Navy cannot protect late lead as McCown drives UTSA to 38-34 win

Navy produced 477 yards and took the lead twice in the fourth quarter Saturday night. Neither advantage survived UTSA's next possession. Owen McCown's 41-yard touchdown pass to A'Marion Peterson with 2:24 remaining delivered the last of four lead changes in the quarter and a 38-34 Roadrunners win at the Alamodome.

McCown completed 28 of 38 throws for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns. UTSA improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the American Conference, securing bowl eligibility for a seventh consecutive season.

A defense that needed one last stop

Braxton Woodson's seven-yard touchdown run had put Navy ahead 34-31 with 4:50 left. The Roadrunners answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive, finishing when Peterson caught McCown's pass and ran down the right sideline for the decisive score.

Navy then hurt its own attempt to respond. Holding and false-start penalties disrupted the next possession. Owen Pewee stopped Jackson Gutierrez for a two-yard loss and pressured him into an incomplete fourth-down throw, allowing UTSA to take over with 1:50 remaining.

The American Conference's highlights show the teams' first meeting:

UTSA used nearly all of the time before turning the ball over on downs with eight seconds left. Navy's final pass was incomplete.

Explosive plays kept changing the lead

The Midshipmen had moved ahead earlier in the fourth quarter on Gutierrez's 92-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Collins. That play turned a 24-20 UTSA lead into a 27-24 Navy advantage. Collins finished with two catches, both touchdowns, for 117 yards.

McCown answered by leading an 80-yard touchdown drive. His 22-yard completion to AJ Wilson on fourth-and-three extended the possession. Will Henderson III then ran 31 yards for a touchdown on the next play, returning the lead to UTSA before Woodson's score changed it again.

Henderson finished with 78 yards on 16 carries. David Amador II led the Roadrunners with seven catches for 71 yards, and UTSA gained 469 total yards.

The late exchanges followed an earlier Roadrunners comeback. Gutierrez's two rushing touchdowns had given Navy a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. McCown responded with touchdown passes to Mekhi Anderson and Brandon Young Jr. UTSA recovered an onside kick, and Peterson's one-yard touchdown run completed the turnaround to 21-14.

Gutierrez found Collins for a 25-yard touchdown before halftime, but the extra point missed. Michael Petro's 36-yard field goal provided the only scoring of the third quarter.

Gutierrez ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and threw for two more scores. Navy gained 294 rushing yards but could not stop the final UTSA touchdown drive. The Roadrunners next travel to Tulane; Navy returns home against North Texas.