The Washington St. Cougars and Utah Utes came alive offensively in the final two minutes of the second quarter to break a scoreless game open. Though quarterback Connor Halliday tossed another interception in the second period to bring his first half total to three picks, he also tossed a touchdown pass to pull his Cougars into a 7-7 tie at halftime.
The majority of the second quarter played out the same way that the first quarter did: not much movement on offense followed by lots of punts. The two squads combined for five more punts in the second quarter after punting five times in the first quarter as well.
The Utes finally broke out of their offensive slump with under two minutes left on a fake play. Punter Sean Sellwood came out on the field on 4th-and-9. Sellwood faked the punt and instead tossed the ball to Luke Matthews, who proceeded to take the ball 49 yards down the field for a score.
Halilday responded by leading Washington State 77 yards down the field for the Cougars' first score. Halliday completed four passes of 14, 24 and 28 yards to quickly storm down the field, and he capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Marquess Wilson with 0:33 left in the game's opening half.
The two teams enter halftime tied 7-7. Utah will receive the kickoff to start the second half.