FORT COLLINS – The Colorado State Rams made yet another case for breaking into the rankings. This time, they also proved they’re much more than a one-man show.

With Rashard Higgins, the nation’s leading receiver, watching from the sideline with a bum shoulder, Garrett Grayson threw touchdown passes to four other receivers in Colorado State’s 49-22 rout of Hawaii on Saturday night.

“He’s a great player. You can’t replace that,” Grayson said. “But I think (Saturday night) we proved just how loaded we are across the board.”

The Rams improved to 9-1 for the first time in 20 years.

With the national leader in touchdown catches, yards receiving and yards per game cheering them on, Charles Lovett, Elroy Masters Jr., Steven Walker and Xavier Williams hauled in scoring passes.

“There wasn’t any time where I said, ‘Dang, I wish I had Rashard’ or anything like that,” said Grayson, who threw for 278 yards on 13-of-24 passing.

Grayson’s four touchdown throws in three quarters of work gave him a school record 26 on the season, and the Rams (9-1, 5-1 Mountain West) will take an eight-game winning streak along with their 9-1 record into their bye week.

“It’s a good feeling,” Grayson said. “Obviously, my class has never been here. The freshmen coming in this year, it’s something hopefully they can get used to, because I think that’s how it’s going to be for many years to come.”

About the only blemishes for the Rams were Grayson’s fumble in the endzone for a safety and Jared Roberts’ errant 31-yard field goal. But it was going to take a lot more than that for the Rainbow Warriors (2-8, 1-4 MWC) to pull off the upset. They’ve now lost 17 consecutive games on the road.

Grayson came into the game with 22 touchdown throws and tied the school record he shared last year with Justin Holland (2005) when he hit Masters Jr. from 8 yards out. Masters, a redshirt freshman, made his first career start in place of Higgins, who injured a shoulder last week in the Rams’ win at San Jose State.

Grayson broke the school record with a 52-yarder to a wide-open Lovett later in the first quarter. He also hit Walker with a 30-yard touchdown throw as the Rams built a 28-8 halftime lead.

The Rainbow Warriors were held to a pair of field goals by Tyler Hadden in the first half and also got a safety, which was set up when Scott Harding’s 32-yard punt was downed at the 2.

Hawaii’s hopes of a second-half comeback were snuffed when receiver Harold Moleni coughed up the ball on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and free safety Kevin Pierre-Louis recovered at the Rainbow Warriors 22. Two plays later, Grayson threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Williams for a 35-8 lead.

“That’s a very good team over there,” Hawaii head coach Norm Chow said. “They took advantage of some of the weaknesses that we have.”

Chow said he thinks the Rams ought to be ranked, too.

“I vote every week for them in the coach’s poll,” Chow said.

“We played some good teams in the Pac-12,” Hawaii wide receiver Scott Harding said. “Colorado State is every bit as good as Oregon State and Washington.”

The Rainbow Warriors finally got into the endzone when Joey Iosefa, who returned to the lineup Saturday after serving a three-game suspension, scored from the 2 midway through the third quarter to make it 35-15.

The Rams responded with Dee Hart’s 7-yard touchdown run that was set up by Lovett’s 71-yard catch-and-run down the Rainbow Warriors’ deflated sideline.

Colorado State also got two touchdown runs from Treyous Jarrells, from 9 yards out in the first half and 1 yard in the second.

Hart ran 11 times for 115 yards, and Jarrells rushed 12 times for 69 yards.

Ikaika Woolsey was just 16-of-47 for 192 yards for Hawaii, which hasn’t beaten the Rams since 1992 and is winless in Fort Collins since 1988.

For much of the night, it appeared the Rams’ victory would loom even larger, because New Mexico was giving Boise State a tougher-than-expected challenge down south. But the Broncos rallied past the Lobos 60-49 to remain in the driver’s seat in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference.

“Yeah, we heard,” Grayson said. “We’re disappointed, but we’ve just got to take care of ourselves.”