UTSA Roadrunners (0-0) at Texas State Bobcats (0-1)
2:30 p.m. | Sept. 12, 2020
Bobcat Stadium | San Marcos, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Ticket 760 AM
Opening drive
• UTSA will open its 10th season of football on Saturday against Texas State.
• Saturday's game will mark the collegiate head coaching debut for UTSA's Jeff Traylor.
• The Roadrunners are 7-2 in season openers, including a 4-2 mark on the road.
• UTSA and Texas State are meeting for the fourth time on the gridiron.
• The Roadrunners have won the three previous matchups with the Bobcats.
• UTSA scored a 44-14 victory on Sept. 23, 2017, in the only other meeting in San Marcos.
• Saturday's game will air nationally on ESPN2, marking the 85th straight UTSA game to be broadcast.
Setting the scene
UTSA will open its 10th season of play and the Jeff Traylor era on Saturday, Sept. 12, when it renews the I-35 Rivalry with Texas State. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium. The Roadrunners will face the Bobcats, who dropped their season opener to SMU 31-24 on Sept. 5, for the fourth time on the gridiron. UTSA has won each of the three previous meetings, including a 44-14 victory on Sept. 23, 2017, in the only other meeting in San Marcos.
Tuning in
Saturday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Rocky Boiman (reporter) have the call. Fans also can tune in via the ESPN app or WatchESPN (cable/satellite provider credentials are required). The contest will air live on Ticket 760 AM in the San Antonio area. Andy Everett (play-by-play), Jay Riley (analyst) and Pat Evans (reporter) will call all the action. The pregame show will begin at 12:30 p.m. and there will be a 45-minute postgame show. The radio broadcast also can be heard online at goUTSA.com and Ticket760.com and via the free iHeartRadio app or TuneIn.
TV birds
Eleven of UTSA's 12 regular season games this fall have been selected for broadcast and network information for the Oct. 10 road date at BYU is expected to be announced later this season. The Roadrunners, who have seen their last 84 outings appear over the airwaves, likely will make it 96 straight televised/streamed appearances by the end of the regular season. In fact, the last UTSA game that was not broadcast was the 2012 season finale against Texas State. Saturday's season opener will be televised nationally on ESPN2, marking UTSA's second appearance on the network. The Roadrunners' 2016 home contest versus Arizona State also aired on ESPN2.
Game 107
UTSA will kick off its 10th season of play with Saturday's season opener against Texas State, marking the 107th game in program history and 54th road contest. The Roadrunners are 45-61 all-time and 19-34 away from home.
2020 marks 10th season of UTSA football
UTSA is celebrating its 10th season of football in 2020. The Roadrunners started their football program from scratch and, following a practice season in 2010, played their first season as an FCS Independent in 2011 before joining the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012 campaign. UTSA moved into its current league home — Conference USA — in 2013 and became a full-fledged FBS member starting with the 2014 season. The Roadrunners set NCAA modern startup program records in 2011 by drawing 56,743 fans to their inaugural game against Northeastern State and by averaging 35,521 fans for their six home contests that season. UTSA made its first postseason appearance at the 2016 New Mexico Bowl in its sixth season of play and registered its first win against a team from a Power 5 conference the following season with a 17-10 victory over Baylor.
Traylor era to officially kick off on Saturday
The Jeff Traylor era officially will kick off on Saturday when the Roadrunners take the field to face Texas State at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Armed with nearly 30 years of coaching experience including a highly successful 15-year career as head coach at Gilmer High School, where he led his hometown Buckeyes to three state championships and two state runner-up finishes and posted a 175-26 (.871) record. Named the third head coach in UTSA history on Dec. 10, 2019, Traylor previously was the associate head coach and running backs coach at Arkansas (2018-19) and SMU (2017) after two seasons at Texas serving as associate head coach for the offense and receivers coach in 2016 and special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in 2015.
Season-opening success
UTSA has won seven of its nine previous season openers dating back to the 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 a year later. 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. UTSA bounced back from a 49-7 setback at Arizona State in 2018's season opener with a 35-7 win against crosstown foe UIW last season.
Scouting Texas State
The Bobcats dropped their season opener to SMU, 31-24, on Sept. 5 at Bobcat Stadium. Brady McBride passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns, while Calvin Hill and Brock Sturges ran for 100 and 95 yards, respectively to pace the offense. The defense yielded 544 yards of offense to the Mustangs but did force three turnovers, interceptions by Kordell Rogers and Grid Isidore and a fumble recovery by Zion Childress. Head coach Jake Spavital is in his second season at the helm. The former offensive coordinator at California, West Virginia and Texas A&M — where he coached UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor's son, Jordan — guided the Bobcats to a 3-9 record in 2019.
Series history
Saturday's game will mark the fourth meeting between UTSA and Texas State — which are separated by only 54 miles — on the football field. The Roadrunners have won each of the three previous matchups, including a 44-14 victory on Sept. 23, 2017, in the only previous meeting in San Marcos. UTSA scored a 38-31 win on Nov. 24, 2012, at the Alamodome when both teams were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Birds held on for a 25-21 home victory in the last meeting on Sept. 22, 2018.
Last meeting
Josiah Tauaefa posted nine tackles and 2.5 sacks and UTSA held off Texas State, 25-21, on Sept. 22, 2018, at the Alamodome. Tauaefa had 3.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and a key forced fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Lorenzo Dantzler on the first possession of the evening to help lead the Roadrunners to their third win in as many meetings with the Bobcats. The linebacker helped lead a defense that limited Texas State to 248 yards of offense, including just 26 on the ground. Jalen Rhodes rushed for a game-high 76 yards on 17 carries and Greg Campbell Jr. caught seven passes for 71 yards to pace the UTSA offense. The Roadrunners led by two scores in the fourth quarter but had to hold off the Bobcats in the final minutes. Texas State pulled to within two points after reserve quarterback Tyler Vitt found Hutch White open over the middle for a 13-yard touchdown pass with five minutes left on the clock. The Bobcats would get the ball back one more time, as Yannis Routsas pinned the Bobcats at their own 2-yard line with a little more than two minutes left to play. On the first play from scrimmage, Kevin Strong Jr. tackled Vitt in the end zone for a safety to make it 25-21. UTSA recovered the onside kick with 1:49 left and kneeled it three times to seal the win.
2017 meeting featured record-setting offensive attack
UTSA's 44-14 victory over Texas State in the last meeting at Bobcat Stadium featured a couple of school records. Led by a 174-yard night on the ground from Jalen Rhodes, the Roadrunners registered a school-record 569 yards of offense, including a program-best 357 rushing yards. Tyrell Clay added 72 yards, while Brett Winnegan made the most of his one carry by racing 71 yards to paydirt. Meanwhile, the defense held the Bobcats to just 198 yards of offense.
Scoop and score now part of rivalry
In each of the last two meetings with Texas State, UTSA has returned fumbles for touchdowns. In the 2017 contest at Bobcat Stadium, Josiah Tauaefa picked up a fumble that was forced by Eric Banks and returned it 22 yards for the first touchdown of the evening. One year later, Tauaefa's strip-sack of Texas State quarterback Willie Jones on the game's opening drive resulted in a 27-yard fumble return for a TD by Lorenzo Dantzler.
A punt return for the record books
Longtime rivals in other sports from their time together as members of the Southland Conference, UTSA and Texas State first met on the gridiron in the 2012 season finale at the Alamodome when both were in their only season of Western Athletic Conference play. The Roadrunners stormed out to a 10-0 lead thanks to an electrifying punt return by Kenny Harrison, who fielded the ball at his own 21-yard yard line, made two men miss and raced to history with the first and only punt return for a touchdown in UTSA history. The Roadrunners built a 31-14 lead early in the third quarter after a TD run by quarterback Eric Soza, who began his career at Texas State. UTSA eventually held on for a 38-31 triumph over the Bobcats and finished the 2012 campaign with an 8-4 record, the most wins in program annals.
Did you know?
UTSA's first-year director of football operations Kevin Brown, who previously was the Roadrunners' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2012-15 after one season as the tight ends coach, served as the receivers coach at Texas State in 2007-10.
Roadrunners up for national awards
Four Roadrunners have been named to or nominated for national award watch lists. Lucas Dean was added to the watch list for the Ray Guy Award for the nation's top punter, while Hunter Duplessis is UTSA's nominee for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. Sincere McCormick appears on the watch list for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which is given to the top offensive player in college football with ties to the state of Texas. Solomon Wise is one of 114 players on the watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy, known as "College Football's Premier Award for Community Service."
QB room loaded with starting experience
UTSA's quarterbacks room enters the season as one of the most experienced groups of signal callers in the nation. Josh Adkins (20), Frank Harris (4), Lowell Narcisse (7) and Jordan Weeks (4) boast a combined 35 starts at the FBS level, making UTSA one of just five teams with four QBs who own FBS starts. The others are Arkansas, Northwestern, Old Dominion and Tennessee. In fact, the Roadrunners are the only FBS squad with four quarterbacks who have started at least four games at this level.
Familiar faces return on offensive line
UTSA welcomes back several familiar faces on the offensive line, including a trio of returning starters in Spencer Burford, Kevin Davis and Ahofitu Maka. Burford has 22 games and 21 starts under his belt and the junior from San Antonio Wagner High School earned honorable mention all-conference accolades last season after being named to the 2018 Conference USA All-Freshman Team. Following a redshirt year in 2017, Davis, who hails from Angleton, Texas, stepped into the starting center role in all 12 contests two seasons ago before making the move to guard as a sophomore when he started all 10 games in which he was available. Maka had an immediate impact on the line in his first season with the Roadrunners. UTSA's first player from the state of Hawai'i, he started all 12 contests at center last fall. The most experienced returning offensive lineman on the roster is Dominic Pastucci, who has 32 games under his belt. A versatile senior from Pflugerville Hendrickson High School who can play guard or tackle, he has earned seven starts during his career and a reputation as one of the team's strongest performers in the weight room.
Sincere success
UTSA sophomore running back Sincere McCormick enjoyed one of the best debut campaigns in program history last fall. The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list member collected Freshman All-America accolades from the Football Writers Association of America and Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors after breaking a pair of school records in 2019. The Converse Judson High School product took down the program's single-season all-purpose yardage standard with 1,177 and also eclipsed the single-game rushing yardage mark with 189 in the win at UTEP. He also topped the century mark with 134 yards in the win at Old Dominion and 119 in the season finale at Louisiana Tech. McCormick finished the year with 983 yards and eight touchdowns on 177 carries, an average of 5.6 yards per attempt and 81.9 yards per game. A 2019 honorable mention all-conference pick, he established UTSA freshman records for rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing TDs, rushing yards per attempt and rushing yards per game
Senior stalwart paces defensive front
In its short history, UTSA has made a name for itself by producing defensive linemen who have moved on to the professional ranks. Headlining that list is 2018 NFL first round draft pick Marcus Davenport, the 2017 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and a current member of the New Orleans Saints. Jaylon Haynes, a senior form Wharton, Texas, could be the next Roadrunner to join the likes of Davenport, Eric Banks, Ashaad Mabry, Jason Neill, Brian Price, Kevin Strong Jr. Haynes enjoyed a breakout 2019 season that saw him lead all defensive linemen with 40 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries en route to honorable mention all-conference accolades. The 2017 C-USA All-Freshman Team selection also registered a pair of sacks, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery last fall.
New look defense
UTSA will have a new look on defense this season with the arrival of defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix's 3-4 base alignment. As a result, some of the Roadrunners' top returning pass rushers will have a chance to create havoc from a new position this fall. Seniors DeQuarius Henry and Solomon Wise both have made the position switch from defensive end to outside linebacker to take advantage of their skillsets. Henry, a product of Houston Sharpstown High School, led the Roadrunners with five sacks last season to go along with nine tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. Wise, who hails from Coppell, Texas, has caught the attention of the defensive coaching staff during fall camp and is expected to surpass his 2019 totals of two TFL and a sack with more playing time. Henry and Wise are the lone two defensive holdovers from the 2016 team that earned the first bowl berth in program history.
Wisdom in the secondary
In just two short years on the UTSA campus, sophomore safety Rashad Wisdom has emerged as one of the leaders in the Roadrunners secondary. The Converse Judson High School product enrolled in January 2019 and immediately had an impact on the program on and off the field. He earned Conference USA All-Freshman Team honors after racking up 44 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and an interception that he returned 34 yards for a touchdown in his debut campaign. Wisdom's family captured the hearts of the San Antonio community over the past year by sharing the story of Rashad's younger brother, Bryce, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and passed away at the age of 17 in July of this year. UTSA will wear a "Bryce Strong" helmet sticker this season in his honor.
Duplessis aims to keep streak alive
UTSA place-kicker Hunter Duplessis will enter his senior season with a streak of nine consecutive made field goals. After missing his first two attempts in his first year in the role, the San Antonio Cole High School graduate made his final nine kicks, including at least one in the final four contests of the 2019 campaign. Duplessis — UTSA's nominee for the William V. Campbell Trophy — first split the uprights from 25 yards versus North Texas in the fourth game of the year and then made 23- and 43-yarders in the road win over UTEP. He also had successful kicks from 34 and 22 yards in wins against Rice and Old Dominion, respectively. He closed out the home slate with a 25-yard field goal versus Southern Miss and a 41-yarder against Florida Atlantic before nailing both attempts in the season finale at Louisiana Tech. A dual major in cyber security and information systems who carries a 3.78 GPA, Duplessis also was a perfect 25 for 25 on extra-point attempts last fall. He is expected to take over kickoff duties this season and owns eight touchbacks on 30 career kickoffs.
Brotherly duos
UTSA has two sets of brothers on the 2020 roster in junior offensive lineman Kevin Davis and freshman wide receiver Isaiah Davis, along with junior safety Dadrian Taylor and freshman safety Donyai Taylor. That makes the Roadrunners one of 27 FBS teams with at least two brotherly duos.
UTSA roster breakdown
UTSA's 116-man roster features 21 seniors, 28 juniors, 29 sophomores and 38 redshirt or true freshmen. The roster lists 87 players — 75% — who hail from the state of Texas, while the next-closest state is Louisiana with eight. There are five players from both California and Mississippi, while three call Florida home and a pair are from Georgia. UTSA has one player each from Hawai'i, Maryland, Michigan and Tennessee, while freshman punter Lucas Dean is the first Roadrunner from Australia.
Representing the 210
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor and his staff have placed an emphasis on recruiting the 210 area code, which covers the city of San Antonio and surrounding areas. The current roster already includes a lengthy list of 25 local players:
Name (High School)
Josh Adkins (Smithson Valley)
Jabari Aiken (Johnson)
Rudy Aleman Jr. (Warren)
Brenden Brady (Steele)
Spencer Burford (Wagner)
Oscar Cardenas (Brandeis)
JayVeon Cardwell (Steele)
Cade Collenback (O'Connor)
Hunter Duplessis (Cole)
KJ Elder (Warren)
Shaquan Flagg (Brennan)
Frank Harris (Clemens)
Jaden Jones (East Central)
Magnus Kirby (Sam Houston)
Brandon Matterson (Brandeis)
Sincere McCormick (Judson)
Matthew Ojeda (Int'l School of the Americas)
Jaren Randle (Johnson)
Justin Rodriguez (Johnson)
Daniel Santallana (East Central)
Jordan Smith (Brennan)
Xavier Spencer (Judson)
Wiliam Turner (Randolph)
Julon Williams (Judson)
Rashad Wisdom (Judson)
UTSA Triangle of Toughness
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has installed many new ideas since his hiring, including his Culture Pillars: Integrity, Passion, Mental & Physical Toughness, Selfless and Perfect Effort. As part of that new culture, the players voted after fall camp on who would earn single-digit jersey numbers, a reward for representing mental and physical toughness on and off the field. Nos. 0-9 were unveiled in a series of tweets and the numbers 2, 1 and 0 were chosen for the players voted to represent the 210 Brand, the UTSA Triangle of Toughness. Below are the single-digit jersey numbers as voted by their teammates:
0 — Frank Harris, Rashad Wisdom
1 — Jaylon Haynes
2 — Sheldon Jones
3 — Sincere McCormick
4 — Antonio Parks, Leroy Watson
5 — Brenden Brady
6 — Brennon Dingle
7 — Dadrian Taylor
8 — Solomon Wise
9 — Clarence Hicks
Trevor Harmanson also was voted into the single-digit group but elected to stay in No 15, while offensive linemen Spencer Burford, Ahofitu Maka and Dominic Pastucci also received the necessary votes but cannot change to a single-digit number due to their position.
Leadership Council elected
UTSA has elected a Leadership Council made up of representatives from each position group.
QB — Frank Harris
RB — Brenden Brady
WR — Sheldon Jones
TE — Leroy Watson
OL — Dominic Pastucci
DL — Jaylon Haynes
LB — DeQuarius Henry, Tyler Mahnke
DB — Rashad Wisdom
ST — Hunter Duplessis, Myles Benning
Up next
UTSA will host Stephen F. Austin in the home opener next Saturday, Sept. 19. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will air on ESPN3/+ and Ticket 760 in the San Antonio area.
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