SAN ANTONIO – UTSA football travels to San Marcos to face Texas State in the H-E-B I-35 Showdown Saturday evening. Kickoff from Bobcat Stadium is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Tuning in
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on KMYS-CW 35 in San Antonio, KEYE-TV in Austin and on WATCHESPN outside of those two markets. Don Harris (play-by-play), Chuck Miketinac (analyst) and Brooke Shoemaker (reporter) will call the action. 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 4:30 p.m. and there will be a 45-minute postgame show. The broadcast also can be heard live online at Ticket760.com and via the free all-in-one iHeartRadio app.
On the tube
Saturday's game will mark UTSA's 52nd straight on television. The last time the Roadrunners did not appear on TV was the previous meeting with Texas State on Nov. 24, 2012, a 38-31 UTSA victory at the Alamodome. The Birds own a 28-36 all-time record on television.
A look at Texas State
Texas State fell to 1-2 on the year after a 20-13 home loss to Appalachian State on Saturday. The Bobcats opened the season with a 20-11 home triumph over Houston Baptist before suffering a 37-3 setback at Colorado on Sept. 9. Texas State is averaging 319.3 yards per game on offense and giving up an average of 323.7 per outing. Damian Williams has completed 47-of-79 passes for 490 yards and a touchdown and has added 93 yards and a score on the ground. Robert Brown Jr. (124 yards) and Anthony Taylor (110) lead the ground game, while Elijah King is the top receiver with 197 yards on 10 catches. Bryan London II is the top tackler with 22, while Gabe Loyd has 21 stops, including three for loss and a pair of sacks. Head coach Everett Withers is 3-12 in his second season at the helm and he totes a 28-25 career record.
Series history
Saturday will mark the second meeting between UTSA and Texas State. The Roadrunners held off the Bobcats, 38-31, in the only previous matchup on Nov. 24, 2012, at the Alamodome. Eric Soza passed for 200 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 97 yards and another score to lead the offense. Kenny Harrison returned a punt 79 yards for a score, the first and only punt return TD in program history, helped UTSA build a 24-14 halftime advantage and the Birds held off a late Bobcats rally for the win.
Staying close to home
The 2017 schedule is keeping the Roadrunners close to home. UTSA will not leave the state of Texas until the month of November, when the Birds fly to Miami, Fla., for a Conference USA contest against FIU on Nov. 4. In fact, the Roadrunners are only scheduled to leave the state one other time during the regular season when they travel to Ruston, La., for a Nov. 25 matchup against Louisiana Tech. UTSA has won its last three and seven of its last 10 games played in the Lone Star State. The Birds own a 26-22 all-time record inside the state.
Last time out
UTSA scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions for the first time in school history and held Southern to just 149 yards of offense in cruising to a 51-17 victory last Saturday night at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners racked up 502 yards of offense, including 335 through the air and 167 more on the ground. Dalton Sturm completed 19-of-22 passes — a school-record 86.4 percent — for 292 yards and matched the program's single-game mark with four TD passes. The senior also finished the game with a school-record 257.9 passing efficiency rating. Meanwhile, the defense broke the program standard for fewest yards allowed in a game in racking up six tackles for loss, five sacks, seven quarterback hurries and three interceptions.
Defensive dominance
The UTSA defense has been dominant in its first two outings this fall. The Roadrunners lead Conference USA in nine different defensive statistical categories, including owning the top mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for team passing efficiency defense (60.88). Defensive coordinator Pete Golding's group is giving up just 211.5 yards per game — which ranks sixth in the FBS — and is riding a streak of holding four straight opponents to less than 300 yards dating back to last season. The Roadrunners limited Southern to just 149 yards, breaking the school record for fewest yards allowed, and opponents have been able to manage only 101.0 passing yards per game, which stands third among FBS teams. Baylor and Southern posted just 423 yards combined against the Birds, the fewest yards allowed through the first two games in school history. Using an attacking style, UTSA has registered 16 tackles for loss, nine sacks, 11 quarterback pressures and four interceptions through its first eight quarters of the season.
Sack attack
Part of the reason for UTSA's early-season success on the defensive side of the ball has been the ability to get to the quarterback. The Roadrunners have posted nine sacks — which ranks fourth in the FBS — for a loss of 49 yards. Marcos Curry leads the way with 2.5 sacks, all of which came in the Southern victory on Sept. 16, and the senior linebacker currently leads all of C-USA and stands seventh among FBS players with 1.25 per game. Les Maruo has 1.5 sacks, while Eric Banks, Marcus Davenport, Kevin Strong Jr. and Josiah Tauaefa have one apiece. Additionally, UTSA has turned in 11 QB pressures in the first two contests, led by Davenport's five.
Interception frenzy
When Nate Gaines picked off an Anu Solomon pass in the first quarter of the Baylor win on Sept. 9, the senior free safety ended an interception drought that dated back to Nov. 5 of last season when the Roadrunners posted three picks in a 45-25 road win against Middle Tennessee. In its last outing, UTSA picked off three passes in the 51-17 win against Southern. Anthony Hickey, C.J. Levine and Andrew Martel had one each to give the Roadrunners four on the season, which leads C-USA and ranks 19th in the FBS.
Offensive explosion
UTSA's offense exploded for 502 yards in the 51-17 win against Southern on Sept. 16. The Roadrunners racked up 335 yards through the air and added 167 more on the ground in posting the seventh-highest single-game total offense yardage in school history. UTSA scored on its first seven possessions — a program first — in rolling to a 48-0 halftime lead, the most points scored in a half in school annals. The Birds are averaging 438.5 yards per game, which stands third in the conference.
Controlling the clock
UTSA has controlled the clock in each of its first two games this season. In the season-opening win at Baylor on Sept. 9, the Roadrunners possessed the ball for 38 minutes and 52 seconds, including 20:53 of a possible 30 minutes in the first half. UTSA held the ball for 31:45 in the 51-17 victory over Southern and now is averaging a league-leading 35:18 in time of possession per contest, a mark that ranks ninth among FBS teams.
Red zone perfection
The Roadrunners are perfect in eight red zone opportunities this fall. UTSA is one of 20 FBS squads (three C-USA) with a 100-percent conversion rate. The Roadrunners have made the most of their chances with seven touchdowns on eight total trips inside the 20-yard line.
Two games, two records for Davenport
Marcus Davenport has broken a pair of UTSA career records through the first two games of his senior season. The defensive end moved atop the program's career sacks list with 14.5 after dropping Baylor quarterback Anu Solomon for a 6-yard loss late in the first quarter of the season opener, eclipsing the previous mark of 14 set by Jason Neill (2011-12, '14-15). In the home-opening win over Southern on Sept. 16, he registered three quarterback pressures — all in the first quarter — to give the preseason All-Conference USA selection 18 for his career, one better than Neill's previous standard. Davenport, a San Antonio Stevens High School product, has his sights set on Neill's career tackles for loss mark of 23.5, as he is just two shy with at least nine games left on the schedule.
A model of efficiency
Dalton Sturm has provided a steady hand for the offense in the first two games this fall. The senior quarterback is completing passes at an 81-percent clip (34-42), which leads Conference USA and ranks second in the nation, and he ranks third among FBS players with a league-leading 217.5 passing efficiency rating. Sturm, who is on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list, has thrown for 447 yards and six touchdowns and the Goliad native has yet to thrown an interception. Sturm also has rushed for 133 yards and a score on 16 carries, including a career-high 98 rushing yards in the season-opening win at Baylor. He is the Roadrunners' career passing efficiency leader with a 155.0 rating and ranks second on the UTSA career-lists in pass attempts (556), completions (331), passing yards (4,030), passing touchdowns (40), passing yards per game (155.0), total offense (4,845), touchdowns responsible for (46) and total offense per game (186.3).
Brothers out wide
UTSA's duo of Josh Stewart and Kerry Thomas Jr. has more in common than being senior wide receivers with a pair of touchdown receptions each through the first two games this season. The two are also brothers from College Station, Texas. Stewart, a preseason all-conference pick, hauled in five passes for 54 yards and the first score of the year in the 17-10 road win against Baylor on Sept. 9. He added two catches for 16 yards and a TD in the 51-17 home-opening victory over Southern, and he now has seven receptions for 70 yards on the year. Thomas Jr. caught four balls for 59 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter of the historic season-opening victory against the Bears, and he tallied 75 yards and a score on five catches versus Southern. Thomas Jr. leads the team with 134 yards and nine receptions. The brothers also appear prominently in the school record book. Stewart set a UTSA single-season mark with 682 receiving yards on 36 catches in 2016, while Thomas Jr. owns single-season records of 52 receptions in 2015 and eight receiving touchdowns last year. Additionally, Thomas Jr. is UTSA's career receiving TDs leader with 15 and ranks second with 1,311 receiving yards.
Rushing up the charts
Junior running back Jalen Rhodes is rushing up several UTSA career charts. The Rowlett native registered his second career 100-yard game on the ground with 102 yards on 20 carries in the 17-10 road win against Baylor on Sept. 9. He added 61 yards and a score in the 51-17 victory against Southern to give him 1,232 career rushing yards, which ranks third on the all-time list behind Jarveon Williams (2,393) and David Glasco II (1,752). Rhodes has averaged 47.4 yards per game, good for second behind Williams (55.7), and he has racked up 13 rushing touchdowns, which stands fifth all-time.
UTSA pair has NFL ties
Two UTSA players have significant family ties when it comes to relatives that have played in the National Football League (NFL). Sophomore defensive tackle King Newton is the son of Nate Newton, who was a three-time Super Bowl Champion (1992-93, '95) and six-time Pro Bowl offensive guard (1992-96, '98) for the Dallas Cowboys. Meanwhile, senior wide receiver Marquez McNair is the nephew of the late Steve McNair, who played quarterback in the NFL from 1995-2006 after winning the 1994 Walter Payton Award (NCAA Division I-AA's top player) and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Up next
The Roadrunners will take next weekend off before they host Southern Miss on Saturday, Oct. 7. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will be televised on KMYS-CW 35 in San Antonio and it also will stream live via Stadium on Facebook.
-UTSA-
