Former Mead standout, walk-on Lucas Bacon gets first Washington State catch, touchdown against Oregon

Even though fans weren’t allowed at Washington State’s 43-29 loss to Oregon on Saturday, when Lucas Bacon scored his first career touchdown in the first quarter, he had plenty of familiar faces in the stands – albeit cardboard ones.

“We probably have 20 cutouts,” said Kevin Bacon, Lucas’ father, who watched the game from Lucas’ house in Pullman. “We usually don’t miss a game. … It’s tough to be a parent and not be at a game and watching him.”

Lucas Bacon, a redshirt sophomore who walked on to the team as a freshman, scored on an 18-yard throw-and-catch down the sideline that held up under official review. It was also the Mead High School graduate’s first catch with the Cougars.

Senior offensive lineman Liam Ryan said that it is rewarding to see a walk-on who prepares as thoroughly as Bacon does finally get a chance to shine.

“When he puts in so much work, you kind of expect things to happen that way,” Ryan said, “and congratulations to him.”

After graduating from high school, Bacon had preferred walk-on offers from Washington State – where his uncle, Jeff Christensen, also played wide receiver – as well as the University of Washington.

“He was sitting here trying to figure out which direction,” Kevin Bacon said of his son, who figured, “I’m a receiver, why wouldn’t I want to go to WSU?”

Bacon got the start at “Z” receiver against the Ducks – technically his second, as he started the season opener against Oregon State but didn’t record a catch – after Calvin Jackson Jr. was ruled out with an apparent lower-body injury.

After Bacon’s score, the senior receiver Jackson Jr. tweeted “FEEEEED BACOOOOONNNN”.

Bacon caught one more pass late in the game and finished with two receptions for 26 yards.

As for the cutouts, Kevin Bacon – who works at Spokane Teachers Credit Union – said “aunts and uncles and everybody” got No. 82 jerseys, Lucas’ number, and posed for photos. He said that included the family of Washington junior defensive back Zechariah Brown, a cousin of Bacon’s.

In a show of solidarity, Bacon said their family reciprocated for Brown, whose family has cutouts at Husky Stadium.