down and Air Force punted

Colorado Springs, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Will Conant booted a 39-yard field goal as time expired and Air Force played spoiler with a 27-24 win over 21st- ranked Colorado State on Friday. Colorado State faced a 3rd-and-2 from the Air Force 42 with under a momente remaining when Jasen Oden Jr. was stopped for no gain. The Rams gambled on fourth down, but Dee Hart was also stood up and the Falcons took over with 38 seconds to play. On 3rd-and-4 of the ensuing possession, Nate Romine fired to Garrett Brown for 26 yards, setting up Conants game-winner. Romine, who made his first start of the season, was only asked to throw 15 times for the run-heavy Falcons (9-3, 5-3 MW). He completed just six passes for 135 yards while racking up a team-high 61 yards and a touchdown on the ground. D.J. Johnson and Shayne Davern also scored on the ground for Air Force, which finished the regular season with a 6-0 record at Falcon Stadium. The loss overshadowed another big game for CSU receiver Rashard Higgins, who led the nation in yards heading into this week. Higgins made a career-high 12 receptions for 193 yards and a pair of scores. Garrett Grayson threw for 366 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the Rams (10-2, 6-2), who had won nine straight. Their loss opens the door for the winner of Saturdays matchup between Boise State and Utah State to advance to the Mountain West title game. They beat us on both sides of the ball up front. There were some busted routes but theyre the ones that beat us, Colorado State coach Jim McElwain said. Grayson found Higgins for 22 yards on the second play of the game, then went to him on 3rd-and-9 and extended Colorado States drive with an 11-yard pickup. On the very next play, Higgins caught a 31-yard pass down the left sideline. Grayson and Higgins put the stamp on a dominant first drive with a 7-yard touchdown connection. The dynamic sophomore made four catches for 71 yards on the 9-play scoring drive. Jalen Robinettes 47-yard catch on the first Air Force series led to Johnsons 5-yard TD run to tie the game at 7. Jared Roberts kicked a 30-yard field goal to cap CSUs next series, but Air Force scored 10 straight points before halftime. A 12-play series that spanned the first and second quarters culminated with a 1-yard Davern TD run, and Conant was pure with a 33-yard field goal later in the half to send the Falcons into the break with a 17-10 lead. Romines QB keeper with 3:09 left in the third quarter put the Falcons up by two touchdowns. Late in the third, Grayson scrambled on third down and found Xavier Williams near the sticks in traffic and the redshirt freshman did the rest, turning on the jets and outrunning the entire Air Force secondary for a 76- yard touchdown. After Romine was sacked on third down and Air Force punted, CSU marched down the field in seven plays. On 3rd-and-goal from the 2, Grayson lofted a fade to Higgins in the back right corner of the end zone, and Higgins made a diving catch to tie the game. Grayson was picked off by Weston Steelhammer on CSUs next drive. (We) had some good forward runs and we came up with two big ones, not only the interception, but the big fourth down stop there inside a minute left, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. Game Notes Steelhammer has an interception in three straight games ... Air Force has won five of six overall ... The Falcons have won nine of 10 in the series ... Air Force ran for 242 yards as a team ... Hart had 115 yards but was kept out of the end zone. He had five rushing touchdowns and a receiving TD last week against New Mexico. HOYLAKE, England - Only one Canadian will play the weekend at Royal Liverpool and hell do so possibly wearing my jacket. David Hearn started well and survived a bumpy patch in the middle of his round to finish at 1-under for the first 36 holes. While hes more than excited to be teeing it up on Saturday at the Open, he wasnt fully prepared for the weather that is supposed to hit Liverpool. Depending on which forecast you listen to, it ranges from horrendous to Start-building-the-Ark. The R&A has taken the rare step of moving up tee times and having players go off both tees in threesomes. Its not a big deal for Hearn – hes just glad to be playing – but he didnt come prepared. All his rain gear has short sleeves, which may not be suitable for whats supposed to blow in. So hes borrowed my rain jacket, which certainly isnt worn out from good swings being taken in it. Hopefully, the jacket will propel Hearn to good things but its likely he can do that with or without it. His play so far this week is impressive, especially for a guy who had never teed it up on a links course. "It feels great for me," said Hearn. "This is my first Open Championship and Im super excited to be playing four days. Im obviously 11 shots back so Im not that close to contending, but I think with two solid rounds I can move up the board nicely and still give myself a really nice finish." This is the second consecutive major for Hearn in which hes played well. At last years PGA, he was on the leaderboard early in the week before sliding down on the weekend. But he believes thats not just a coincidence, that he has the tools for majors. "I have the patience to be able to play away from a lot of pins," said Hearn. "I also have the patience to shoot par and know it was a good day. A lot of players on Tour, I think they reallyy get used to making birdies.ddddddddddddIm the type of player who can grind out a good day. I like playing in majors; I like the challenge of playing a hard golf course. I think most of my good finishes this year have been on hard golf courses." While Hearn is playing on, Graham DeLaet is heading back to Canada after a difficult second day. He stumbled from the gate with a double and a bogey on the first two holes, and had a horrid eighth hole that shows everything that links golf can be. His drive was just off target, ending up in the fescue on the right side of the hole. He extricated his ball only to watch it sail into the fescue on the left. The next shot ended up in a plugged lie in a bunker, which forced him to play out sideways. He finally got it on the green and put it into the hole for a triple-bogey seven. "On the front nine I was just in bad shape off almost every single tee, it seemed," DeLaet said. "Even the couple of fairways I hit, I hit these spiny shots into the wind and I had so much club into the greens." On the second nine, the Weyburn, Saskatchewan product rallied and looked as if he might just make it back to the right number. A birdie on 10 and then a chip-in eagle on the 16th gave him hope but that was dashed later when he fell one shy of the cut line. "I just hit it so poorly on the front," he stated. "I dont know what it was on the back side, if I kind of almost stopped caring or stopped trying so hard or whatever it was, I was able to hit some nice shots." When he left the course, still unsure of whether hed make the cut, he declined to answer whether he would leave early for the RBC Canadian Open or hang around and jump on the charter flight. He was still hoping to get two more rounds on Royal Liverpool. Instead, his next game will be at Royal Montreal. ' ' '