PULLMAN - Mike Leach and other practitioners of the Air Raid offense often talk about the simplicity of its schemes, the spirit of improvisation at its core that essentially renders a playbook unnecessary.

Yet when Leach was transplanting those schemes to Washington State in 2012, it was almost painful watching quarterbacks Jeff Tuel and Connor Halliday searching for their key, trying to foster the instinctive rapport with their receivers and running backs that lies at the heart of Air Raid concepts.

During one four-game stretch of Pac-12 play that season, the Cougars averaged fewer than 12 points a contest.

Now that Tuel and Halliday have both moved along and are trying to find niches in the NFL, can WSU fans expect their two successors to struggle in a similar way?

Only if Tuel and Halliday struggled in vain. That's the viewpoint at least of Graham Harrell, who took the reins of the Air Raid at a similar juncture of Leach's tenure at Texas Tech and passed for 4,555 yards in his first season as starter.

Harrell is the Cougars' first-year outside-receivers coach, but he also spends a good deal of time with young quarterbacks Luke Falk and Peyton Bender. Falk seems the likely starter for WSU's season opener Sept. 5 at home against Portland State.

"The system is in place," Harrell said of Leach's signature offense, heading into its fourth season in Pullman. "And the longer it's in place, the easier it is for the quarterbacks and the entire offense, because it's the only system they know. It's what they've bought into, something they believe in.

"We're finally getting to that point, and for a quarterback that makes it nice. He's very comfortable in it. Checks come naturally to him. When guys have known other things, their first couple of years in the offense they're kind of hesitant checking stuff. And coach puts a lot of responsibility on the quarterback, checking at the line, getting the offense into good plays."

Exhibit A for this brand of Cougar optimism is Falk's masterly performance last November in his starting debut, a week after Halliday's season-ending leg injury. The two subsequent games were spotty, but in that 39-32 win at Oregon State, Falk looked as if he'd been directing the Air Raid all his life as he passed for 471 yards and five touchdowns.

A 6-foot-4, 205 pound sophomore, Falk doesn't necessarily duplicate the wide assortment of throws displayed by Halliday, who finished fourth on the Pac-12 list for career passing yards. But he's more mobile, more prudent, and unsurpassed when it comes to film study.

"He studies the game, and probably his best quality is that he always gets the offense into a good situation," Harrell said. "He's very good about understanding, 'Hey, this isn't the best call' and getting us into a better call, knowing where we can attack them. And that's what this offense is all about, attacking them where they're not, attacking their leverage or whatever."

Bender, a year behind Falk, lacks that degree of polish and is probably looking at a backup role (Leach rarely feels a need to name a starter until game time), but the second-year freshman displays an arm strength that belies his 6-foot, 187-pound frame.

"They both have a chance to be very special," Harrell said, "because the offense is in a good state and they do a good job running it."

Gangly true freshman Tyler Hilinski (6-3, 187), who enrolled in January, has been running the scout team and will likely redshirt if the other two quarterbacks remain healthy.

RUNNING BACKS - The same theme of continuity applies to this position, and not only because tailbacks, too, have developed a type of genetic memory at this stage of Leach's leadership.

In two cases, the memory is personal: Jamal Morrow and Gerard Wicks, though only sophomores, tag-teamed throughout the 2014 season while collecting 351 and 234 rushing yards, respectively, along with 460 and 76 reception yards.

Wicks (6-0, 224) may usurp the starting role by virtue of his burgeoning physical strength, but both he and Morrow (5-9, 190) raised their game in the offseason and now lead an impressively versatile four-man RB group.

"I've had great backs in my career but four guys like this is pretty unique," running-backs coach Jim Mastro said. "You've got four guys who are really good, really dynamic, and they're all young, so we've got them for three and four more years."

Joining the active roster is elusive Keith Harrington (5-8, 180), a second-year freshman being converted from receiver to tailback. And possibly doing the same is James Williams (5-11, 185), a strikingly fluid true freshman whom Mastro calls a "freakish athlete."

The ground game in the Air Raid, of course, will always be overshadowed by flying footballs, but the Cougars head into the season intending to run the ball more, and almost certainly will find a way to get the backs more collective touches, via handoff, pitch or pass.

"We've now got guys that fit the mold of a running back in this offense," Mastro said. "It's hard to be a running back in this offense. You're asked to do a lot of things - you're kind of a hybrid. And we've finally got four guys like that."

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Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.