get us out of a 3rd and 19 deep in our territory. He then hit Sweet with a perfect pass up the middle for another 30 yards and then hit Bell with a perfect pass in the back of the end zone. The last pass was right in front of us and Luke waited until Bell broke open and then quickly zipped it in for the TD.
Go look at the game thread for this sequence. No mention of anything good except that Bell atoned for his earlier fumble. One couldn't tell from this discussion that Falk even threw a decent pass. With fans like this you don't need critics.

Go Cougs

 

[Flatlandcoug]

i know stats don't suggest it, but I thought this was one of Falk's best games ever. Oregon has a very good pass rush and speed in the back 7. Falk had numerous big "progression" completions, he took good sacks, checked down well. We were confident.

The offense was never in sync, but Falk was in charge all night.

Luke obviously made a lot of good throws and he didn't have a terrible night but if you watch his post-game interview, he made a comment about his play in the first half and I think most of us would agree that he struggled initially against the Oregon defense. It's kind of funny when you watch college football and see the difference in expectations from a QB.

Sam Darnold throws for 316 yards, 3 TD's and a pick and everyone is impressed. "Did you know that Darnold has seven 300 yard games now!" & "Wow, Darnold is back on track!". Luke Falk has a rare sub-300 yard game but he throws for 282 yards, 3 TD's and no picks and we think, "meh, Luke could have done better". Obviously, the Air Raid is much different than the pro style offense that USC runs, but Luke holds himself to a much higher standard than a normal QB and we do as well.

 

[acgcoug]

I remember two pretty bad misses, and then he kept going to that sideline throw on the left side that was well covered every time, one of which should have been a pick. Not horrible, but not sharp either.

That one frustrated me, and not because of Falk, but because it was to 6'6" Dimry - he needs to track that ball in and position himself better. He towers over DB's, yet he routinely doesn't position himself well, or knows how to utilize his size advantage. Pretty sure this is why he doesn't play much.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

That one frustrated me, and not because of Falk, but because it was to 6'6" Dimry - he needs to track that ball in and position himself better. He towers over DB's, yet he routinely doesn't position himself well, or knows how to utilize his size advantage. Pretty sure this is why he doesn't play much.

This is a huge issue for this offense and Falk receives most of the criticism for it: this WR Corp, by and large, aren't doing the O any favors. I didn't see a single receiver, including 6'6" Dimry, go up and high-point a ball. Between that and the flat out drops it's a small miracle Falk has the numbers that he does. They've gotta start hauling in a few of those less than perfect passes.

 

[firecoug]

We all hold Luke to such a high standard because he is an exceptional player. He played well at Oregon but not great. He missed some open throws and that was the difference between a good game (the end result) and great (what could have been). Even an exceptional player has less than stellar games from time to time. It will just motivate him to play even better next week. We are truly to spoiled to have such a great QB running the show and that's the difference between a good team making a run for a conference title (this team minus Luke) and a dark horse national title contender (this team). These are awesome times in Cougar land.

 

[Cougsocal]

i know stats don't suggest it, but I thought this was one of Falk's best games ever. Oregon has a very good pass rush and speed in the back 7. Falk had numerous big "progression" completions, he took good sacks, checked down well. We were confident.

The offense was never in sync, but Falk was in charge all night.

Luke played smart. The Ducks clogged the middle forcing him to throw wide. They were hoping to uses their DB speed advantage to generate pics by undercutting routes on the wide throws, recognizing that Luke does not have a big arm. He didn't take the bait. Because we can now play some D, Oregon knew that they needed Luke to get greedy and impatient to have a chance. When your defense can actually stop people you have the luxury of being more conservative. Both Falk and Leach are far more conservative now than in the past. Far less exciting, but resulting in only 2 pics all season.

 

[chipdouglas]

Luke did yeoman's work and deserves a ton of credit for his role in that win.

I think it's just frustrating how up and down he can throughout the course of a game, and some of the strange decisions he makes. The damage has been limited this year, but sometimes he won't just take what the defense is giving him. He would step up in the pocket and have an easy lane to get yards on his feet or even to just get back to the LOS, but was so pre-committed to throwing the ball he would take a sack or similar. That's bad for the drive and for his health (19 sacks on the year already). Be nice if he weren't so pre-locked on to one decision or another.

Having said that, the guy is completing north of 70% of his passes again and has 19 TDs to 2 INTs - you have to be happy with that.

 

[chipdouglas]

One couldn't tell from this discussion that Falk even threw a decent pass. With fans like this you don't need critics.

That's a bit silly. Outside of ElC, this entire board is pretty uniformly on board with Luke Falk (and I think even he's on board most of the time).

But if you're saying Coug fans ought not express criticism, or that this board needs to maintain your preferred ratio of praise to criticism, then your expectations likely will never be realized.

 

[dgibbons]

Luke did yeoman's work and deserves a ton of credit for his role in that win.

I think it's just frustrating how up and down he can throughout the course of a game, and some of the strange decisions he makes. The damage has been limited this year, but sometimes he won't just take what the defense is giving him. He would step up in the pocket and have an easy lane to get yards on his feet or even to just get back to the LOS, but was so pre-committed to throwing the ball he would take a sack or similar. That's bad for the drive and for his health (19 sacks on the year already). Be nice if he weren't so pre-locked on to one decision or another.

Having said that, the guy is completing north of 70% of his passes again and has 19 TDs to 2 INTs - you have to be happy with that.

Gesser holds the status of immortal, golden boy, Cougliest of all Cougs, conference winning QB, and he deserves it.

Go look at some of Gesser’s games. He had three or four bad to mediocre games per season. Using the same standard that some want to apply to Falk, Gesser sure is lucky the Cougs has solid defenses and good running backs during his senior year!

 

[avabob11]

Good point about Gesser. I remember him and Harrington both stinking up Martin stadium in a WSU-Oregon game during one of our good season.

 

[CougPatrol]

Again, I'm not basing my opinion on stats. I watched every snap, as I'm sure you guys did, and I was really impressed with Falk. He managed that game the way Tom Brady manages his offenses off nights. Nothing foolish. Taking a sack is OK. Throw the ball where only your guy can catch it. Check into to better matchups.

We scored 33 points and weren't our best. Great outcome.

 

[Coug90]

It was the best defense we've faced this season by a wide margin. Great pass rush. Game plan wasn't there.

Probably, but there's a defense waiting for us that is MUCH better and would have taken that offensive performance and may not have yielded 10 points...a team WSU really needs to beat to make this a truly special season. Nobody is ripping on the offense, but looking at it from a coach's/player's perspective, just stating a fact that there's work to be done.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Probably, but there's a defense waiting for us that is MUCH better and would have taken that offensive performance and may not have yielded 10 points...a team WSU really needs to beat to make this a truly special season. Nobody is ripping on the offense, but looking at it from a coach's/player's perspective, just stating a fact that there's work to be done.

Again, its execution in the pass/ catch department. Falk is on enough to move the sticks; could he be more accurate? Of course. But these WRs need to start helping out and grabbing a pass or two that doesn't hit them in the numbers. Dimry scored a F- for Saturday. Dude, you hardly get any targets and the ones you do get you're going to stare into the ground? REALLY?

 

[brettcraycraft51]

my biggest concern was always the times when his decision-making slowed down and he couldn't seem to figure out what to do w/ the ball. we haven't really seen that falk since boise state (maybe a tiny bit at the beginning against osu), so i'm feeling pretty great about where he's at.

sure, he missed on some throws, but that's basically what all qbs do. but he's making his reads and, in general, getting the ball out quick. he was only sacked 4 times on saturday, and on at least a couple of them, the pocket collapsed within a couple seconds. his pocket awareness (knowing when/where to move, when to get rid of the ball, etc) is still his biggest issue in my opinion, but you really can't say it was the problem on saturday.

i'll admit i was concerned after bsu, but those concerns are far in the rear view mirror at this point.

 

[Coug-Vandal]

There are times when Falk seems to hold on to the ball too long and I also wish he would learn to just throw it away at someone's feet instead of taking a sack although I suspect this is easier said than done. The Ducks pressed the outside receivers and held all night long. Only late in the game did we get a few pass interference calls but they got away with holding on Martin and Johnson-Mack all night. The new Oregon defensive coordinator was at Colorado last year and that is what "worked" against us in Boulder. Anyway, some of the holding on to the ball is waiting for a receiver to break open and a second can make a big difference. Late in the 3rd quarter Luke scrambled right just as Johnson-Mack broke open over the middle but he got tripped as he tried to throw and couldn't get the ball there. A split second longer protection would have been a TD. We ran the except same play the next drive and Johnson-Mack got the TD.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Gesser holds the status of immortal, golden boy, Cougliest of all Cougs, conference winning QB, and he deserves it.

Go look at some of Gesser’s games. He had three or four bad to mediocre games per season. Using the same standard that some want to apply to Falk, Gesser sure is lucky the Cougs has solid defenses and good running backs during his senior year!

Gesser gets a pass by most because we won so many games with him at the helm. Falk (and the team) still has to prove that he can finish with 10 wins in a season. Leaf, Gesser, Rypien, Bledsoe and everyone will else will be looking up at Falk on his pedestal if we get to 12+ wins this year and we'll all feel comfortable with that.

 

[acgcoug]

This is a huge issue for this offense and Falk receives most of the criticism for it: this WR Corp, by and large, aren't doing the O any favors. I didn't see a single receiver, including 6'6" Dimry, go up and high-point a ball. Between that and the flat out drops it's a small miracle Falk has the numbers that he does. They've gotta start hauling in a few of those less than perfect passes.

Yep, I agree with you 100% on this.

Furthermore, others have mentioned Jason Gesser in this thread. Gesser had some of the best "go up and get it" receivers around in Milton Wynn, Nakoa Mcelreth, Milton Riley, Mike Bush, Marcus Williams, and Devard Darling. These guys generally averaged an eye popping 16-22 yds per catch throughout their career. Gesser was also the master of putting up a very good "go up and get it" pass. Not to mention there was less dink and dunk stuff like our current offense, as they aired the ball out quite a bit.

 

[ElComanche]

I have to be on board with Falk. Unless there is an injury Falk will play 97% of the snaps this year. Once Leach settles on a QB,he is the man. So as Falk goes so go the cougs.I want the cougs to win so i want Falk to play well the rest of the year.

 

[chipdouglas]

Again, its execution in the pass/ catch department. Falk is on enough to move the sticks; could he be more accurate? Of course. But these WRs need to start helping out and grabbing a pass or two that doesn't hit them in the numbers. Dimry scored a F- for Saturday. Dude, you hardly get any targets and the ones you do get you're going to stare into the ground? REALLY?

Now this I agree with. Even Sweet is a bummer letdown compared to Cracraft. You have to meet your QB halfway there, and Sweet could only catch it dead in the numbers this weekend. Cracraft was barely 6 foot and was Stretch Armstrong getting anything Luke threw. Make that kid receivers coach already if the NFL thing doesn't work out.

 

[CougPatrol]

I have to be on board with Falk. Unless there is an injury Falk will play 97% of the snaps this year. Once Leach settles on a QB,he is the man. So as Falk goes so go the cougs.I want the cougs to win so i want Falk to play well the rest of the year.

OMG, who are you?

 

[ElComanche]

Just leave money at the altar son

 

[YakiCoug]

i know stats don't suggest it, but I thought this was one of Falk's best games ever. Oregon has a very good pass rush and speed in the back 7. Falk had numerous big "progression" completions, he took good sacks, checked down well. We were confident.

The offense was never in sync, but Falk was in charge all night.

I suspect you're just being facetious. Falk had a dozen bad throws that really had little to do with pressure from Oregon. Some were inexplicably way behind the WR or simply underthrown. A couple should have been picked. Still, I'll gladly take a 33-10 win (it easily could have been 40 plus to 10) even with a somewhat marginal performance by Falk. The guy isn't going to be Superman every week, but he's 13-2 in the Pac-12 over the past two seasons.

 

[CougPatrol]

I suspect you're just being facetious. Falk had a dozen bad throws that really had little to do with pressure from Oregon.

I’m not being facetious. I really thought Falk played outstanding with regard to how he managed the game despite the offense not clicking, the receivers dropping balls, and the Oregon defense both getting to the passer and dropping guys into coverage.

They did a good job of confusing and getting after us, but Falk managed the game perfectly I thought. It could have easily been Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl all over again, but Falk hung in there and still nearly put 40 on the board.

 

[random soul]

Gesser holds the status of immortal, golden boy, Cougliest of all Cougs, conference winning QB, and he deserves it.

Go look at some of Gesser’s games. He had three or four bad to mediocre games per season. Using the same standard that some want to apply to Falk, Gesser sure is lucky the Cougs has solid defenses and good running backs during his senior year!

Gesser blew hot and cold just like Falk did, except that this is the first season when Falk has had a defense remotely comparable to what Gesser had backing him up. Most quarterbacks are a bit streaky, and then there was Connor Halliday.

 

[Fab5Coug]

Gesser holds the status of immortal, golden boy, Cougliest of all Cougs, conference winning QB, and he deserves it.

Go look at some of Gesser’s games. He had three or four bad to mediocre games per season. Using the same standard that some want to apply to Falk, Gesser sure is lucky the Cougs has solid defenses and good running backs during his senior year!

I feel like this is what you get a 3 year starter. People get bored. Falk is kind of boring. For those critical of him holding the ball too long, it would be funny to go back and look at some Tuel "highlights" from 2012.

It's easy to get critical when you're comparing Falk to Falk. It's easy to forget how bad it could be.

 

[CougPatrol]

For those critical of him holding the ball too long, it would be funny to go back and look at some Tuel "highlights" from 2012.

It's easy to get critical when you're comparing Falk to Falk. It's easy to forget how bad it could be.

Hell, it's a good thing social media wasn't around in the early 1990's, because had it not snowed during the 1992 Apple Cup, Drew Bledsoe's WSU career would have been incredibly unincredible.

 

[425cougfan]

I feel like this is what you get a 3 year starter. People get bored. Falk is kind of boring. For those critical of him holding the ball too long, it would be funny to go back and look at some Tuel "highlights" from 2012.

It's easy to get critical when you're comparing Falk to Falk. It's easy to forget how bad it could be.

Agree with the sentiment, but I believe it's fair to critique this part of his game, and it "feels" like it should be something he could improve, at least to an extent. It's not just grumpy fans doing it ... it's now every broadcaster, talking head, etc. who watches him play. I know it's a lot easier for us to make these complaints from the couch than it is to actually be out there doing it -- and there are plenty of times where, despite having held it forever, he finds a read and turns nothing into a decent gain -- but those sacks when it looks like it would have been relatively easy to throw the ball at someone's feet are pretty frustrating. Again, I agree with the overall sentiment.

 

[avabob11]

Here is the real point. Name a QB out there who you couldn't make equally as valid criticisms of some parts of their games.

 

[CougPatrol]

Here is the real point. Name a QB out there who you couldn't make equally as valid criticisms of some parts of their games.

Kevin Lopina