SAN ANTONIO — Utah State racked up 522 yards of offense and the Western Athletic Conference-leading Aggies sent UTSA to its third consecutive loss in a 48-17 victory on Saturday at the Alamodome.
Chuckie Keeton completed 27-of-36 passes for a season-high 340 yards and three touchdowns to lead Utah State (7-2, 3-0 WAC) to its program-record eighth consecutive league victory.
Meanwhile, Ryan Polite finished 21-of-36 for 248 yards and a score for the Roadrunners (5-3, 1-2 WAC).
The Aggies got on the board in the opening quarter when Keeton found Kellen Bartlett in the right flat for a 2-yard touchdown. The score was set up by Devonta Glover-Wright's block of a Kristian Stern punt that went out of bounds at the 5-yard line following UTSA’s initial possession.
Triston Wade, who finished with a game-high 11 tackles, put a stop to Utah State’s next drive with his third interception of the season when Erik Brown deflected a Keeton pass in the end zone.
The Roadrunners promptly marched 68 yards on 10 plays to set up Stern's 29-yard field goal with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter.
However, Utah State broke the game open with a 20-point outburst in the second stanza.
Kerwynn Williams plunged into the end zone from one yard out on fourth down and Keeton found Cameron Webb over the middle for 29 yards to account for two TDs, while Nick Diaz drilled field goals from 22 and 24 yards, as the Aggies took a 27-3 advantage into the locker room.
Williams opened the second half with a 68-yard rush to set up a 1-yard TD run of his own to extend the lead to 31 and Joe Hill capped a four-play, 44-yard scoring march that began after Kyler Fackrell's interception with a 1-yard scoring dive to make it 41-3.
UTSA put together its first touchdown drive of the game on its next possession.
Polite found Aaron Grubb on a crossing pattern for 44 yards and that set up a 7-yard TD run up the middle by Evans Okotcha, which was his seventh rushing score of the year and his ninth overall.
Keeton connected with Hill on a 16-yard TD to cap a 10-play, 65-yard drive later in the stanza, which made it 48-10.
The Birds capitalized on Kelvin Lee’s fumble in the fourth quarter for their final score. After Nic Johnston forced his third fumble of the season, Polite found Cole Hicks in the end zone from 23 yards out for his team-leading third touchdown of the fall.
Earon Holmes (four receptions) and Cole Hubble (three) led all receivers with 54 yards apiece, while Grubb finished with 48 on a pair of catches.
UTSA will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 3, when it travels to Louisiana Tech (7-1, 2-0 WAC) for a 3 p.m. contest that will be televised on ESPN Regional Television (KCWX-2 in San Antonio/check local listings).