SAN ANTONIO — Sometimes, it all just clicks.
That was not the case for the Colorado State football Saturday.
The Rams’ defense struggled against UTSA, leading to a 59-45 loss in the Alamodome. Once again, an opposing offense was able to run through, around and over the CSU defense. The Rams allowed 542 total yards — 349 of which were tallied in the first half alone.
This Saturday, the defense continued to be the Rams’ Achilles’ heel, as they gave up an astonishing 59 points in their final nonconference game of the season.
CSU got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 14-point lead nearly two minutes into the game. Mel Brown returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, and the Rams looked to be in control of the game from the jump.
Following a missed 44-yard field goal try by the Roadrunners, CSU struck gold again. K’saan Farrar found Terrence Smith Jr. for a 74-yard touchdown on the Rams’ first offensive play from scrimmage to pull ahead by two scores.
From that point on, CSU’s momentum went downhill. Its defense allowed 35 unanswered points before the offense finally able to punch in another score.
UTSA’s offense was consistently able to strike for explosive plays, with seven passing plays resulting in gains of at least 15 yards. The Roadrunners had six different players find the end zone, with A’Marion Peterson and Mekhi Anderson both finding pay dirt twice on the day.
Owen McCown was essentially perfect for the Roadrunners, throwing for 303 yards and three touchdowns without turning the ball over.
The rushing attack for UTSA also got in on the action, with five gains on the ground of 10+ yards.
While the defense was the weak link for CSU, the offense clicked. With starting quarterback Hauss Hejny sidelined with a hamstring injury, Farrar stepped in as the Rams’ signal caller.
Farrar’s start was the second in his career, but his play looked like that of a more experienced quarterback.
Farrar led the offense to score 45 points while throwing for 344 yards and two touchdowns. Farrar’s sole turnover came from a late fourth-quarter interception by safety Joel Rogers after the two-minute warning
Smith Jr. was the leading receiver for the Rams, snagging six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Close behind was RJ Vick, who caught five passes for 93 yards, while adding one rush for 18 yards and a touchdown.
Outside of these two receivers, no other player for CSU had a remarkable performance in the pass-catching department. Besides Vick and Smith Jr., no offensive player had more than 40 receiving yards.
In spite of his lack of experience, Farrar commanded the offense in a way that demonstrated that he was a more than capable backup. Hejny’s status for Week 5 remains unclear, but Farrar made it clear that he can steer the ship if needed.
Brown gave Farrar a lot of support from the running back position, rushing for 90 yards, while also adding six catches for 26 yards. After finding the end zone on his opening kickoff return, the explosive running back put the Rams in the position to score numerous times.
The Rams’ offense consistently powered through difficult drives Saturday, succeeding on five out of its six fourth-down conversion attempts. The offense scored two fourth-down touchdowns in the red zone, and the conversions on other drives allowed CSU to put points on the board later on.
Penalties set the Rams back on a handful of drives. Nine offensive penalties were called against the CSU offense, stalling numerous drives and preventing more points from being put on the board.
In a game that had very few bright spots on defense, Oumar Diomande was one.
The UConn transfer continued his impressive start to the season, racking up a team-leading 15 total tackles and 10 solo tackles. Diomande tallied five more takedowns than UTSA’s leader Darion White and surpassed his closest teammates by 10. With 33 so far on the season, Diomande is leading CSU’s defense in tackles.
After Saturday’s loss, the Rams drop to 2-2 on the year and prepare to face Oregon State, their first conference foe, Oct. 3 in Canvas Stadium for Homecoming & Family Weekend.
Reach Jack Randels at sports@collegian.com or on social media @jackrandelsmedia.
