Portland State vs. Washington Second Half Live-Thread

After winning the coin toss, Portland State wisely chose to not kick the ball to John Ross, and the Huskies took over at their 25-yard line. It took Washington just five plays to find the end zone, with Jake Browning connecting with a short pass that Chico McClatcher took 43 yards to the house.

Things did not improve for the Vikings on Washington’s ensuing kickoff, as one of the up-returners failed to field the kick cleanly, and Lavon Coleman recovered the ball in the midst of the confusion. The Husky offense took over at Portland State’s 26-yard line, and Browning hit Darrell Daniels for an 11-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead just 2:48 into the contest.

On their first series of the game, the Portland State offense found some early success moving the ball on the Washington defense by tallying three first-down conversions, including an exciting third-and-10 Alex Kuresa scramble that the UW defense played about as horribly as they have any single play this season. However, Psalm Wooching redeemed himself by dropping Kuresa for a 13-yard sack on third-down.

Washington’s offense took over at their own 20 with 4:37 left on the clock; 10 plays later that included a 20-yard McClatcher run, an 11-yard third-down completion to Drew Sample, and a 12-yard third-down completion to Aaron Fuller, the first quarter ended with the Huskies 13 yards away from the Portland State end zone.

Eleven seconds later, Browning hit Chico McClatcher for his second touchdown reception of the day to give Washington a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Tristan Vizcaino’s next kickoff went for a touchback, and two plays later, Tevis Bartlett knocked aside a backward pass and recovered the ball four yards away from the Viking end zone. Two plays later, Myles Gaskin punched the ball in for his first touchdown of the day and second of the season.

Up 28-0 with 13:52 left to play in the half, the Vikings took over at their own 25-yard line after Vizcaino’s kickoff sailed through the end zone, and went a quick three-and-out thanks to the Washington defensive line’s dominant control of the line of scrimmage. Portland State punter Marcus Kinsella again kicked out of bounds to prevent Dante Pettis from returning the ball, and UW’s offense took over at their own 34. Despite some nice runs by Gaskin, a pair of failed attempts to pass the ball to Budda Baker caused the drive to stall, and Vizcaino’s punt went into the end zone to give the Vikings possession at their 20-yard line.

Kevin King’s interception on the next drive was undone by a (deserved) pass interference call against him, but Joe Mathis made up for it by producing a highlight-reel sack to force a Portland State third-and-15 that went nowhere. Kinsella’s punt again went out of bounds, giving the Dawgs the ball at their own 30-yard line. However, a great 24-yard pass to Daniels and a 12-yard run by Coleman were undone on a pass play when Daniels was beaten by the man he was blocking. Browning’s arm was hit as he began his throw, and the ball floated into the hands of a nearby defensive lineman to give Portland State the ball at their own 32.

The Washington defense responded in a big way when Ezekiel Turner was beaten by his wide receiver, but recovered with a big hit that popped the ball loose. Keishawn Bierria recovered the loose ball at the UW 13-yard line, and the Huskies milked the clock to end the half with a 28-0 lead.

Be sure to share your thoughts about Washington's performance so far today in the comments below.