Petersen, a walk-on kicker who first turned out for football at Utah in 2006, banged home a 38-yard field goal in the first overtime period to give the Utes a 30-27 Pacific-12 Conference victory at snow-covered Martin Stadium.
Petersen’s third field goal of the game ended a highly entertaining contest that WSU tied on Andrew Furney’s 17-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter.
Coach Paul Wulff said he considered going for the touchdown after Marquess Wilson caught a pass just in front of the goal line on a dramatic last-minute drive.
Most of the afternoon game was played in snow that ranged from light flurries to heavy enough to stick to the turf in the second half. Footing was tricky after snowfall picked up at halftime, but Petersen said he had no problems.
The junior from Sandy, Utah, also said he had no problem with nerves when it came time to win the game. Petersen has converted on 17 of 21 field goal tries.
“When I go out and kick, I actually don’t think about anything,” said Petersen, whose college days were interrupted by a two-year Mormon mission. “I’ve kicked so many balls, so it’s just kind of a routine now.”
A season-low crowd of 16,419 turned out on Senior Day for the final home game of the year. Many students were out of town, since classes are out through Thanksgiving week, and slick highways may have discouraged others from attending.
The chilly, brave few who turned out witnessed another promising performance by quarterback Connor Halliday. The redshirt freshman from Spokane threw four interceptions, including a desperation throw on third-and-25 to end WSU’s only overtime possession, and made some other youthful mistakes, but he overcame several dropped balls to pass for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
Halliday shook off a number of vicious hits, and he engineered dazzling late scoring drives that tied the score at the end of both halves. Halliday was making his first start after passing for 494 yards and four touchdowns last week in a win over Arizona State in his first extensive action.
“Their freshman quarterback is a heck of a player,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
“He played great,” WSU senior wide receiver Jared Karstetter said. “For a young kid that got hit as much as he did, and to stay poised; he was getting killed out there.
“He hung in there. He kept scrambling. He kept extending plays. He wasn’t just throwing the ball away, he was trying to make plays.”
Halliday completed 21 of 48 passes. The Cougars topped Utah 399-358 in total yards although WSU ran for just 62 yards and gave up 86 rushing yards to Utah star John White.
White, a junior college transfer who was recruited by WSU, had a season-high 42 carries. The Cougars kept White (the nation’s No. 9 rusher coming in) under control much of the way, but he scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in 37 seconds around the 47-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass that WSU’s Kristoff Williams threw to fellow wide receiver Bobby Ratliff.
Wilson, who barely practiced all week because of a hip injury, caught eight passes and broke Nakoa McElrath’s school record of 72 catches in one season. Karstetter had six catches for 111 yards and his 18th career TD (tied for third in WSU history).
The bowl-bound Utes (7-4 overall, 4-4 Pac-12) won their fourth straight game.
The Cougars (4-7, 2-6) end their season next Saturday against Washington (6-5, 4-4) at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field while Husky Stadium is under reconstruction.
