TULSA, Okla. — Triston Wade finished with a pair of interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and UTSA's defense shut down Tulsa in a 34-15 road vctory on Saturday.
David Glasco II ran for a school-record 135 yards to lead the Roadrunners (4-5, 3-2 C-USA), who racked up a season-high 286 yards on the ground and notched their seventh victory in their last 11 games away from the Alamo City.
Trey Watts led the Golden Hurricane (2-6, 1-3 C-USA) with 113 yards on the ground and 40 more on five receptions, but he had a costly fumble on a punt return that led to a UTSA touchdown.
The Roadrunners defense was dominant in the first half and pitched just the third shutout through the opening 30 minutes in program history. In fact, it was the first opening-half whitewash since UTSA held a 41-0 lead against Bacone on Sept. 24, 2011, and first against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.
Wade got the momentum on UTSA’s side by ending Tulsa’s first drive with an interception on the Roadrunners’ 15-yard line. The Birds ended the next two Golden Hurricane drives with a pair of three-and-outs before a fourth-down stop at the UTSA 3-yard line.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners got on the board with 7:35 to play in the first quarter when Eric Soza found Evans Okotcha for a 5-yard touchdown. The score was set up by a 47-yard run from Glasco II.
The lead jumped to 14-0 later in the quarter when Nic Johnston recovered Watts’ muffed punt in the end zone for a score. Sean Ianno added a 41-yard field goal in the opening minutes of the second period to push the lead to 17.
Tulsa responded with an eight-play, 78-yard drive down to the UTSA 3-yard line. Once again, the Roadrunners defense stepped up and kept the shutout alive when Wade tipped away Cody Green’s fourth-down pass to Thomas Roberson in the end zone.
The Birds quickly put together four-play, 97-yard drive that was capped by a school-record 84-yard touchdown run by Kam Jones, which was the longest play from scrimmage in school annals. Soza gave the offense some breathing room with an 8-yard pass to Kenny Harrison before Glasco II and Okotcha pushed the ball to the 16-yard line with a pair of rushes to set up Jones’ fourth rushing score of the season.
UTSA totaled 247 yards on just 27 plays (9.1 per play) in the half, including 195 on 19 rushes (10.3 ypc), while the defense limited the Golden Hurricane to just 159 (118 rush/41 pass).
Tulsa broke up the shutout late in the third stanza when backup quarterback Dane Evans found Jordan James for a 9-yard touchdown with just six seconds. Evans then completed a pass to Roberson for the 2-point conversion to trim the UTSA lead to 24-8.
The Roadrunners got another field goal from Ianno, this time from 31 yards, for a 27-8 lead with 11:36 to play.
Wade then halted Tulsa’s next drive with his second interception of the afternoon, which he returned 82 yards to paydirt.
The Golden Hurricane added a late score on Josh Atkinson’s 6-yard touchdown from Joseph Calcagni for the final margin.
The Roadrunners will return to the Alamodome for a Saturday, Nov. 9, matchup with Tulane (6-3, 4-1 C-USA). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.