PULLMAN – Washington State marched down the field on its first possession, only to have the drive stall when a Gardner Minshew pass was tipped and intercepted by Utah in the end zone.

From the Utah 17-yard line, Minshew held the ball under pressure and tried to hit Easop Winston over the middle. But the tipped ball fell into the arms of Utah’s Corrion Ballard.

A couple of plays later, it appeared the Cougars had flipped the field back in their favor when Skyler Thomas knocked a completed pass from the arms of Utah’s Britain Covey. But after a long review, officials gave the ball back to Utah and called a targeting penalty on Thomas, disqualifying him from the game.

Instead of first-and-10 from the Utah 34, Washington State found itself again on defense. Utah took advantage of the reversal and drove down for the game’s first touchdown when quarterback Tyler Huntley scored on a 24-yard run to make it 7-0 with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter.