Late in the fourth quarter of the Cougars’ home opener, it was fourth and one against a defense that had relentlessly attacked the football throughout the game, and there he was: quarterback Luke Falk, prized pilot of WSU’s air-raid offense, flying airborne and head-on into the shoulder of a stalking, locked-in linebacker.

“You gotta show your team you’re willing to do what it takes to win,” Falk said.

Now, Luke Falk stands erect and drinks from his league-approved cup with one hand in his pocket and an unrelenting eye contact that waits eagerly and attentively for a reason to offer his insight.

“You don’t want someone else making the play, you want to be the guy,” Falk said. “That’s why you play the game, that’s why you do everything you do: for that last minute of the game.”

His presence in conversation is akin to the way a learned doctor speaks to his patient before a routine checkup: prepared, relaxed and quick-witted. There’s no questioning with this guy; he’s got a handle on the situation.

“We call him Cool Hand Luke. He didn’t always have it, though,” his sister Natalee Falk said. “I remember growing up, Dad yelling, ‘Luke, stop looking for butterflies in the backfield. Get your head in the game.’”

He’s since evolved into that cool-handed quarterback, garnering raucous praise from fans and pundits alike. Following game two of Falk’s current season, the NCAA awarded him Pac-12 player of the week for his late-game heroics and gaudy game numbers.

Falk also, again, found himself at the receiving end of a head-on collision in a desperate 13 yard run for what was a do-or-die drive against Rutgers that brought the Cougars to the eight-yard line and set up the game winning touchdown.

Luke Falk doesn’t slide.

“Ugh, when he runs the ball I cringe,” Natalee said. “But it shows he’s in it to win it, and he always has been, even throughout the ups and downs.”

Natalee spoke in reference to Falk’s gravely-timed family move to California from Utah before the start of his junior season, a season known as primetime for college recruitment.

Falk faced limited options in Cornell and Idaho before Mike Leach invited him to play alongside freshman quarterback Tyler Bruggman, WSU’s first four-star quarterback recruit since the early 2000’s.

“It was hard to pass up the Ivy League opportunity,” Falk’s mother Analee said in an interview with Cougfan.com “But Luke told me, ‘Mom, I need to do this.’”

The decision would prove fruitful for the budding quarterback, and it wasn’t the first time Falk had made an executive decision, as controversial as it may have been.

Falk’s sister said he had always been a multi-sport player growing up. He played basketball in high school during the football off-season and played a range of sports through junior high. She said there was one particular day, though, when everyone in the family knew he had made a serious life choice.

“It was toward the beginning of football season his freshman year in high school,” Natalee said. “He walked up to Mom and said ‘Mom, I’m going to play football. That’s what I’m going to do.’ He told her he was born to play football.”

Making dreams a reality seems to run in the Falk family, whichalso features former Utah State defensive end Eric Falk, Luke’s father, and Analee’s brother Jeff Anderson, former guard for Utah State Basketball.

Falk spent most of his life with his family in Logan, Utah, a small town in the country that revolves around its school sport teams.

Falk knew he was entering familiar territory coming to Pullman, Washington and should add to calm, cool-handedness according to his sister.

“He loves Pullman. He’s so grateful for his opportunity to be there and it’s just so similar to where he grew up,” Natalee said.

She said Luke had never wavered on his commitment to football, and idolized Tom Brady for his poise and play-style since he was a child.

“You see it in his press conferences he’s together, and poised and witty,” Natalee said.

Standing at the podium addressing his Week 2 win versus Rutgers University, Falk said he made it a point to lighten up the mood with Coach Leach heading into what would be their game-winning drive.

“I said (Patriots safety) Devin McCourty is here and he’ll put in a good word to Tom Brady for me,” Falk said. “So, uh, let’s go score this drive here.”

Cool Hand Luke was chill as ever heading into that game-deciding drive, the same drive that would find Falk rushing the football directly into the fixed sights of an enabled defender.

Falk proved by rushing the second week in a row into contact, especially after going down hard and leaving the game in week one, that he simply is not fazed. He’s focused. He’ll do what it takes to win.

“There’s a side to him that’s super competitive, like aggressively competitive. Even in a game of cards he’s not going down without a fight,” Natalee said. “Even to this day, though, he’ll tell you I’m the only one that could beat him in Mario Kart.”

Falk likely hasn’t let that go, either. He’s a noted hard-worker. The type anyone would look for in a leader of a team, coming in first, leaving last and setting an example for his teammates.

“He works harder than they do,” Leach said. “Everybody knows he works harder than they do.”

That’s not an affront to the rest of the team as much as it is a credit to Falk’s incredible work ethic. He loves the game and gives it his all; almost as much as his dog, Cayenne.

“You know, we’re really glad he got a girlfriend,” Natalee said. “For a minute there we were worried about him the way he loves that dog. But he’s alright now. We’re good.”

Falk threw for almost twice as many yards in his second-week performance as he did in week one. He looks forward to leading his team to even more spectacular wins this season.

“Our best is yet to come,” Falk said. “Our team’s a great team and we have a lot to show for it pretty soon.”

When the game’s almost inevitably on the line once again, Falk will make good on his great team’s efforts and get those precious yards where they need them, even if it means taking a shot or two.

What the Cougs have here has not been a failure to communicate, but a man and his will to win over his opponent even with the odds stacked against him.

Upcoming teams would fare best by heeding the arm of Cool Hand Luke. If his red-hot start is any sign of what’s to come, then this gunslinger’s only warming up.