Rams Drop Shootout at UTSA

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Oct 3

4:00 PM

Football

vs Oregon State

Oct 15

6:00 PM

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at Texas State

Oct 24

4:30 PM

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vs San Diego State

Oct 31

1:30 PM

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at Utah State

Nov 7

4:00 PM

Football

vs Boise State

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Colorado St.	14	7	14	10	45
UTSA	21	14	7	17	59

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Colorado St.

UTSA

SAN ANTONIO – The start was perfect. Explosive.

What followed next was chaotic for a Colorado State defense which could not generate stops for a long stretch of the first half. Offensively the Rams kept charging back but never were in a position to catch up in dropping a 59-45 game, the fourth highest-scoring contest in program history.

A touchdown by Mel Brown on the opening kickoff of the game, good for 94 yards. On the first offensive snap for the Rams, quarterback K'saan Farrar hit Terrance Smith Jr. in stride for a 74-yard touchdown pass. Less than 2 minutes into the game, Colorado State was up 14-0 in the Alamodome.

Not as quick – but just as much of a gut-punch – everything changed.

UTSA erased all those good initial vibes with a methodical offense performance, scoring touchdowns on five successive drives, running at will and finding open areas in the secondary. It was a blend of explosive plays and punishing runs, distribution which led to five different Roadrunners scoring touchdowns.

It was exactly what Colorado State wanted to improve upon from the week prior.

"We gave them 100 points in the last two games. That's seven were on a kickoff return, but that might be some kind of world record," CSU 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.

"So, that's got to get fixed, and you've got to be able to do it with base defense. If you can't do it with base defense, and you're kind of blitzing, you're just going to get gashed eventually, which happened at the end of the game, and we still had a chance."

UTSA, which finished with 542 yards of offense, hit nine explosive plays in the game, three of them resulting in scores.

Quarterback Owen McCown threw for 303 yards and a trio of touchdowns to three different receivers, and three UTSA backs had rushing scores, two from A'Marion Peterson, his 47-yard scoring run with 2 minutes remaining the final nail.

Linebacker Oumar Diomande, who had 15 tackles, gave credit to the talent UTSA has, but said his unit is good enough to stop it and make necessary adjustments. It just didn't happen Saturday.

"Well, I see it very simple. If we're winning games, we just got to stop and run," he 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."

Farrar, making his first start in a Colorado State uniform, threw for 344 yards and a pair of touchdowns, his only interception coming in the closing moments. He hit on 29-of-46 passes, connecting on key plays with both his arms and legs as his receivers made a handful of tough catches to help keep drives alive, a few of them on fourth down as the Rams converted on five-of-six attempts.

Durell Robinson had two touchdown runs in third quarter as the Rams continued to fight back, but UTSA would find a rhythm which kept them in front by two scores most of the day. The Roadrunners hit a 100-yard kickoff return of their own, helping to establish spacing.

Despite the scoreboard situation, Farrar stayed composed.

"I take away just like focusing on the minute details and just improving as an offense, scoring as many points as we can," he said. "I didn't feel like … I didn't let it get to me. I just had to just operate the offense and just be efficient."

Being on the road with a backup quarterback isn't always an ideal situation, but Farrar's play made it a non-factor. He ran the offense, regardless of the scoreboard. He never acted like he felt rushed or the game sped up.

That impressed Mora.

"We took the wheels off and let him go, and I thought he did a really nice job. He threw for 344 yards, two touchdowns. He ran the ball well," Mora said. "He operated the offense well. He never seemed to be anything other than composed, you know? And K'saan's a different personality than Hauss (Hejny).

"You know, Hauss is a little bit more aggressive as a personality, a little bit more gung-ho. K'saan's a little more laid-back, and yet when he was on the field, he was in command. Going forward and then seeing what D.C. (Darius Curry) did last week, it gives you confidence. It gives you confidence in all three of those quarterbacks. But we have to play better defense. That's the bottom line."

The Rams had new issues arise. They entered the game one of the least penalized teams in the nation but registered 11 infractions. Mora was additionally displeased with two substitution mistakes, one which forced the Rams to call a timeout.

What he does have is what he expects, and that's a team which will continue to fight.

"I've never coached a team that's going to give up. That's just like an almost unbelievable thought to me that anyone could ever give up in this sport," he said. "And so, picking the right people and investing in them and emphasizing the right things, that's what you do as a coach. They shouldn't give up, you know?

"We're not going to give up. It's not going to be allowed. Most important thing is they're not going to allow it. Players are not going to allow it. Like I said, they're character kids."

The Rams exit non-conference play at 2-2, having dropped two consecutive games. They will host Oregon State for homecoming on Oct. 3

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Mel Brown

Darius Curry

Oumar Diomande

K'saan Farrar

Durell Robinson

K'saan Farrar

Players Mentioned

Mel Brown

Darius Curry

Oumar Diomande

K'saan Farrar

Durell Robinson

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