FORT COLLINS >> Colorado State overcame a disastrous end to the first half and then held off San Jose State in the final minutes to open Mountain West Conference play with a 31-24 victory Saturday at Canvas Stadium.

Leading 14-7 and looking to extend their lead with under two minutes left before halftime, CSU running back Avery Morrow had the ball knocked out of his arms and the Spartans scooped it up and returned it 85 yards to tie the game at 14-14 with under a minute left.

It was a 14-point swing and appeared to give the Spartans some momentum. But the Rams were able to recover in the second half, stopping the Spartans on their first drive of the third quarter and then sealing the victory with a long touchdown pass and an interception in the game’s final minutes.

CSU improved to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Mountain West, while SJSU dropped to 4-2 and 2-1.

“It’s a good conference win,” CSU head coach Jay Norvell said. “It’s a good home win. I think this is pretty indicative of all our conference games of how they’re going to be. You’re going to have to fight, and you’re going to have to do the right things all the way through the end of the game to win.”

Coming out of the locker room following the momentum swing at the end of the first half, the Rams followed up their defensive stop to open the third quarter by trading unsuccessful possessions with the Spartans until they were able to sustain a long drive late in the third quarter.

Strong running by Jalen Dupree got the Rams into the red zone, and Morrow finished the drive by taking a direct snap and bullying his way into the end zone to give CSU a 21-14 lead with 1:48 remaining in the period.

Morrow finished the game with 100 yards on the ground, his third straight game with at least 100 yards.

The Rams took that lead into the final quarter, and CSU was able to add a 58-yard field goal by Jordan Noyes to extend their lead to 24-14 with 8:35 remaining in the game.

It was the longest field goal for CSU since Steve DeLine kicked a 58-yarder against Wyoming in 1986. The kick is tied for the fourth-longest in CSU history.

San Jose State scored to cut the Rams’ lead to 31-21 with just over five minutes left, but quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi connected with Armani Winfield for a 62-yard touchdown with 2:44 remaining that ultimately sealed the victory for CSU.

“I was expecting to get the ball, but once I saw the green grass in front of me, my legs just started running faster than they hadn’t run before,” Winfield said. “That’s really just what happened. It happened really fast, though.”

Winfield finished the game with six catches for 108 yards. It was the first 100-yard game of his CSU career.

San Jose State managed a late field goal, but then tried an onside kick that was unsuccessful, allowing the Rams to run out the clock.

“We were fighting out there today,” CSU defensive back Jack Howell said. “Everyone was just playing together, playing fundamental football.”

CSU opened the scoring with a touchdown on its first drive. Morrow ran it in from 2 yards out to give CSU a 7-0 with 9:56 remaining in the first quarter.

The Spartans had an immediate answer. After converting a fourth-and-2 at the CSU 32-yard line, Emmett Brown found Nick Nash at the goal line for a 27-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.

Early in the second quarter, Fowler-Nicolosi ran it in from 23 yards out to give CSU back the lead at 14-7 with 14:16 remaining before halftime. The Rams held that lead until late in the first half when the Spartans were able to tie the game on the fumble return.

That fumble return came one snap after Tory Horton had to be helped off the field with a knee injury. Horton did return to the game in the second half.

“I thought our guys started strong today,” Norvell said. “I was really proud of so many of our players, especially of how we played together on offense, defense and special teams. That was what we really been pushing for and a lot of the things that we’ve been working on really since the end of last season are starting to show up now.”

Fowler-Nicolosi completed 22 of 30 passes for 269 yards. At one point, he completed a school-record 16 consecutive passes.

CSU will continue Mountain West play next week as the Rams travel south for a rivalry game at thr Air Force Academy.