FORT COLLINS — Just as it seemed Colorado State was ready to finish off a big rally, San Jose State snatched it from the Rams in the end.
Jabari Carr caught a 38-yard touchdown pass with 54 seconds remaining and the San Jose State sent CSU to its first home defeat of the season, 38-31 today at Hughes Stadium.
Colorado State could have pushed its record to 4-1 with a win, but instead falls to 3-2 with the loss going into a bye week and then No. 4 Boise State looming on the other side.
For most of the second half it seemed the Rams would erase a 24-7 deficit and dance out with a win in front of 27,683 on homecoming. The Rams used 17 second-half points, a penchant for the big play, and 387 passing yards from quarterback Pete Thomas – his best game of the season – to try to get the job done. But it wasn’t to be.
“I’d much rather be 4-1, but that’s not going to happen, we can’t replay it,” CSU coach Steve Fairchild said. “So, there’s still a lot of football left. We can hang our heads and mope and go in the tank or we can respond, try to get better every week and see if we can achieve the goals we set out to achieve.”
San Jose State used a punishing rushing game and 313 yards passing from quarterback Matt Faulkner to get its second win of the season.
The Rams, who struggled to run the ball, found a passing game that had been largely missing this season. Wide receiver Lou Greenwood became the first CSU receiver to have more than 100 yards receiving in a game. He finished with six catches for 149 yards.
Down 24-14 at halftime, Colorado State used a big second half to get back into the game. A 28-yard Ben DeLine field goal started CSU’s comeback.
The Spartans stemmed the tide and answered CSU with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that gave them a 31-17 lead.
But things turned on two plays.
First was a late third-quarter injury to SJSU running back Brandon Rutley, who owned the Rams defense for most of the game. An ankle sprain ended his day with 131 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. The SJSU offense was never the same without him.
Then, the CSU defense came up with a Momo Thomas interception with less than two minutes left in the third and the deficit 31-17. The next play was a Pete Thomas to Thomas Coffman 47-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to a touchdown.
“I need to make more plays,” Thomas said. “I’m not just saying that because we lost and I’m the quarterback trying to take the blame. I really do need to make more plays. If the quarterback is the leader of this team we win this game.”
In the fourth quarter, the Rams put together an eight-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a Thomas 9-yard touchdown run. Thomas had four total touchdowns on the day, but also threw two interceptions.
But SJSU had the last laugh — a road victory.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
