SAN ANTONIO — UTSA (1-2) will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when it opens Conference USA play at Old Dominion (1-2). Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (CT) at Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Va.
The Roadrunners have won two of their previous three C-USA openers since joining the league prior to the 2013 campaign with both victories coming at UTEP (2013, '15). In fact, UTSA will be opening the league slate on the road for the fourth consecutive season.
The Roadrunners are coming off last Friday's 32-28 loss against Arizona State, which was their second consecutive setback after opening the year with a 26-13 triumph against Alabama State.
Friday will mark the 62nd all-time game in school annals, the 30th of which that will be played away from the friendly confines of the Alamodome.
UTSA returns 41 letterwinners from last year's squad, including 14 starters (seven offense/five defense/two kickers).
TUNING IN: Saturday's game will be broadcast live locally in the Alamo City on KMYS-CW 35. Don Harris (play-by-play), Chuck Miketinac (analyst) and Hector Ledesma (sidelines) will call all the action in what will be the second of five local telecasts for the Roadrunners this season. The contest also can be heard live in San Antonio on Ticket 760 AM. Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Jay Riley (analyst) will handle the call. The pregame show will begin at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and there will be a 45-minute postgame show. The broadcast also can be heard live online at goUTSA.com or on your mobile device with the free iHeartRadio app.
COACH TO CURE: This week, the UTSA and Old Dominion coaching staffs will be wearing special arm patches in honor of the American Football Coaches Association's Coach to Cure MD program. This is the ninth year that coaches around the country join together to raise funding and awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Fans are encouraged to donate by texting "CURE" to 90999 or visiting CoachtoCureMD.org.
SCOUTING OLD DOMINION: Old Dominion has dropped its last two outings after opening the 2016 campaign with a 54-21 home victory against Hampton. The Monarchs have since lost a pair of road tilts at Appalachian State (31-7) and North Carolina State (49-22). ODU, which is led by head coach Bobby Wilder, returned 42 letterwinners and 19 starters from last year's squad that won five games. Wilder owns a 58-29 (.667) overall mark in seven-plus seasons leading the Monarchs.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the second all-time meeting between UTSA and Old Dominion. The Monarchs handed the Roadrunners a 36-31 Homecoming setback last Nov. 7 in the inaugural meeting between the two teams.
ARIZONA STATE RALLIES PAST UTSA: Kalen Ballage scored on a 2-yard run with 3:15 to play and Arizona State rallied from 16 points down in the second half for a 32-28 victory at UTSA on Friday night. The Sun Devils found themselves down early and fighting from behind nearly the entire game a week after putting up 68 points in a win over Texas Tech. Arizona State scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and Ballage, who tied an NCAA record with eight touchdowns against Texas Tech, capped the rally when he took a direct snap and powered over the goal line. The touchdown was set up by a defensive pass interference penalty on third down one play earlier. Zane Gonzalez kicked four field goals, including two from 54 yards, for Arizona State. Manny Wilkins passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns for the Sun Devils. Wilkins threw a 27-yard score to N'Keal Harry with three seconds left in the first half and his 45-yard pass to Frederick Gammage in the fourth quarter cut the UTSA lead to 28-25. Dalton Sturm passed for 229 yards and three touchdowns for the Roadrunners. He also ran for a career-high 82 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
CONFERENCE USA OPENERS: UTSA has won two of its three Conference USA openers in program history. Both victories have come at UTEP (32-13 on Sept. 21, 2013/25-6 on Oct. 3, 2015) and this Saturday will mark the Roadrunners' fourth consecutive league lid-lifter away from the Alamo City. UTSA's lone setback came on Sept. 27, 2014, at Florida Atlantic (41-37).
All-Time Conference USA Openers (2-1)
Date — Opponent — Score
Sept. 21, 2013 — at UTEP — W, 32-13
Sept. 27, 2014 — at Florida Atlantic — L, 37-41
Oct. 3, 2015 — at UTEP — W, 25-6
EVEN STEVEN: In a statistical oddity, UTSA has matched its opponents scoring total through the first three games of the 2016 campaign despite losing two of its first three outings. The Roadrunners and their three opponents both have lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 68 points this fall.
THREE ROADRUNNERS LAND ON PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE USA TEAM: Senior S Michael Egwuagu, senior RB Jarveon Williams and junior DE Marcus Davenport were named preseason All-Conference USA in a vote by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced on July 20 prior to its annual season kickoff event in Dallas. Egwuagu appeared in all 12 games (11 starts) last fall and registered 62 tackles (37 solos/25 assists), including 3.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, as well as placing second on the squad with three interceptions and he added eight pass breakups. Meanwhile, Williams is coming off a junior campaign that saw him become the first 1,000-yard rusher in program history. The team captain played in the first 11 games (nine starts) before missing the season finale against Middle Tennessee. He posted school records of 1,042 yards on 173 carries (6.0 avg.) on the strength of four 100-yard games, averaged 94.7 yards per outing and also tied the program's single-season record with eight rushing touchdowns. Davenport started 11 contests but missed the Colorado State tilt due to injury a year ago. The San Antonio native recorded 49 tackles (30 solos/19 assists) and ranked second on the team with 7.5 TFLs and four sacks. He also racked up four QB hurries, three pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles.
FOUR 2015 ALL-CONFERENCE USA PERFORMERS RETURN THIS FALL: The Roadrunners return four All-Conference USA honorees from a year ago — Marcus Davenport (Jr., DE), Michael Egwuagu (Sr., S), Kerry Thomas Jr. (Jr., WR) and Jarveon Williams (Sr., RB). All four earned honorable mention accolades from the league's head coaches.
FIRST-TIME STARTERS: UTSA's has seen a total of 13 first-time starters (seven offense/six defense) take the field in the opening three weeks of the season. In the season opener against Alabama State, the Roadrunners' starting lineup featured a total of nine first-time starters, five on defense and another four on offense. Defensive first-time starters included junior CB N'Keal Bailey, redshirt freshman DT Baylen Baker, junior LB La'Kel Bass, senior S Jordan Moore and redshirt freshman LB Josiah Tauaefa. Meanwhile, offensive first-time starters included senior OT Gabriel Casillas, senior OT Jevonte Domond, sophomore RB Halen Steward and junior WR Josh Stewart. The Colorado State contest saw junior WR Brady Jones make his first career start in the slot and junior OG Stefan Beard, freshman CB Teddrick McGhee and junior WR Marquez McNair drew starts last Friday against Arizona State.
BROTHERY LOVE: Junior WRs Josh Stewart and Kerry Thomas Jr. became the first set of brothers to start the same game on offense for UTSA in its six-year history in the season opener against Alabama State (they have since started the past two contests at Colorado State and against Arizona State). Bennett (defense) and Evans (offense) Okotcha both started the 2013 season finale against Louisiana Tech (Nov. 30), but they did so on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage.
STURM WINS QUARTERBACK BATTLE: In a fall camp quarterback competition that went down to the wire, incumbent starter Dalton Sturm was under center to open the season and he responded with one of the best games of his career. The junior from Goliad connected on 20-of-25 passes for a career-high 274 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opening 26-13 victory against Alabama State. The former walk-on who earned a scholarship this summer completed throws to 10 different receivers and also rushed three times for 52 yards and another score in his eighth consecutive starting assignment dating back to last fall's Louisiana Tech contest (Oct. 10). His 51-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was one-yard shy of a career best, a 52-yard non-scoring jaunt last season at UTEP (Oct. 3), and his 51-yard pass to junior TE Shaq Williams in the third quarter also was the second-longest in his three years as a Roadrunner. Sturm, who split time with senior Jared Johnson in the second half at Colorado State, completed 15-of-23 throws for 176 yards and two more scores against the Rams. Last Friday saw him connect 19-of-37 throws for 229 yards and three touchdowns and he added a career-high 82 rushing yards and another score, a 34-yarder in the third quarter, on 15 carries. Sturm has completed 63.5 percent of his passes (54-of-85) through the season's first three contests for 679 yards and seven scores.
HE'S STREAKING: Junior QB Dalton Sturm comes into Saturday's game at Old Dominion riding a streak of 10 consecutive outings with a touchdown pass. Sturm and Eric Soza (2011-12) share the program record.
HOT STARTS: Junior QB Dalton Sturm has made a habit of hot starts in the season's first three games. Sturm completed his first six attempts last Friday against Arizona State and that came on the heels of starting 5-of-6 at Colorado State and 14-of-15 in the season opener against Alabama State.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: UTSA's two quarterbacks have distributed the team's 61 completions to a total of 11 pass-catchers this season. Leading the way is junior WR Marquez McNair, who has hauled in a team-leading 11 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown.
WILLIAMS BACK AFTER 1,000-YARD CAMPAIGN: Senior RB Jarveon Williams became the first 1,000-yard rusher in program history last fall. Williams ran for 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns on 173 carries (6.0 avg.) in his 11 games of action, which was an average of 94.7 per contest. All of those numbers were UTSA single-season records and he was an honorable mention All-Conference USA selection. The local product out of Converse Judson High School rushed for 29 yards on six carries before exiting the season-opening 26-13 victory against Alabama State late in the first half due to injury. He played at Colorado State but only was able to rush for 10 yards on eight carries while catching a 28-yard pass that set up the Roadrunners' second touchdown of the game. Last Friday saw Williams set new career highs of five receptions for 81 yards against Arizona State.
THOMAS RETURNS AFTER RECORD-BREAKING SOPHOMORE SEASON: Junior WR Kerry Thomas, UTSA's leading receiver from a year ago, is coming off a sophomore campaign that saw him catch a school-record 52 passes for 541 yards and four touchdowns en route to honorable mention All-Conference USA accolades. He opened his third season as a Roadrunner with three receptions for 41 yards, including a 25-yard score in the fourth quarter, against Alabama State. Thomas Jr. added four catches for 41 yards and his second TD in as many weeks, a 10-yarder on UTSA's opening possession, at Colorado State.
STINGY DEFENSE: The Roadrunners defense has allowed just 14 third-down conversions in 44 attempts (31.8 percent) through the season's opening three contests and 13 of 38 opponent drives (34.2 percent) have resulted in three-and-outs. Alabama State converted just 2-of-14 third-down tries and was limited to seven three-and-outs in its 13 possessions in the season opener, while Colorado State was just 5-of-15 on third down and three of its drives resulted in three-and-outs two weeks ago.
Date — Opponent — 3rd-Downs — 3 & Outs (Drives)
Sept. 3 — Alabama State — 2-of-14 — 7 (13)
Sept. 10 — at Colorado State — 5-of-15 — 3 (13)
Sept. 16 — Arizona State — 7-of-15 — 3 (12)
EGWUAGU SETS NEW CAREER BEST: Senior S Michael Egwuagu, a preseason All-Conference USA selection, racked up a career-high 12 tackles (5 solos) two weeks ago at Colorado State. That topped his previous best of 10, which came against the Rams in last year's meeting that took place on Sept. 26 at the Alamodome. Egwuagu, who had 10 more stops last Friday against Arizona State, ranks second on the squad with his 29 tackles (14 solos) this season.
TAUAEFA HAS STRONG DEBUT: Redshirt freshman LB Josiah Tauaefa had a debut to remember in the season-opening 26-13 victory against Alabama State. The former defensive end, who made the transition to linebacker this past spring, racked up a team-leading 13 tackles (9 solos), including a pair of sacks. He has added nine stops in each of the past two outings and owns a team-leading 31 (16 solos) through the season's opening three tilts.
DAVENPORT MOVING UP CAREER SACKS CHART: Junior DE Marcus Davenport opened his third campaign against Alabama State with two sacks, which pushed his career total to nine and he now ranks second on UTSA's career list. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound local product out of Stevens High School is tied with Cody Rogers (2011-14) and now trails only Jason Neill, who racked up 14 from 2011-15.
UTSA Career Sacks
Rank — Name — Sacks
1. Jason Neill (2011-15) — 14
2. Marcus Davenport (2014-present) — 9
Cody Rogers (2011-14) — 9
BIG-TIME SACK ATTACK: UTSA registered a program-record six sacks in the season-opening 26-13 victory against Alabama State. That broke the previous mark of five that had occurred six times (last: at Marshall; Oct. 5, 2013). Leading the way was the duo of junior DE Marcus Davenport and redshirt freshman LB Josiah Tauaefa, who both recorded two each.
PLENTY BACK ON DEFENSE: The Roadrunners may return just five starters on defense, but they welcome back three of their top five tacklers from the 2015 season. Junior S Nate Gaines (76), junior LB Marcos Curry (74) and senior S Michael Egwuagu (62) ranked third through fifth, respectively, last fall.
GRADUATE TRANSFERS FILL OUT ROSTER: There are five senior graduate transfers among the many new faces on UTSA's roster this fall. OT Jevonte Domond, LB Ronnie Feist and S Jordan Moore all earned degrees from LSU before coming to the Alamo City, while QB Jared Johnson and TE Jordan Jones walked across the stage at Sam Houston State and Gardner-Webb, respectively.
MORE ABOUT THIS YEAR'S ROSTER: UTSA's 112-man roster features 22 seniors, 33 juniors, 24 sophomores and 33 freshmen. Meanwhile, 84 players hail from Texas, while another six call California home. There also are four players from both Florida and Mississippi, three from Louisiana, two each from Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma and Tennessee and one from Arizona, Kansas and Missouri.
WILSON NEW MAN IN CHARGE: A new era of UTSA Football began on Jan. 15 when the Roadrunners hired Frank Wilson as their new head coach. Widely considered one of the most valuable assistant coaches in all of college football, Wilson came to the Alamo City following a successful six-year stint as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU from 2010-15, where he also served as associate head coach for his final four seasons with the Tigers. He also has been an assistant coach at Tennessee (2009), Southern Miss (2008) and Mississippi (2005-07). While at LSU, he was recognized as the nation's top assistant coach at his position in 2011. Wilson also was named the 2011 Recruiter of the Year by Rivals.com, the 2014 NFL.com Top Recruiter in College Football and the 2015 Scout.com SEC Recruiter of the Year. As the recruiting coordinator at LSU, Wilson led the Tigers to back-to-back top-five recruiting classes in 2014-15 among five total groups that ranked among the top 10 nationally. He served as the lead recruiter for a long list of prominent players and has coached or recruited 25 individuals who have made it to the National Football League.
BROADCASTING THE BIRDS: Eleven of UTSA's 12 games this fall have been selected for broadcast across six different networks. The Roadrunners, who have seen their last 39 outings appear over the airwaves, will see that streak increase to at least 46 this season, as the first 10 contests have been picked for broadcast. The Nov. 19 tilt at Texas A&M is the only game that has yet to be selected, but the Southeastern Conference typically waits until 12 days out to announce its television selections, so UTSA's streak very well could increase to 48 by the end of the fall.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS: UTSA picked up its fifth season-opening victory in six tries when it downed Alabama State by a score of 26-13. The Roadrunners saw their four-game winning streak in season openers come to an end with last year's 42-32 loss at No. 22 Arizona. UTSA previously had won all four of its lid-lifters dating back to its inaugural 2011 campaign. The Roadrunners downed Northeastern (Okla.) State at the Alamodome by a score of 31-3 in the program's first-ever game back on Sept. 3, 2011, and the next three years saw them open the fall on the road. UTSA picked up its first-ever Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and road victory with a come-from-behind 33-31 triumph at South Alabama on Sept. 1, 2012. The Birds then outlasted New Mexico by a count of 21-13 on Aug. 31 in its 2013 opener and the following year saw the Roadrunners stun Houston by a score of 27-7 on Aug. 29 in the first-ever game at brand-new TDECU Stadium.
All-Time Season Openers (5-1)
Date — Opponent — Score
Sept. 3, 2011 — Northeastern (Okla.) State — W, 31-3
Sept. 1, 2012 — at South Alabama — W, 33-31
Aug. 31, 2013 — at New Mexico — W, 21-13
Aug. 29, 2014 — at Houston — W, 27-7
Sept. 3, 2015 — at #22 Arizona — L, 32-42
Sept. 3, 2016 — Alabama State — W, 26-13
HOME SWEET HOME: This year's season opener marked UTSA's first at home since its inaugural 2011 campaign, which coincidentally also took place on a Sept. 3. The Roadrunners downed Northeastern (Okla.) State by a score of 31-3 that afternoon.
FBS STREAK COMES TO AN END: The season opener against Alabama State, which competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, ended a streak of 38 consecutive FBS opponents for UTSA. The Roadrunners previously played a non-FBS foe back on Nov. 10, 2012, when it downed McNeese State by a score of 31-24. The Roadrunners were in their first and only season as a member of the WAC that season.
UP NEXT: UTSA will take next weekend off before returning home to host Southern Miss (2-1) on Saturday, Oct. 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Alamodome and the game will be televised by the American Sports Network.
