Let's get this out of the way early. Yeah, quarterback Luke Falk looked really good in his first start. He threw well, he scrambled well, was poised in the pocket, calm on the road and was a guy that a lot of schools probably wish they'd given a scholarship offer to.

Last week against USC we saw him scramble and avoid sacks, but he added an element to his pocket presence today, using the extra time to find his fourth or fifth read and hitting that final option for a big gain a couple times.

I'm going to keep the Falk thoughts brief because his performance is going to get plenty of attention. Trust me, it will be in all the papers tomorrow.

More postgame thoughts are after the jump.

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-- Maybe some of these defensive backs will redshirt next season, or maybe the coaches simply think that they'll get even better cornerback recruits next year. Still, it's extremely rare to see a talented freshman like Marcellus Pippins that hasn't played all season burn his redshirt late in the tenth game of the season.

He only came in when Daquawn Brown was ejected and the Cougars will get Brown back after the first half of the ASU game, so Pippins is likely to only play in a couple quarters at most this season. Even if he redshirts later on, it seems like a waste of one of the four years in which he's allowed to play, but I guess that's just where the depth is right now. As far as I know Kevin Griffin was available, but the Cougars took him out after he gave up a big play to Rahmel Dockery on OSU's first drive and seemed reluctant to put him back in. 

-- Speaking of Brown's ejection, it was definitely a bad call (CougCenter shows why, here). But don't expect Brown's first-half suspension to get overturned. The Pac-12 has already indicated once this season that it will not go against the video replay crew.

-- It goes to show how high the expectations are for Vince Mayle right now that he can have 143 receiving yards and a touchdown and still have a bad game, but that's what this was. It's one thing to drop some passes in swirling rain and wind like the Cougars did last week against USC, it's quite another to in fine conditions in a close game in which your quarterback is completing seemingly every other pass he throws.

One game is an aberration, two is a trend and for Mayle it's a problem he needs to fix immediately. The biggest questions about Mayle NFL types have are regarding his consistency and a reputation for dropping the ball could be the difference between getting drafted or not.

-- No opposing special teams touchdowns today. In fact, only one punt was returned and it went for two yards. Malcolm Marable did have a 41-yard return but all things considered today was a big improvement for WSU's special teams. Well, a big improvement except …

-- Quentin Breshears missed a 31-yard kick and his 32-yard make a was a little dicey. For whatever reason, Breshears struggles more the closer he is to the uprights. This season he's 3 of 3 on 40-plus yard kicks, 3 of 4 on kicks from 30-49 yards, 2 of 3 from 20-29 yards and 0 for 1 from inside the 20.

-- Falk and Tyler Baker appear to have formed some sort of sensory connection while turning in those tuition checks. The former and current walk-ons have ascended to prominent roles at the same time, and are playing as well as anybody on the team right now. Baker was cheated out of a second touchdown by an inadvertent whistle, caused by the sheer violence of Rickey Galvin's block. Galvin got up slowly but appeared to be fine on the sideline.

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