The second half began with Utah receiving the ball and looking to make amends for their lost opportunity at the end of the second quarter.
They seemed to strike a major blow when blown coverage by ASU's Alden Darby resulted in a 74-yard gain inside the Devils' five, but a holding penalty on tackle John Cullen negated the play and derailed the drive.
Or so it seemed.
A gutsy fake punt deep in their own territory gained 14 and kept the drive alive. A flea flicker caught ASU off guard yet again and Jamarr Jarrett roughed Jon Hays on the throw to put Utah inside the Sun Devils' five yard line. A pass interference call on Deveron Carr gave Utah first and goal at the two. Hays then found Dallin Hays for a leaping touchdown to give the Utes a 14-10 lead.
ASU looked to answer back. They marched to midfield where the drive faced a fourth and one and ASU went for it. Osweiler used his 6'8" frame to sneak it for the first down. Three fruitless plays later presented another fourth down play and again the Devils went for it. Osweiler dropped back, found nothing but scrambled for the first down. However, they soon faced a fourth and eight from the Utah 17, and Alex Garoutte connected on a 35-yard field goal to cut the Utah lead to 14-13.
The pressure was on the defense to make a play and they wasted no time. On the first play, running back John White IV was stripped by Shelly Lyons and ASU recovered.
Osweiler then found Mike Willie for a huge 32-yard gain down to the Utah 12. But he wasn't done. Three plays later, Osweiler avoided the sack and sidearmed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Willie. A Utah penalty on the extra point convinced Dennis Erickson to go for two, which was successful on a slant to Aaron Pflugrad.
Oh, but the defense wasn't done.
The Utes' first play was intercepted by safety Clint Floyd. A manly 25-yard run by Osweiler set up an easy four yard tocuhdown run by Cameron Marshall to extend the lead to 28-14.
Some tough Utah runs moved their drive into ASU territory as the quarter came to a close.