Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday produced the first touchdown as well as the first controversial moment of the 2013-2014 college football bowl season on the same play.
Halliday engaged in what appeared to be a profane shouting match with at least one Colorado State coach after tossing a 25-yard touchdown pass to teammate River Cracraft to stake Washington State to a 7-0 lead on Saturday. The sideline spat came just minutes into the first quarter of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, the first of 35 games on the 2013-2014 college football bowl schedule.
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After throwing a strike to Cracraft, Halliday's momentum carried him toward the Colorado State sideline. Perhaps trigged by something the junior quarterback said, a coach on the Rams' sideline wearing a headset seemed to have a few NSFW words to share. As the verbal altercation continued, someone else on the sideline came along and pushed Halliday back toward the field. He also had a few words for the Cougars' signal caller.
(GIF via @BrianMFloyd)
For the remainder of the first half, Halliday let his play do the loudest talking. He threw four more scoring passes before the intermission to stake Cougars to a 35-23 lead after two quarters. His five-touchdown total from the first half established a new New Mexico Bowl record.
Halliday would add another touchdown pass in the second half but Colorado State would have the final word in Albuquerque. After Halliday's sixth touchdown pass of the game gave Washington State a 45-30 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Rams reeled off 18 straight points for a stunning come-from-behind win. Jared Roberts kicked a 43-yard field goal for Colorado State as time expired to seal the 48-45 win.
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