SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will kick off its eighth season of play and third under head coach Frank Wilson when it travels to Tempe, Ariz., to face Arizona State on Saturday, Sept. 1. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT at Sun Devil Stadium. The Roadrunners are 6-1 all-time in season openers, including a 4-1 record in lid-lifters away from San Antonio. UTSA and Arizona State are meeting for the second time in three seasons. The Sun Devils rallied from a 28-12 third-quarter deficit for a 32-28 victory on Sept. 3, 2016, at the Alamodome in the inaugural matchup.
UTSA Roadrunners (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)
at
Arizona State Sun Devils (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
9:30 p.m. (CT) | Saturday, Sept. 1
Frank Kush Field/Sun Devil Stadium | Tempe, Ariz.
TV: Fox Sports 1
Radio: Ticket 760 AM / ticket760.com / iHeartRadio app
Opening drive
• UTSA will face Arizona State for the second time in three years
• The Sun Devils rallied for a 32-28 victory in the inaugural meeting on Sept. 3, 2016, at the Alamodome
• UTSA is 6-1 all-time in season openers
• The Roadrunners are opening the season on the road for the sixth time in their eight-year history
• UTSA owns a 4-1 record in season openers away from home
• Saturday's game in Tempe will mark the Roadrunners' third visit to the state of Arizona
• The contest will air nationally on Fox Sports 1, marking the 61st straight UTSA game to be broadcast
Tuning in
The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1. Chris Myers (play-by-play) and James Laurinaitis (analyst) will have the call. Fox Sports 1 subscribers also can tune in at http://foxsportsgo.comor with the Fox Sports Go app. The contest will air live on the Roadrunners Sports Network and can be heard in the San Antonio area on Ticket 760 AM. Andy Everett (play-by-play), Jay Riley (analyst) and Pat Evans (sidelines) will call all the action. The pregame show will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT and there will be a 45-minute postgame show. The broadcast also can be heard live online at goUTSA.com and Ticket760.com and via the free iHeartRadio app.
Opening on the road
For the sixth time in the program's eight-year history, the Roadrunners will open the season away from the Alamo City. UTSA is 4-1 in such games, winning three straight lid-lifters in 2012-14 before dropping a season opener for the first time at No. 22 Arizona in 2015. The Roadrunners upended Baylor, 17-10, in Waco to open the 2017 campaign, marking the program's first win over a team from a Power 5 conference.
Season-opening success
UTSA has won six of its seven previous season openers dating back to its inaugural 2011 campaign. UTSA won each of its first four lid-lifters before suffering a 42-32 defeat at Arizona in 2015. The Roadrunners rebounded to win the 2016 opener against Alabama State, 26-13, before making it back-to-back season-opening wins with a 17-10 road triumph against Baylor last year. The Roadrunners downed Northeastern State at the Alamodome by a score of 31-3 in the program's inaugural game 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 victory at South Alabama on Sept. 1, 2012. The Birds then outlasted New Mexico by a 21-13 count on Aug. 31 in their 2013 opener and the following year saw the Roadrunners stun Houston, 27-7, on Aug. 29 in the first-ever game at TDECU Stadium.
Game 84
Saturday's season-opener at Arizona State will mark the 84th game in UTSA football history and its 42nd road contest. The Roadrunners hold a 38-44 overall record, including a 16-25 mark away from home. By comparison, this will be the 1,020th game in Arizona State's history, which dates back to 1897. The Sun Devils are 602-393-24 all-time.
Eye on the thermostat
With a predicted temperature north of 100 degrees on Saturday in Tempe, this game may go down as the hottest in UTSA history. The Roadrunners' previous warmest two kickoffs both came during the 2013 season with a 92-degree reading at New Mexico on Aug. 31 and a 91-degree reading at Arizona two weeks later (Sept. 14).
A look at Arizona State
Arizona State is led by former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, who is in his first year with the Sun Devils. Arizona State went 7-6 in 2017, including a 6-3 mark in Pac-12 play. Headlining the Sun Devils is consensus preseason All-American N'Keal Harry. The junior wide out was a first-team All-Pac-12 performer last fall, as he racked up 82 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, linebacker Jay Jay Williams returns for his senior season after posting 47 tackles, including four for loss, and two sacks along with three passes defended in 2017.
Series history
Saturday will mark the second all-time meeting between UTSA and Arizona State. The Sun Devils claimed a come-from-behind 32-28 win in the Alamodome on Sept. 16, 2016.
Last meeting
Arizona State rallied from a 16-point deficit for a 32-28 victory against UTSA in the inaugural meeting between the two teams on Sept. 3, 2016, at the Alamodome. UTSA built a 28-12 lead midway through the third quarter behind the arm and legs of quarterback Dalton Sturm, who passed for 229 yards and three touchdowns ran for 82 and a score. He completed TD passes of 10 yards to JaBryce Taylor and 11 to Jalen Rhodes to help stake the Roadrunners to a 14-3 advantage after one quarter of play. Sturm dodged several Sun Devils defenders on a 34-yard scoring scamper early in the third stanza and later found Shaq Williams on a 24-yard touchdown connection to push the home team ahead, 28-12. Arizona State used a pair of field goals from Zane Gonzalez, who booted four on the evening, including a pair from beyond 50 yards, to pull within 10. Manny Wilkins completed a 45-yard TD pass to Frederick Gammage and Kalen Ballage found paydirt from two yards out with 3:15 left to play to put the Sun Devils on top for good.
Wilson enters third year at helm
Frank Wilson is in his third season as head coach of the Roadrunners. The New Orleans native has guided UTSA to back-to-back seasons of being bowl eligible, including leading the program to its first-ever postseason appearance at the 2016 Gildan New Mexico Bowl, as UTSA tied the NCAA modern startup program by reaching a bowl game in its sixth season of play. He has coached 13 All-Conference USA selections and a pair of Freshman All-Americans in his first two years at the helm. Wilson came to San Antonio after a six-year stint as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU, where he also was the associate head coach in 2012-15. Armed with more than a decade of coaching experience in the Southeastern Conference, Wilson also has been an assistant coach at Tennessee (2009), Southern Miss (2008) and Mississippi (2005-07). He has coached or recruited 36 individuals who have made it to the NFL, including 2018 NFL First Round Draft pick Marcus Davenport of the Saints.
The Power (5) open
UTSA will open its 2018 season with three consecutive games against Power 5 conference opponents. The Roadrunners commence the season at Arizona State (Sept. 1) and then host Baylor (Sept. 8) before closing the stretch at Kansas State (Sept. 5). BYU is the only other non-Power 5 team to open the season with three straight Power 5 opponents (at Arizona [Sept. 1], vs. California [Sept. 8], at Wisconsin [Sept. 15]).
UTSA pair has NFL ties
Two UTSA players have significant family ties when it comes to relatives who have played in the National Football League (NFL). Junior 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.
Roadrunners roster makeup
UTSA's 108-man roster features 20 seniors, 23 juniors, 27 sophomores and 38 redshirt or true freshmen. Eighty-one Roadrunners hail from Texas. There are six players from both Florida and Mississippi along with three from California, Louisiana and Tennessee. The squad is rounded out with a player each from Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nigeria and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
TV birds
All 12 of UTSA's regular season games this fall have been selected for broadcast across a total of seven networks, including CBS Sports, ESPN and Fox Sports networks. The Roadrunners, who have seen their last 60 outings appear over the airwaves, will make it 72 straight televised/streamed appearances by the end of the season.
Few can call a dome home
The Roadrunners are one of only two FBS teams to play their home games indoors. UTSA, which boasts a 22-19 all-time mark inside the Alamodome, joins Syracuse (Carrier Dome) as the only FBS programs to play in enclosed facilities.
Up next
UTSA will open its home slate against Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 8. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will air on CBS Sports Network on Facebook.
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