Exceptional team success is usually accompanied by outstanding individual effort.

The No. 24 Washington State football team (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) has received a lot of great individual contributions from several of its players this season, and the quarterback-receiver tandem of redshirt sophomore Luke Falk and redshirt junior Gabe Marks has paced the Cougars to their first national ranking since 2006.

Both halves of the offensive duo were named national award semifinalists on Tuesday.

Marks among elite pass catchers

After redshirting for the 2014 season, Marks has established himself as a prominent member of the class of Pac-12 receivers this year, and as a result he was named as a Biletnikoff Award Semifinalist by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation Tuesday; it is an award which is given annually the nation’s most outstanding receiver at any position.

Marks currently leads the Pac-12 in receptions (81), touchdown catches (13) and is ranked fourth in the country in both of those stats.

He also broke Michael Bumpus’ school record for career receptions (195) in the Cougars’ 31-27 victory at UCLA Saturday.

“I’ve been eyeing that up for a long time. That was kind of my selfish thing,” Marks said of breaking Bumpus’ record in a press conference. “(Bumpus) is a good guy; he sent me a thing on Twitter after I did it, so that was pretty cool.”

Marks’ 204th reception as a Coug made the difference in that game, a 21-yard touchdown grab from redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk with three seconds remaining. It was Marks’ 12th reception of the day and his second touchdown.

“I was out of my mind. I almost passed out I think; it was crazy,” Marks said when describing how he felt after catching the last-second touchdown. “It could have been a lot harder to catch, but (Falk) put the ball in a good spot.”

In addition to Marks, junior River Cracraft and redshirt senior Dom Williams were on the Biletnikoff Award watch list this season. This was the second year in-a-row three WSU wide outs were on the watch list. Cracraft is the only Cougar to make appearances on both the 2014 and 2015 lists.

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation will cut the 10-man semifinalist field down to three when it announces the finalists for the award on Nov. 24, and the winner on Dec. 10 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show.

Started from the bottom

Working on what could be a record-breaking season of his own, Falk was named by the Springdale Rotary Club Tuesday as a Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalist; it is an award given annually to the most outstanding collegiate football player who began their career as a walk-on.

After walking on to the WSU football team during the 2013 season from Logan, Utah, Falk redshirted his first year in Pullman. He earned a scholarship before the start of the 2014 season in which he started the Cougars’ final three games in relief of an injured Connor Halliday.

As the signal caller for the newly-minted No. 24 team in the nation, Falk has impressed fans and award voters alike. He was named as a Davey O’Brien Quarterback Award Semifinalist – the most prestigious quarterback award in college football – two weeks ago, and to the Manning Award Watch List last month. He has also been named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week three times this season, the most of any player in the conference.

In addition to the official award nominations, Falk has been mentioned as a potential Heisman candidate, which Head Coach Mike Leach addressed in his press conference Monday.

“We’re happy he gets that recognition because all awards are team awards,” Leach said in a press conference. “Luke’s not even in that conversation without the contributions of running backs, offensive linemen and receivers, and also some stops on defense.”

When asked if he thought Falk was worthy of the Heisman Trophy, Leach replied, “Without question.”

In addition to tallying his fourth fourth quarter comeback of the season Saturday against UCLA, Falk set the WSU single-season record for touchdown passes (35) with his 21-yard, game-winning strike to Marks. Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota holds the conference record for touchdown passes in a single season with 42.

Falk currently leads the FBS in passing yards per game (370.4) and total offense (359.1), and leads the Pac-12 in passing touchdowns with 35. His 4,061 passing yards this season are just 531 short of Halliday’s school record and 595 short of former Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion’s conference record.

Fans can vote on the Burlsworth Trophy semifinalists via the “GREATER” Fan Vote, which began Tuesday and ends Sunday, by going to burlsworthtrophy.com. The top-three Burlsworth Trophy candidates will be announced Nov. 24, and the winner will be announced Dec. 7 at a banquet in Springdale, Arkansas.