The Washington Huskies fell further behind the USC Trojans in the second quarter and trail 23-3 at halftime. The Huskies will need a big second-half charge led by quarterback Keith Price in order to work their way back into the game.
Washington opened the second quarter by moving the ball to the USC 28-yard line. The Trojan defense made a stand, however, and the Huskies settled for a 46-yard field goal by Eric Folk to close within 7-3.
The Trojans countered with a long, 13-play drive that allowed USC to charge 80 yards down the field for a score. Marc Tyler rushed in a one-yard score to establish a 14-3 lead.
USC's defense got in on the scoring action on Washington's next possession. After starting on their own nine-yard line, the Huskies faced pressure and the Trojans eventually sacked Price in the endzone for a safety. Price appeared to injure his right knee on the sack, but he did return on the team's very next drive to eliminate doubts about his status.
After USC received the ensuing kickoff, Tyler and Curtis McNeal paved the way for the offense. Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley connected on a nine-yard pass to Marqise Lee to push USC's lead to 20 points at 23-3.
Washington's offense needs to pick things up in the second half if they hope to mount a comeback. Price has only 72 passing yards on 10-of-14 passing while Chris Polk leads the Washington rushing attack with 32 yards. The Huskies have been stuffed on several rushing attempts for negative yardage and enter halftime with only 91 total yards of offense.
USC will receive the kickoff to start the second half.