WSU Goes Scoreless in Second Half, Falls to Utah State, 17-16

Washington State and Utah State both entered the game with 1-4 records. Utah State would come out victorious, leaving the Cougars alone at 1-5 at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings.

WSU kicked the ball off to the Aggies to open the game. The kick was short, and Utah State returner Noah White couldn't secure the ball, allowing the Cougars to recover it at the Utah State 25-yard line

The Cougar offense started with a handoff to Tank Hawkins that went backwards for a loss of two. After an incomplete pass and a third-down run with Maxwell Woods for no gain, WSU sent out kicker Jack Stevens to attempt a 40-yard field goal. Stevens was true from 40 yards to give WSU an early 3-0 lead.

Utah State got the ball back, and after a pass interference flag kept the drive moving, the Cougar defense got its first third-down stop of the game, forcing a 38-yard Utah State field goal miss. WSU was able to hold on to its 3-0 lead.

After struggling with time of possession all year, the WSU offense was able to put together a 15-play, 9:20 drive, a welcome change for the WSU defense. The drive saw some creative play calling from Kirby Moore, including a Caden Pinnick fake pitch to Kirby Voorhees to pick up a third-and-short. Holding calls ended up stalling the drive, and the Cougar offense settled for a 43-yard Stevens field goal to take a 6-0 lead with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

The Aggies' second drive was sparked by a 33-yard deep pass to Eli Wood to set the Aggies up in Cougar territory to begin the second quarter. Thankfully for the Cougars, the Aggies didn't go much further, as they had to settle for a 48-yard field goal to make it a 6-3 game.

WSU got the ball back, and after an eight-play, 43-yard drive, Stevens was sent out for a 50-yard field goal attempt. He made the kick to push the Cougar lead to 9-3, and Stevens was officially on fire!

After the teams traded punts, the Aggies decided to gamble on 4th and 3 from midfield. Quarterback Grady Broserhous tried to scramble for it but was stopped just short of the line to gain. WSU picked up a big fourth-down stop and started with the ball at their own 47-yard line. The Cougar offense couldn't do much with the golden opportunity, as a holding call led to a third-and-long, eventually resulting in a third-down sack. Luckily for the Cougs, Utah State was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to keep the WSU drive alive and give WSU a fresh set of downs.

On the very next play, the WSU offensive line opened up a massive hole for Leo Pulalsi to score a 54-yard touchdown on the ground, giving WSU a 16-3 lead.

Both teams again traded punts heading into halftime, and Moore and the Cougs went into the break with a 16-3 lead and all the momentum. It felt like the offense, while stagnant at times, looked slightly more competent with Moore behind the wheel of the ship.

The WSU offense opened the third quarter with a quick three-and-out, a familiar theme for a WSU team that has been slow to start coming out of halftime.

Linus Zunk and the defense were able to force their own three-and-out, as Zunk picked up a sack on third down to return the ball right back to Pinnick and the offense.

After looking like they had regained some positive momentum, the offense ran a fake end-around, Pinnick kept the ball, and he fumbled it, giving the ball right back to the Aggies in prime field position at the WSU 39-yard line.

The turnover would instantly come back to bite them, as Utah State responded with a 27-yard touchdown catch. The Utah State receiver appeared to bobble the ball before securing it out of bounds, but the officials decided not to officially review the play, and the touchdown stood. WSU's lead was now cut to just six points at 16-10.

After Pinnick's legs kept the following drive alive on a 3rd and 7, Maxwell Woods appeared to have gashed the Aggie defense with a 37-yard run, but the play was called back for an illegal shift to erase the big gain. WSU again faced a third down, but Pinnick's legs couldn't pick up a first down, as he was taken down for a sack and WSU was forced to punt the ball back to the Aggies.

A tackle for loss and a sack forced a Utah State three-and-out, again giving the ball back to the WSU offense with a chance to take back a two-possession lead.

On the first play of the drive, a Darious Clemmens first-down catch, combined with a late hit out of bounds, got WSU all the way to the 50-yard line. The offense was unable to capitalize after the play and again punted the ball back to Utah State.

The Cougar defense gave up an explosive 41-yard completion to Demick Starling to open the first Aggie drive of the 4th quarter, but the Aggie offense stalled out after Aggie head coach Bronco Mendenhall was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct, knocking the Aggies out of field goal range and again giving the ball back to the WSU offense.

After another long run was called back for a hold, WSU was forced into a third down. Jack Pedersen caught the ball well short of the first-down marker but fumbled it. It was the second fumble of the half, and Utah State had the ball back at the WSU 19-yard line.

Three plays later, Utah State was in the end zone, and WSU was trailing for the first time, 17-16, with 6:22 left in the game.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the following drive by the Cougar offense was again another three-and-out, giving the ball right back to Utah State. The defense was able to force a third-and-2 at the Utah State 46-yard line. Utah State came up about six inches short but decided to kick the ball away to a sputtering Cougar offense.

The Cougar offense would have one more chance to put up its first points of the second half.

The first play of the drive started with Pinnick running into a sack, followed by an incomplete pass. On third down, Pinnick rolled to his right and found an open Pedersen for a first down. However, two flags were sitting back at the line of scrimmage, and another offensive holding call wiped away a positive play for the Cougars.

WSU came out of the two-minute timeout facing a 3rd and 24, and it couldn't convert, punting the ball in the hands of Utah State with 1:43 remaining.

Utah State was able to ice the game away with a 12-yard run up the middle on 2nd and 9 to send the Cougars to 1-5.

It continues WSU's worst start since they started 1-9 in the 2010 season. They finished that season 2-10.

Moore and the team will have some major soul-searching to do before heading to Corvallis for a 3 p.m. kickoff against a seemingly rejuvinated Beavers team on Saturday, October 17th.