SAN ANTONIO — Jarveon Williams rushed for a program-record 170 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries, but Colorado State's Jasen Oden ran for 143 of his own and Nick Stevens threw for three scores, as the Rams held off UTSA by a score of 33-31 on Saturday night in front of 24,705 fans at the Alamodome.
The back-and-forth affair saw the lead change hands three different times and Colorado State (2-2) rallied from 17-9 deficit with 21 unanswered points in the middle two quarters.
The Roadrunners (0-4) jumped in front two-and-a-half minutes into the contest when Jalen Rhodes capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown. That play was set up by Blake Bogenschutz's 42-yard quarterback draw and UTSA ran the ball five times for 67 yards during the game's opening possession.
Colorado State quickly answered when Stevens connected with Xavier Williams on a 34-yard scoring pass three minutes later and the Rams then took their first lead of the night when Roadrunners right guard William Cavanaugh was called for holding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety.
Daniel Portillo's 36-yard field goal with 13:21 remaining in the second quarter put UTSA back on top, 10-9, and Bogenschutz then hooked up with David Morgan II from six yards out following a Justin Chavez blocked punt to extend the advantage to eight.
The Rams drew to within one on Oden's 2-yard run to paydirt and the Roadrunners held onto a slim 17-16 edge going into halftime.
Colorado State came out of the locker room throwing and Stevens, who finished the night 15-of-28 for 255 yards, connected with Deionte Gaines and Rashard Higgins for scoring tosses of 13 and 38 yards, respectively, to retake the lead for good.
Williams' 13-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left in the third quarter brought UTSA to within six at 30-24, but Wyatt Bryan's 21-yard field goal at the 10:53 mark gave the Rams a two-possession advantage at 33-24.
Twenty-five seconds later, Williams ripped off a school-record 85-yard TD run, but the Roadrunners could get no closer and Colorado State was able to run out the final five-and-a-half minutes after UTSA punted on 4th-and-14 from the Rams' 38-yard line.
UTSA will open Conference USA play next Saturday, Oct. 3, at UTEP (2-2). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT) at the Sun Bowl.