WSU finally wins an opener for Leach, Falk has big night in 31-0 victory

The streak is over.

After losing five consecutive season openers under coach Mike Leach, Washington State has finally won one.

On a Saturday night in which Luke Falk became WSU’s career leader in touchdown passes, the Cougars beat Montana State 31-0 to begin this season on a different note than any of the previous five under Leach.

“It feels real good. We didn’t have no choice but to win,” said sophomore running back James Williams, who led the Cougars with 13 receptions, 163 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. “If we’d lost this game, coach Leach probably would have been scrimmaging right now.”

It also marked the first time since a 42-0 victory against Idaho in 2013 that the Cougars have shut out an opponent.

But it might have come at a cost. Starting left tackle Andre Dillard exited the game on the final offensive series. From the television replays, it looked as if one of Dillard’s teammates rolled onto his right leg at the end of the play. Dillard limped off on his own power and was examined by athletic trainers.

He later stood on the sideline, grimacing whenever he put weight on his right leg.

Leach stuck to his normal policy of not addressing injuries, saying, “He’s 100 percent. Stronger than ever. The most remarkable thing about it is that a lot of times when a guy starts limping around, it crosses your mind that maybe he’s gotten weaker. But the most remarkable thing about it, he literally got stronger and has approximately the strength of 10 men, so we’re excited to unleash that next week.”

Falk was splendid, connecting on 33 of 39 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He completed his first 20 passes to start the game and went into halftime perfect — 20 for 20 for 175 yards, two touchdowns and a 206.5 passer rating.

His first score of the night came early, on WSU’s first series. Falk led the offense on a 12-play, 73-yard drive that burned 6:12 off the clock and culminated in a 12-yard shovel pass to Williams.

That touchdown pass — the 90th in Falk’s career — tied the senior quarterback with Connor Halliday atop WSU’s career touchdown passing list.

Falk took sole possession of that record early in the second quarter. This time, the scoring catch went to Tavares Martin Jr., whose 6-yard grab will forever be known as Luke Falk career touchdown No. 91.

Falk said he didn’t know he was close to WSU’s career touchdown record until it was announced on the jumbotron during the game, and added he had no idea he’d started 20 for 20 until the media informed him after the game.

“It’s a cool team thing,” Falk said of the career touchdown record. “It’s 11 guys out there doing their job. I don’t know how many (touchdowns) it even is, but it’s a team get, and I thought everyone tonight did a great job on those touchdown plays.”

Falk was three passes short of tying Aaron Rodgers’ 2004 Pac-12 record of 23 consecutive completions.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” said Halliday, who watched Falk break his record in person.

Falk’s first incompletion came on the second play of the third quarter, when his pass meant for Isaiah Johnson-Mack fell incomplete.

Amid Falk’s perfect first half, the Cougars’ defense also put up quite the show.

The defense forced a three-and-out on MSU’s opening possession, and seemed hell bent on tackling Bobcats quarterback Chris Murray into submission.

Murray, who is known more for his athleticism than his passing ability, did not attempt a pass until the 2:49 mark of the first quarter, and did not complete a pass until the Bobcats’ fourth offensive series, with 5:48 left in the second quarter.

In between, the Cougars’ defense went after Murray with a vengeance. Hercules Mata’afa had 1½ sacks and 2½ tackles for loss by halftime — and that doesn’t account for two other instances in which he blasted Murray to the turf just as the quarterback released the ball.

Derek Moore, Jahad Woods and Garrett McBroom also took their turns harassing the Bobcats’ quarterback, with each defender notching half a sack.

Strong safety Jalen Thompson joined in on the fun late in the third quarter when he picked off a long pass from Murray for his first career interception.

MSU managed only 143 offensive yards and Murray went 5 of 12 for 28 passing yards and one interception. Meanwhile, WSU finished with 511 offensive yards.

Falk wasn’t the only record-breaking offensive player on Saturday night.

Williams set a single-game school record for receptions and receiving yards by a running back. His second touchdown came on a 24-yard catch-and-run early in the fourth quarter that put the Cougs up 28-0.

The Bobcats never found any rhythm on offense. Their longest drive came in the second quarter, when Murray got away for 17 yards and a first down.

This story was originally published September 3, 2017 at 2:43 PM with the headline "WSU finally wins an opener for Leach, Falk has big night in 31-0 victory."