Oct. 12, 2013
Final Statistics in pdf format
Colorado State Post Game Notes
Ron Caragher post-game interview
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Fort Collins, Colo.-----Quarterback David Fales completed 28-of-35 passes for 431 yards and three touchdowns leading San Jose State University to a 34-27 comeback win over Colorado State University in a Mountain West Conference game.
Fales' three touchdown passes came on plays of 83, 77 and 62 yards to running back Jarrod Lawson and wide receivers Chandler Jones and Tyler Winston, respectively as the Spartans (3-3, 2-1 Mountain West) came from behind for the second week in a row. San Jose State finished with a season-high 608 yards of total offense.
Like the 37-27 win over Hawaii on October 5, the Spartans again had a productive running game with Lawson in the middle of things. The walk-on freshman led all players with a season-high 98 yards on 18 carries and an 18-yard touchdown burst up the middle to tie the score at 24-24 with 4:55 left in the third quarter. As a team, San Jose State finished with 177 rushing yards.
The teams then traded field goals with Austin Lopez converting his second of the game, an 18-yarder with 12:30 remaining in the game. Colorado State's Jared Roberts' responded 1:31 later with a 47-yarder that crept over the cross bar to tie the game for the fourth time at 27-27.
The game winner came on one of several bubble screens Fales connected on during his most efficient effort of the season. Finding Winston in the left flat, the wiry freshman broke into the open field along the left sideline after a block from left tackle Wes Schweitzer. With a Colorado State defender aiming to get an angle on Winston deep in Rams' territory, Jones provided an effective screen that paved the way for the 6-foot-2 starter for just the second time this season to score the game's final points with 5:36 to go.
San Jose State's defense had its hand in the win, too. The Spartans came up with two interceptions in the second half including one by Bené Benwikere with 8:00 minutes left in the game. San Jose State had to hold Colorado State one more possession after that and did forcing the Rams to punt with less than four minutes to go. Three first downs later, the Spartans had their second road win in two weeks and evened their record for the season.
Colorado State (2-4, 0-1 Mountain West) had its share of big plays, too, particularly in the first half. Quarterback Garrett Grayson and tight end Kivon Cartwright teamed up for a pair of touchdown plays of 50 and 35 yards in a 1:28 span late in the second quarter to give the Rams a 24-17 halftime advantage. Grayson finished the day completing 19-of-34 passes with two interceptions for 310 yards and matched Fales with three touchdown passes.
Both teams missed out on possible touchdowns due to an interception. On San Jose State's second possession of the game, Fales and Jones misread each other on a 1st-and-goal from the 9-yard line that resulted in a Trent Matthews interception in the Colorado State end zone. Jimmy Pruitt responded with his first interception of the season when he plucked a tipped pass off the turf at the Spartan goal line three plays after Lawson's scoring run that tied the game at 24-24.
Following the game, the San Jose State traveling party stopped at the Medical Center of the Rockies in nearby Loveland, Colo., to pick up freshman running back Thomas Tucker, who was taken from the field in a motorized cart and transported by ambulance in the third quarter. Tucker was upended on a 6-yard pass reception and laid still on the turf with his helmet on. The game was delayed more than 15 minutes as medical personnel from both teams tended to Tucker.
He was released following diagnostic testing for a possible neck injury. All tests were negative.