WSU’s Falk wins Burlsworth Trophy for top former walk-on
Published 1:30 am Monday, December 4, 2017
By Theo Lawson
The Spokesman-Review
The third time was the charm for Luke Falk when it came to the Burlsworth Trophy.
On Monday, the Washington State quarterback won the award given to the top former walk-on in college football — no easy feat given that for the third year in a row, Falk was going up against two-time Burlsworth winner Baker Mayfield. The Oklahoma quarterback is also the favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.
Falk has traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, each of the last three seasons for the Burlsworth ceremony. Mayfield, Memphis receiver Anthony Miller and Wisconsin tight end Troy Fumgalli were the other three finalists for the 2017 award.
The WSU quarterback walked on in 2013 and became the Cougars’ starter when Connor Halliday went down with an injury in a home game against USC. Falk didn’t receive any scholarship offers coming out of Logan High School in Utah — partially because he transferred to Oaks Christian Academy in California as a sophomore and was ruled ineligible as a junior when he decided to move back to Utah.
Still, Falk went largely under the radar and the one scholarship offer he did have — from Idaho — was pulled when the Vandals changed coaching staffs.
WSU special teams coach Eric Mele was instrumental in bringing Falk to Pullman and spotted the Logan signal-caller after Mike Leach tasked him to find the best walk-on quarterback possible.
Falk thanked Mele when he came to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech at the Burlsworth ceremony, which was held at the Springdale Rotary Club in Fayetteville.
“Coach Mele, thanks for giving me a shot, thanks for taking a chance on a kid from Logan, Utah. I’ve had fun being able to do what we’ve done,” Falk said. “… At times in high school, I was kind of wondering why things were going that way and now I look back on it and it’s been the greatest blessing that I’ve had and it continues to shape me today. I just want to thank you so very much. Hopefully I can live on the legacy of the Burlsworth way and thank you very much. God bless.”
Falk holds every major career passing record at WSU and in the Pac-12. He’s the conference’s all-time leader in passing yards (14,481), attempts (2,054), completions (1,403), touchdowns (119), completion percentage (68.3) and total offense (14,081).
Falk, along with Cougars’ offensive lineman Cole Madison, accepted invitations to play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 21 in Mobile, Alabama.
He’s also won more games than any other WSU quarterback (27) and will try to secure his second bowl victory as the Cougars’ starter on Dec. 28 in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego.
