Coach Traylor has the team running on all cylinders as the team opens season 5-0!
Move over Spurs, here comes UTSA Roadrunners Football. More than 21,000 fans cheered the Roadrunners to victory Saturday, October 2nd. Frank Harris passed for 278 yards and two touchdowns and Dadrian Taylor registered a pair of sacks, as UTSA held off UNLV 24-17 to equal the best start in program history on Saturday at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners built a 24-10 second-half lead but had to hold off the Rebels (0-5) in the final minute, using a sack from DeQuarius Henry and Clarence Hicks on fourth down to seal the win and match the 2012 team’s 5-0 start as the best in school history. UTSA’s eighth win in the last nine games also improved second-year head coach Jeff Traylor to 12-5.
This is the type of game that the Roadrunners would lose in years past. Either due to inexperience or a lack of talent. Until Jeff Traylor took over the reins UTSA did not have either, luck or talent. Traylor maybe the most beloved public figure in the Alamo City. His team is disciplined and opportunistic. No one expected the win against Illinois in the season opener and many in attendance would not have been surprised with a loss last Saturday. This version of the Roadrunners has leaders on offense and defense.
Harris completed 24 of 30 passes in logging his third 200-yard passing game of the year. Joshua Cephus was his favorite target, catching eight passes for 84 yards and a TD, while De’Corian Clark recorded his first 100-yard receiving game with 109 yards and a score on seven receptions. Sincere McCormick added 89 rushing yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.
Meanwhile, Taylor’s two sacks led a six-sack night for the UTSA defense, which posted nine total tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The Shiner native had seven total stops, five solo.
Rashad Wisdom led all Roadrunners with eight tackles, while Antonio Parks and Jamal Ligon turned in six tackles apiece to help the defense hold UNLV to 35 rushing yards, the fourth straight game holding an opponent to fewer than 100 yards on the ground.
Clark hauled in a 31-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone with 2:55 left in the third quarter to stake UTSA to a 14-point advantage. However, UNLV pulled within one score with 6:46 remaining in the game after Justin Rogers avoided pressure on fourth down and found Zyell Griffin open in the end zone for a 9-yard scoring connection.
The Roadrunners had a chance to go back up by two scores but a 45-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right, giving the ball back to the visitors with 1:34 on the clock. The Rebels marched to the UTSA 36-yard line, but three straight incompletions set up fourth down and nine. Cameron Friel scrambled right but was sacked by Henry and Hicks for a nine-yard loss to secure the win. UTSA came out on top in a nail-biter against the Memphis Tigers last week, sneaking past 31-28. UTSA was down 21 to nothing at the end of the first quarter, but the squad rallied to mount a comeback. It was the largest comeback in school history. When asked how it felt to be 5-0 in his hometown Rashard Wisdom said, “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come just from a few years I’ve been here at UTSA. Being a San Antonio native, and coming from Judson, it makes the feeling even sweeter. To be apart of this team, considered one of the leaders, and have a community that is so invested in their hometown teams is something you can’t take for granted. It’s a blessing to be in this position and I can’t wait to see where the future takes us!” – Rashad Wisdom, Junior UTSA.
2021 has been a season of firsts for the Roadrunners. In their opening game of the season UTSA beat the University of Illinois or their first win over a Big Ten opponent. In their second game the Roadrunners beat Lamar 54-0 for their first shout out ever. If they win next week at Western Kentucky, they will have earned their longest season opening win streak at six. Surpassing the 5-0 start in 2012. If they do go 6-0, they will likely make college football’s Top 25.
It has been an uphill climb for the Roadrunners. In 2011, UTSA started its inaugural season playing its first-ever game against Northeastern State on September 3, 2011, at the Alamodome. With attendance of 56,743, UTSA set a record for the highest-attended game for an NCAA Division I FBS start-up program. UTSA finished their first season with a record of 4–6 and set a record for the largest average home attendance for a new football program with 35,521. This topped the previous record from South Florida of 33,038 in 1997.
In 2012, UTSA followed up its initial campaign with an 8–4 second season as an FBS transitional member, including going 3–3 in the WAC. UTSA closed out its season with a 38–31 win over rival Texas State before an announced crowd of 39,032 at the Alamodome.
In 2013, UTSA played a full schedule of FBS opponents. In their second year of 2 transitional FBS seasons, UTSA was eligible for the C-USA championship. UTSA opened the 2013 season with a victory on the road against MWC member New Mexico, before losing at home to Big 12 member Oklahoma State before an announced crowd of 40,977. For the season, despite being picked last in the preseason media poll, UTSA finished at 7–5 overall, with a 6–2 record in conference, and averaged 29,214 in attendance.
In 2014, UTSA opened with a 27–7 win over Houston in the opening of new TDECU Stadium. UTSA, however, finished with a disappointing 4–8 overall record and 3–5 in conference play. For the season, UTSA averaged 27,576 fans per game, including a season high of 33,472 against Arizona.
In 2015, UTSA finished with a disappointing 3–9 overall record. After a difficult non-conference slate which saw UTSA start out 0–4, UTSA finished 3–5 in the conference, tied for 3rd out of 6 teams in the western division. Larry Coker resigned on January 5, 2016, after compiling a 26–32 record in his 5 years as the Roadrunners head coach.
In January 2016, Frank Wilson was hired as UTSA’s second ever head coach, replacing Larry Coker. In his first year as head coach of the UTSA Roadrunners, Wilson helped lead the Roadrunners to a 6–6 regular season record, marking the first time the Roadrunners became bowl eligible. UTSA was ultimately selected for their first bowl game in program history, the 2016 New Mexico Bowl.
On September 9, 2017, UTSA had a landmark 17–10 victory over Baylor which gave UTSA its first ever victory over a Power Five team. UTSA would ultimately finish 6–5 for the season (one game against the Houston Cougars was canceled due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Harvey).
In the 2018 season, UTSA struggled through its non-conference schedule, going 1–3 (their lone win being against rival Texas State). UTSA then won two consecutive conference games to improve to 3–3 but dropped its remaining six games to finish 3–9. After another struggle in the 2019 season, in which they finished 4–8 overall and 3–5 in conference play, UTSA fired Wilson on December 1, 2019, after 4 seasons and a 19–29 overall record.
On December 9, 2019, Arkansas running backs coach Jeff Traylor was hired as the 3rd head coach in the program’s history. After going 2-0 in Coach Traylor’s first season as Head Coach, the program received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time. Traylor also became the first head coach in program history to start his career with three wins after beating MTSU on September 25, 2020. UTSA finished the 2020 regular season with a record of 7-4 along with a second bowl game appearance in program history at the First Responder Bowl.
It seems as if UTSA has finally found their man. Next week’s game at Western Kentucky should be another nail bitter but they should be 8-0 by the time November 6th rolls around. That is when they play 4-1 Texas-El Paso in a show down that could determine who will play for the conference championship. That win streak would include a Homecoming victory against Rice, and another hard-fought win verse Louisiana Tech. Move over Spurs.
