Holiday Bowl Preview: Falk's injured hand a concern for Cougs?

What: Washington State (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-3)

Where: San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (70,561), San Diego, Calif.

When: Thur., Dec. 28, 6 p.m. PT

TV/Radio: Fox Sports 1 (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft); Washington State IMG Sports Network (Matt Chazanow, Bob Robertson, Jason Gesser, Jessamyn McIntyre).

The first question for Washington State coach Mike Leach during Wednesday's pre-Holiday Bowl news conference was about the cast on quarterback Luke Falk's non-throwing left wrist.

The seventh question was about the pet raccoon Leach had when he was a kid, which he mentioned in an article he wrote for the Players' Tribune.

Naturally, Leach was much more forthcoming about the raccoon, which was named Bilbo Baggins after the character in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," than he was about his quarterback's health.

"He's doing great. You can use your imagination all you want about the cast," Leach said about Falk, who despite whatever's going on with his wrist is still expected to lead No. 21 WSU (9-3) against No. 18 Michigan State (9-3) on Thursday night.

"He has had something on his hand all year and hence we named him 'the Kingslayer.' Beyond that you're on your own."

Falk and the Cougars are looking for a better Holiday Bowl than a year ago, when their normally high-powered Air Raid offense was shut down by Minnesota in a 17-12 dud.

Falk, who threw for 3,593 yards and 30 touchdowns during the regular season, was photographed Tuesday with a cast on his non-throwing left wrist. During an appearance later that day, Falk was careful to keep the wrist out of view. In last year's Holiday Bowl, Falk was held to 264 yards — 86 below his average — on 30-of-51 passing. Falk didn't crack 200 yards until the final minutes.

Leach praised Falk's work ethic, saying the former walk-on "has had a tremendous impact on our program."

TURNAROUND SEASON FOR SPARTANS: Michigan State has gone from playing in the national championship semifinal in 2015 to 3-9 last season to 9-3 this season. So it was an emotional moment when the seniors went through their final practice this week.

The Spartans rebounded nicely after winning just three games in 2016. MSU started the season 5-1 and beat Michigan, which was then-ranked No. 7, for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. The Spartans later upset Penn State to jump into the thick of things in the Big Ten East, but their division title chances were squashed the following weekend against Ohio State. From there, wins over Maryland and Rutgers gave MSU at least nine wins for the seventh time in 11 years under Mark Dantonio.

"I think any time you take the jersey off for the last time or practice with your teammates you start to go through emotions, you've got to get closure," MSU coach Mark Dantonio said. "We try to make that special for them at the end of our practice and it becomes an emotional experience for some of our guys. Those guys have had some great moments here and we're just looking for another life moment for them."

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Here are the key players for each team in the Holiday Bowl.

DE Kenny Willekes, Michigan State: A former walk-on who barely played last year, Willekes emerged in a big way as a redshirt sophomore. The 6-foot-4, 244-pound Willekes was fourth on the Spartans with 69 tackles and led the team with 14.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

WR, Felton Davis III, Michigan State: A second team all-Big Ten pick, Davis had team highs in receptions (51) and receiving yards (658).

QB Luke Falk, Washington State: Luke Falk has had an outstanding career at Washington State. He arrived at Washington State as a walk-on and will leave Pullman with almost every major career passing record in Pac-12 history, including passing yards, touchdowns, completions, attempts and completion percentage.

Safety, Jalen Thompson, Washington State: The sophomore led the Cougars in tackles (69) and interceptions (four) while sharing the team lead in fumble recoveries.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH: Aside from it being Falk’s last collegiate game, Washington State will want to play much better than it did in last year’s Holiday Bowl when it lost 17-12 to an average-at-best Minnesota team. On the other side, Michigan State felt disrespected when rival Michigan was placed in the New Year’s Day Outback Bowl instead of MSU. Dantonio always uses that underdog mentality to get the best out of his team. And after missing a bowl last year and getting destroyed in the CFP semifinals in 2015, MSU should be ready to roll.

WHAT’S ON THE LINE: Washington State has been playing football for more than 100 years, but has only played in 13 bowl games. The Cougars are 7-6 in those games, including a 1-2 mark under Mike Leach. The Cougars won the 2015 Sun Bowl but lost in last year’s Holiday Bowl and the 2013 New Mexico Bowl. For Michigan State, a win would mark its first in a bowl since the dramatic comeback over Baylor in the 2014 Cotton Bowl. MSU is 4-5 in bowls under Mark Dantonio.

WASHINGTON STATE HOLIDAY BOWL DEPTH CHART

OFFENSE

QB: Luke Falk (Hilinski)

RB: Jamal Morrow (Williams)

WR (X): Tay Martin OR C.J. Dimry

WR (Y): Kyle Sweet (Calvin)

WR (H): Renard Bell (Arconado)

WR (Z): Dezmon Patmon OR C.J. Dimry

LT: Andre Dillard (Ryan)

LG: Cody O’Connell (Bigge-Duren)

C: Fred Mauigoa (Osur-Myers)

RG: B.J. Salmonson (Valencia)

RT: Cole Madison (Watson)

DEFENSE

DE: Nnamdi Oguayo (Tago)

NT: Daniel Ekuale (McBroom)

DT: Hercules Mata’afa (Begg OR Fernandez)

RUSH: Frankie Luvu OR Dylan Hanser OR Chima Onyeukwu

WIL: Jahad Woods (Sherman)

MIKE: Isaac Dotson OR Justus Rogers

NICKEL: Hunter Dale OR Kirkland Parker

CB: Darrien Molton (Harper Jr.)

FS: Robert Taylor (Skyler Thomas)

SS: Jalen Thompson (Singleton)

CB: Marcus Strong (Pippins OR Hicks)

NOTES:

-- Dantonio is 99-45 (.688) in 11 seasons as Spartans coach. A victory in the Holiday Bowl would make him the eighth active FBS coach to own 100 wins at his current school. MSU is looking for double-digit wins for the eighth time in program history.

-- Michigan State sophomore Brian Lewerke is a dual threat quarterback, throwing for 2,580 yards and 17 touchdowns against seven interceptions, and ran for 486 yards and five touchdowns.

-- Washington State is 9-3 for the first time since 2003 and is looking for its first 10-win season since 2003. This game marks WSU’s fourth appearance in the Holiday Bowl.

-- WSU freshman WR Renard Bell, Jamire Calvin and Tay Martin have combined for 92 receptions and 10 touchdowns so far in 2017, making them one of the most productive freshman WR groups in the Pac-12.

-- The Holiday Bowl marks the first meeting between Washington State and Michigan State since 1976 when the Cougars won, 23-21, in East Lansing, MI. WSU is 1-2 against Big Ten teams in bowl games.

PAC-12 BOWL SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State 38, Oregon 28

Cactus Bowl: Kansas State 35, UCLA 17

Heart of Dallas Bowl: Utah 30, West Virginia 14

Foster Farms Bowl (Dec. 27): Arizona vs, Purdue, 5:30 p.m. PT (Fox)

Alamo Bowl (Dec. 28): Stanford vs. TCU, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28): Washington State vs. Michigan State, 6 p.m. (FS1)

Sun Bowl (Dec. 29): Arizona State vs. NC State, 11 a.m. (CBS)

Cotton Bowl (Dec. 29): USC vs. Ohio State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 30): Washington vs. Penn State, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

(All Times Pacific)

(USA Today and Yahoo contributed to this story)