The pick: Why Washington State will beat Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – A story in Friday’s Salt Lake Tribune unearthed an interesting nugget about Washington State quarterback Luke Falk, who returns to his home state on Saturday to play the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The last time Falk started a game in the Beehive State, he was quarterbacking the Logan High Grizzlies in the state playoffs. Despite a prolific senior year, Falk and Logan stumbled against Timpview, losing by 35 points in a game that saw the future Cougars QB complete just 52 percent of his passes and throw three interceptions to just two touchdowns. That’s not the interesting part, though. The Timpview team was – and still is – coached by Cary Whittingham, brother of Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.

So on Saturday, Falk either drops to 0-2 against the Whittingham brothers – or he salvages a crucial road win and improves to 1-1. We’ll take Falk in round two. We’ll take the Cougars over the Utes.

The line: WSU by 1

The pick: WSU 35, Utah 31.