SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Defensive woes continued for Colorado State football Saturday against UTSA at the Alamodome.
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For the second week in a row, the Rams allowed more than 540 yards and 40 points to an opponent and lost to the Roadrunners, 59-45, despite a valiant effort from backup quarterback K’saan Farrar and the CSU offense.
With the loss, Colorado State dropped to 2-2. After opening the season with wins against Wyoming and Southern Utah, the Rams have lost back-to-back games against BYU and UTSA.
At one point in the first half, the Roadrunners scored 35 straight points after the Rams scored the game’s first 14. UTSA had 349 yards of offense by halftime.
It was the first time CSU gave up 59 points since a 59-52 overtime loss to Boise State in 2017, and it was the most the Rams have allowed in regulation since they gave up 61 in a loss to Idaho in the 2016 Idaho Potato Bowl.
“We gave them 100 points in the last two games,” CSU head coach Jim Mora said. “So, we’ve got to get that fixed, and we’re going to work as hard as we can to get it fixed. Coaches and players together, we’re not stopping the run well. They rushed for 239 yards, completely unacceptable. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re last in the NCAA in run defense.”
Penalties cost CSU as well. After the Rams averaged only three in their first three games, they were penalized 11 times against the Roadrunners for 61 yards.
While the poor defense and mistakes were costly, Farrar kept the Rams in the game, especially in the second half as he managed to engineer an offense that fought back from a 35-14 second-quarter deficit to a seven-point margin four times.
Farrar started in place of Hauss Hejny, who suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s loss to BYU. Farrar passed for 344 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
“We took the wheels off and let him go, and I thought he did a really nice job,” Mora said of Farrar. “He threw for 344 yards, two touchdowns. He ran the ball well. He operated the offense well. He never seemed to be anything other than composed.”
CSU running back Mel Brown returned the game’s opening kickoff for a 94-yard touchdown to start the scoring and give the Rams a quick 7-0 lead just 12 seconds in.
After forcing a missed field goal attempt by UTSA, Farrar completed a 74-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Smith Jr. to put the Rams ahead 14-0 with 13:16 still left to play in the opening quarter.
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However, the Rams’ offense stalled after that, and their defense couldn’t stop the Roadrunners as they scored 35 straight points to go ahead 35-14 with 6:48 still remaining in the first half.
CSU was able to cut into the UTSA lead just before halftime when Farrar completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nader Chirchi with 1:55 on the clock.
The Roadrunners took that 35-21 lead into the break after piling up 197 passing yards and 152 rushing yards.
The Rams pulled within seven points of UTSA four times in the second half — the final occurrence when Kali Nguma kicked a 51-yard field goal to make it 52-45 with 2:09 left. CSU tried an onside kick and the Roadrunners recovered, leading to one more touchdown all but ending the Farrar-led comeback attempt.
“I take away just like focusing on the minute details and just improving as an offense, scoring as many points as we can,” Farrar said. “I didn’t let it get to me. I just had to just operate the offense and just be efficient.”
Earlier in the second half, Durell Robinson scored on a 1-yard run to cut the UTSA lead to 35-28, and then again on a 3-yard run to cut the Rams’ deficit to 42-35. RJ Vick scored on an 18-yard reverse to make it a seven-point game for the third time, at 49-42, before Nguma’s kick did it the fourth and final time.
For CSU, Brown rushed for 90 yards to go along with 132 on kickoff returns. Smith Jr. caught six passes for 102 yards, while Vick caught five for 93 to go along with his 18-yard touchdown run.
UTSA’s Owen McCown passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns. But it was the holes in the ground game that had the attention of the players.
“We’ve just got to stop the run,” linebacker Oumar Diomande, who led the Rams with 15 tackles, said. “We are working on that, but we just got to find a way to get everyone locked in, focus up, and just stop the run. That’s really it for us. Once we stop the run, we have one less thing to worry about.”
CSU will be back home next Saturday when the Rams open Pac-12 play against Oregon State. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT at Canvas Stadium.
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