WASHINGTON STATE quarterback Luke Falk played most of this 2017 football season with a broken left wrist, Cougfan.com has learned.

The fifth-year senior from Logan, Utah, was planning to delay surgery until after the Holiday Bowl but worsening mobility in the wrist required he undergo the procedure approximately two weeks ago in order to prevent the threat of long-term problems, two sources close to the program tell Cougfan.com.

Despite the unexpected timing, Falk still planned to play in the Holiday Bowl -- a 42-17 Cougar loss to Michigan State two days ago -- but was unable to take snaps cleanly, the sources said. Moreover, a right-handed quarterback uses his left hand to cushion falls to the turf and that eventuality precluded WSU from playing him against MSU, they added.

Falk broke the wrist in WSU’s Week Two game against Boise State on Sept. 9 and he played every game thereafter with the wrist in a cast covered by a black glove and sweat band, said the sources, who requested anonymity.

The cast was cut off after each game so reporters in post-game media gatherings wouldn’t inquire. WSU doesn't comment on player injuries during the season -- or after the season, as Mike Leach's combative post-Holiday Bowl media conference showed -- and the extent of Falk's BSU-sustained injury was never made public.

Following that game, doctors and trainers agreed Falk could continue playing if the wrist was properly protected. The plan all season was for Falk to have surgery after whichever bowl WSU played in, sources said. But approximately two weeks after the regular season ended in the Apple Cup it became clear surgery was needed immediately due to Falk's deteriorating ability to move the wrist.

How Falk and WSU managed to keep the injury out of the public eye for four months in this era of smartphones and social media may rank as the question of the Cougars' season.

"I really don't know how it was possible," said one source. "But they pulled it off and that probably saved him because other teams would have been cognizant of how valuable it would be to knock him down -- not a sack, just running into him after a pass -- so he'd have to land on that wrist."

Falk earned all-conference honors this season for the third straight year, garnering honorable mention plaudits after leading the Pac-12 with 30 touchdown passes and throwing for the sixth-month yards in the nation (3,593). He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week twice during the season.

In November, Falk became the most prolific passer in the 102-year history of the Pac-12. He holds the all-time conference and WSU records in passing yards (14,486); passing touchdowns (119); total offense (14,086); plays (2,306); completions (1,404); attempts (2,055) and 300-yard games (30). He is also the winningest quarterback -- the starter in 27 victories -- in the 120-plus years football has been played at Washington State.

LUKE FALK LEAVES FIELD IN PAIN AGAINST BOISE STATE ON SEPT. 9

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