At halftime, the San Diego State Aztecs are leading the University of North Carolina Tar Heels 14-7 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
UNC got the scoring underway when cornerback Brian Walker picked off SDSU senior quarterback Quinn Kaehler in the end zone midway through the second quarter. Walker ran it back all the way to give the Tar Heels a 7-0 lead.
The Aztecs would go on to answer in their next drive though. Kaehler found a wide open sophomore receiver Eric Judge for a 56-yard touchdown. It was Judge’s first touchdown of the season.
Kaehler is off to one of the best starts of his career completing 11 of 18 with 136 yards and a touchdown.
With a little less than eight minutes left in the second quarter, junior defensive lineman Jon Sanchez picked off a Williams pass to give the Aztecs the ball on the UNC 29 yard line.
Later on in that drive sophomore running back Donnel Pumphrey got into the action, scoring on a 12-yard rush to give the Aztecs their first lead of the game at 14-7.
Pumphrey was quiet up until his touchdown run but ends the half with 55 yards on nine carries. Junior backup running back Chase Price was very effective in the first half, taking eight carries for 54 yards.
The Tar Heels had a tough time creating offense. Williams was only able to throw for 51 yards, and was replaced by Mitch Trubisky, who threw an interception on one of his two passes.
Along with their troubles at quarterback, North Carolina was only able to average 3.8 yards per rush. The Aztecs defense was the key factor of the half, holding UNC to just 108 total yards.
One thing SDSU will need to improve in the second half will be cutting down its penalties. The Aztecs committed five penalties for 30 yards, compared to just one for 12 yards by the Tar Heels.
