Navy falls 38-34 at UTSA after second-half collapse

Navy had UTSA's number early. Then the second quarter happened.

The Midshipmen dropped a 38-34 decision to the Roadrunners Saturday inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, falling to 2-4 on the season while UTSA improved to 6-1. Navy scored first, led by double digits at one point, and still found a way to lose it.

Jackson Gutierrez was the whole show for Navy. He ran it in twice in the first half, once from two yards out and again from five, giving the Midshipmen a 14-0 cushion. Then UTSA woke up. Owen McCown picked apart the Navy secondary for three touchdowns in the second quarter alone, and a one-yard Ahmarean Peterson run put the Roadrunners ahead 21-13 at halftime. Bartley missed the extra point after a Gutierrez-to-Collins strike late in the second, which only added to the damage.

Navy answered in the fourth. Gutierrez found Jordan Collins on a 92-yard strike at the 12:47 mark to pull the Midshipmen within four. Collins finished with two catches for 117 yards and both of his touchdowns came when Navy needed them most. Braxton Woodson punched in a seven-yard run to make it 31-34 with 4:50 left, and for a moment it looked like the Midshipmen might actually pull this off.

They did not. McCown answered two minutes later with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Peterson, his third scoring throw of the afternoon, and that was the ballgame. McCown finished 28 of 38 for 359 yards. Hard to beat a quarterback that efficient.

Gutierrez ended up doing everything for Navy: 21 carries for 139 yards and two rushing scores, plus 3-of-7 passing for 120 yards and two more touchdowns. On a day his offense moved the ball well enough to win, the Midshipmen still came up four points short. Will Henderson III's 31-yard run for UTSA in the fourth was the play that really buried Navy, going ahead 38-27 before the late Woodson score made the final margin look closer than the game felt.

Navy goes to 2-4 with that loss, and that missed extra point in the second quarter still stings.