Washington State players and coaches complimented young quarterback Connor Halliday after Saturday’s game on his courageous performance, but no one realized the full extent of Halliday’s courage until Sunday.
Halliday, who played the entire game in his first college start and took several vicious hits, suffered a lacerated liver. He will miss Saturday’s season finale against Washington at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.
WSU coach Paul Wulff said he thinks Halliday’s injury took place when Utah linebacker Chaz Walker blasted Halliday and was flagged for roughing the passer midway through the second quarter.
Halliday was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital after the game. He remained in the intensive care unit Sunday night, Wulff said.
“He’ll be there another day or two,” Wulff said.
Halliday, a redshirt freshman from Spokane, passed for 290 yards (despite several dropped balls), two touchdowns and four interceptions against Utah. Halliday led the Cougars on a last-minute scoring drive to force overtime, but Utah won, 30-27.
Wulff said senior Marshall Lobbestael, who has started at quarterback most of the season, will go back under center Saturday. David Gilbertson, the son of former Washington coach Keith Gilbertson, is the backup quarterback.
Jeff Tuel, WSU’s projected starting quarterback, has missed most of the season with collar bone injuries. He will not play against Washington, Wulff said.
Starting wide receiver Isiah Barton also will miss Saturday’s Apple Cup game after being injured in the Utah game. Wulff said Barton, who ranks second on the Cougars with 638 receiving yards, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Wulff said he is hopeful starting offensive tackles Dan Spitz (who missed the Utah game) and David Gonzales can recover from ankle injuries in time to play.
LSU-ALABAMA II? TIGERS, TIDE 1-2 IN BCS
LSU-Alabama Round 2 is just a few victories away.
A weekend filled with upsets left the Southeastern Conference rivals in the top two spots in the BCS standings released Sunday.
And Arkansas is third, further increasing the possibility of an all-SEC BCS championship game Jan. 9 in New Orleans that would be a rematch of a regular-season game.
It’s the first time in the 14-year history of the BCS that the same conference had the top three teams.
Oklahoma State, which suffered the most surprising loss of the weekend, fell to fourth place. The Cowboys were unbeaten and second in the BCS standings, but were upset, 37-31 in double overtime, at Iowa State on Friday night.
Stanford is sixth with a game against Notre Dame remaining. The Cardinal could reach the Pac-12 title game if Oregon loses to Oregon State on Saturday.
ARKANSAS PLAYER DIES
Arkansas is in mourning after the death of backup tight end Garrett Uekman.
The university said Uekman was pronounced dead at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville on Sunday.
The cause of death wasn’t immediately known, but the university said Uekman was found unconscious and unresponsive in his dorm room on campus at approximately 11:15 a.m. Sunday. He was last seen playing video games by a roommate approximately an hour earlier.
The 19-year-old Uekman redshirted last season for the Razorbacks and played in nine games this season. He was majoring in applied exercise science.
EXTRA POINTS
Miami is not going to a bowl this season, self-imposing a ban that school officials say was “necessary” in response to an ongoing NCAA investigation into the university’s compliance practices. … Alabama safety Will Lowery is out for the season with a torn knee ligament. … Columbia fired football coach Norries Wilson the day after the Lions beat Brown to avoid a winless season. … The Notre Dame running back Jonas Gray has a “significant” injury to his right knee and Irish coach Brian Kelly is not expecting the senior to play again.
McClatchy news services contributed to this report
BCS STANDINGS
HarrisUSA TodayComputerBCS
RkPtsPctRkPtsPctRkPctAvg Pvs
1. LSU128751.0000114751.000011.0001.00001
2. Alabama227580.9593214130.95803.9300.94913
3. Arkansas326190.9110313490.91464.8700.89856
4. Oklahoma St.622670.7885611560.78372.9500.84082
5. Virginia Tech523020.8007412420.84207.7100.78428
6. Stanford423710.8247512220.82859.6600.77119
7. Boise St.820370.708589820.66588.6900.688110
8. Houston720600.7165710750.728812.5600.668411
9. Oklahoma1017190.5979118260.56006.8000.65265
10. Oregon920360.708299330.632511.6000.64694
11. Kansas St.1513620.4737156710.45495.8400.589613
12. South Carolina1315110.5256138060.546410.6200.564012
13. Georgia1215590.5423148030.544414.4700.518914
14. Michigan St.1116850.5861109280.629217.2900.501715
15. Michigan1611640.4049166180.419015.3700.398018
16. Wisconsin1415060.5238128080.547824.1100.393917
17. Clemson1711280.3923175870.398016.3000.36347
18. Baylor206160.2143203020.204713.5500.323022
19. Penn St.189430.3280194550.308518.2800.305521
20. TCU198720.3033184940.334919.2700.302719
21. Nebraska214420.1537221650.111921.1800.148516
22. Notre Dame232810.0977241560.105825.0800.0945NR
23. Georgia Tech223570.1242212030.137629.0000.0873NR
24. Auburn27940.032727330.022422.1700.075024
25. Texas3390.00313610.000720.2200.074623
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