Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
1-2
San Jose State
2-1
Football recap: Rams fall to Spartans, 40-20
9/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 15, 2012
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By Craig Buchanan
Athletic Media Relations
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In their first true road game of the year, the Colorado State Rams lost to the San Jose State Spartans 40-20 on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium.
Coming off of a big victory over UC Davis, the Spartans continued their offensive momentum from the opening drive. San Jose State took the game's opening kickoff and went 83 yards in eight plays, finishing the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass from David Fales to Jabari Carr.
Fales finished the 1st quarter 8-8 for 119 yards and helped lead the Spartans to a quick 14-0 lead.
The Rams would fight back, however, in the 2nd quarter with a couple of impressive offensive drives of their own. CSU mixed it up and showed a no-huddle offense which was very effective.
With 13:50 left in the 2nd quarter, sophomore quarterback Garrett Grayson rushed up the left side for a 15-yard touchdown run to cap a four-play 74-yard drive that took just 58 seconds.
On the very next drive, the Rams again sped up the offense and finished an eight-play 80-yard drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Grayson to tight end Kivon Cartwright. The drive took less than two minutes off the clock and brought CSU to within one of San Jose State after a failed two-point conversion.
"The guys really fought and hung in there," Head Coach Jim McElwain said of his team responding to the early deficit.
The Spartans were able to make a field goal late in the 2nd quarter to give them a 17-13 lead heading into the half.
Unable to convert on their opening drive of the second half, CSU was able to pin San Jose State on its own two-yard line thanks to a 72-yard punt from Pete Kontodiakos, the second-longest of his career and tied for ninth-longest in CSU history. The Spartans responded by driving the ball 98 yards for a touchdown and added a field goal to increase their lead to 27-13.
Undeterred, the Rams took advantage of a San Jose State fumble several minutes later and struck back with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Grayson to Charles Lovett to narrow the gap to 27-20.
San Jose State's offense was just too potent, however, as the Spartans had two 40-plus yard touchdowns in the second half, and Fales finished the game with 370 yards passing and three touchdowns.
"I'm really impressed with (Fales)," McElwain said. "This guy puts it where it needs to go and you can tell he's in rhythm and knows exactly what they're asking him to do."
Grayson responded to the quarterback challenge throwing for 297 yards and two touchdowns as well as leading the Rams with 57 yards rushing and a touchdown.
"I thought Garrett did some good things, made some throws I know he'd like to have back, but he'll be able to learn from it," McElwain said. "I think we have the making of a pretty good quarterback."
Team Stats
CS 0, SJSU 7
SJSU - Carr, Jabari 25 yd pass from Fales, David (Lopez, Austin kick) 8 plays, 83 yards, TOP 3:57
CS 0, SJSU 14
SJSU - Ervin, Tyler 10 yd run (Lopez, Austin kick), 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:04
CS 7, SJSU 14
CS - GRAYSON, Garret 15 yd run (ROBERTS, Jared kick), 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 0:58
CS 13, SJSU 14
CS - CARTWRIGHT, Kiv 28 yd pass from GRAYSON, Garret (MCPEEK, M.J. rushfailed) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:47
CS 13, SJSU 17
SJSU - Lopez, Austin 26 yd field goal 15 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:57
CS 13, SJSU 24
SJSU - Carr, Jabari 19 yd pass from Fales, David (Lopez, Austin kick) 13 plays, 98 yards, TOP 6:19
CS 13, SJSU 27
SJSU - Lopez, Austin 30 yd field goal 12 plays, 53 yards, TOP 6:25
CS 20, SJSU 27
CS - LOVETT, Charles 38 yd pass from GRAYSON, Garret (ROBERTS, Jared kick) 2 plays, 43 yards, TOP 0:44
CS 20, SJSU 33
SJSU - Jones, Chandler 43 yd pass from Nunn, Kyle (Lopez, Austin kickfailed) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:48
CS 20, SJSU 40
SJSU - Jones, Chandler 51 yd pass from Fales, David (Lopez, Austin kick) 3 plays, 46 yards, TOP 1:06
