Falk lifts No. 24 Washington St. over Montana St. 31-0

by Associated Press
| September 5, 2017 1:00 AM

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Luke Falk threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns, setting the school career touchdown pass record, as No. 24 Washington State beat Montana State 31-0 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday night.

Falk completed his first 20 passes of the game as Washington State won a season opener for the first time under sixth-year coach Mike Leach.

Montana State, a member of the FCS Big Sky Conference, managed just 143 yards in the game, mostly on the ground.

Leach had lost all five of his openers since arriving at Washington State in 2012, including losses the past two years to FCS schools from the Big Sky.

Falk completed 33 of 39 passes and was not intercepted. James Williams caught 13 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

Falk completed his first nine passes on WSU’s first drive, the last a shovel pass to Williams, who ran 11 yards for a touchdown. The score allowed Falk to tie Connor Halliday for most touchdown passes in school history at 90.

Falk’s streak of consecutive completed passes reached 18 with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Tavares Martin Jr. that lifted the Cougars to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. That allowed him to take sole possession of the school career touchdown pass record with 91.

Montana State got a break when Grant Collins recovered a Washington State fumble on the Cougars’ 43. But Luke Daly missed a 42-yard field goal attempt and Washington State led 14-0 at halftime.

Jamal Morrow ran 29 yards for a touchdown to lift Washington State to a 21-0 lead midway through the third.

Falk fired a 24-yard touchdown pass to Williams in the fourth for a 28-0 lead.

Washington State was ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 for only the third time in the program’s history.

Pettis, Browning lead No. 8 Washington past Rutgers, 30-14

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Dante Pettis woke up No. 8 Washington just before halftime with his sixth career punt return for a touchdown and Jake Browning threw two second-half touchdown passes in a tougher-than-expected 30-14 victory over rebuilding Rutgers on Friday night.

Pettis’ blistering 61-yard return gave the Huskies their first lead at 10-7 with 3:50 left in the half. He tied former California star DeSean Jackson’s Pac-12 career record for punt returns for scores.

A senior receiver, Pettis actually set up the Huskies’ first three scores this season. His 51-yard catch set up the first of three field goals by Tristan Vizcaino and his catches of 10 and 24 yards ignited an early third-quarter drive that Browning capped with a 7-yard swing pass to halfback Lavon Coleman for a 17-7 lead.

Browning was 17 of 30 for 284 yards. He also found halfback Kyle Gaskin on an 18-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 27-7 lead.

Louisville transfer Kyle Bolin threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Janarion Grant on Rutgers’ first possession for a 7-0 lead and a 34-yarder to Dacoven Bailey with the game pretty much decided. Bolin finished 24 of 34 for 178 yards and had two passes intercepted by Byron Murphy.

The Scarlet Knights have lost 10 straight under second-year coach Chris Ash, but Rutgers showed a lot of improvement, especially against Washington. The Huskies, who were returning a big chunk of their team, beat Rutgers 48-13 last year in the opener in Seattle en route to a 12-2 record that included a Pac-12 title and a trip to the college football playoffs.

Shimonek leads Texas Tech past Eastern Washington 56-10

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Nic Shimonek threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start and Texas Tech opened what could be a crucial season for coach Kliff Kingsbury with a 56-10 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday.

Shimonek completed his first 14 passes and finished 26 of 30 as the Red Raiders pulled away with three touchdowns each in the second and third quarters, capped by Willie Sykes’ 33-yard interception return for a 49-10 lead the first play after Justin Stockton’s second TD run.

Gage Gubrud threw for 207 yards and a touchdown for Eastern Washington, which upset Washington State in last year’s opener on the way to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs.

Texas Tech led 7-3 when Shimonek threw the first of three second-quarter touchdowns, a 75-yarder to Derrick Willies. Keke Coutee caught the other two from 68 and 17 yards, finishing with 99 yards receiving. Willies had 126 yards receiving.

Kingsbury improved to 5-0 in openers at his alma mater, but could be under pressure to keep his job since he’s just 18-26 since winning his first seven games in 2013.

Aaron Best lost his coaching debut at his alma mater to the same school that beat former coach Beau Baldwin 49-24 in his debut in 2008. Best went to the same high school as Baldwin in Tacoma, Washington, and was Baldwin’s offensive line coach all nine seasons at EWU before Baldwin left to become offensive coordinator at California.

Tech backup McLane Carter threw a 22-yard pass to Quan Shorts to complete the scoring early in the fourth quarter as the Red Raiders outgained Eastern Washington 626-301.

Terence Grady had 93 yards receiving and EWU’s only touchdown, a 22-yarder in the second quarter.