SAN ANTONIO — UTSA broke the school record for total offense behind Frank Harris’ record-setting night in a 49-21 win over South Florida in American Athletic Conference action on Friday at the Alamodome.
The Roadrunners racked up 643 yards of offense on the shoulders of Harris’ 523-yard, six-touchdown output, as the senior quarterback threw for 411 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 112 and three more TDs to help UTSA — 8-3 overall — win its seventh straight and improve to 7-0 in conference play for the third straight season. The victory in the first meeting with the Bulls (5-6, 3-4) also pushed the Roadrunners’ unbeaten streak against league foes to 17 and they remained perfect at home in 18 games against conference competition under fourth-year head coach Jeff Traylor.
Harris completed 31 of 46 passes in eclipsing his own school standard of 445 set against Middle Tennessee last season. The Schertz Clemens High School product came up only three yards shy of his own UTSA mark for single-game passing yards and his six touchdowns responsible for were one short of the seven he produced in the win at Western Kentucky in 2021. Harris’ 523-yard night is the second-most by an FBS player this season and he also is just the 15th player in FBS history to pass for 400 yards and rush for 100 in the same game.
Joshua Cephus also joined in on the record-setting party, as the senior wide receiver became the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards after piling up 163 yards and a touchdown on nine catches. The Houston native now leads the team with 76 receptions, 966 yards and nine TDs this season. He moved past Zakhari Franklin in the record book on a 64-yard TD catch in the second quarter, and he now has 3,454 receiving yards as a Roadrunner.
Defensively, Rashad Wisdom led the way with eight tackles and a pass breakup, while Owen Pewee added seven stops, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Ken Robinson pitched in with six tackles and a PBU, while Kelechi Nwachuku and Martavius French posted five stops apiece, with French’s tally including a sack. Nicktroy Fortune and Dywan Griffin also came up with interceptions on the night to give UTSA a takeaway in eight straight games.
The two teams traded touchdowns on their opening possessions early in the first quarter.
USF marched 75 yards in eight plays, the last a 16-yard TD dash by Nay'Quan Wright.
The Roadrunners responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Harris to a wide open Devin McCuin, who caught seven balls for 91 yards, down the right sideline.
The Bulls reclaimed the lead at the 13:38 mark of the second stanza, as Byrum Brown connected with Yusuf Terry on a 50-yard TD pass.
UTSA then reeled off 21 unanswered points from that point to take a 28-14 advantage into the locker room.
Tykee Ogle-Kellogg hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Harris to knot the score at 14-all before Cephus’ record-setting reception, which he caught at the USF 38-yard line and turned into a 64-yard scoring play.
UTSA’s defense came up with a three-and-out to force a punt with 2:21 left in the first half. Harris then guided the home team on an 11-play, 88-yard march that ended on a 15-yard keeper by the senior signal-caller with 20 seconds on the clock to push the lead to two touchdowns.
The Roadrunners opened the second half with another score, as Harris busted loose up the middle for 40 yards to paydirt to make it 35-14.
UTSA opened up a 42-14 lead when Robert Henry plunged into the end zone from two yards out with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
USF cut the deficit to 21 on a 5-yard TD run by Brown late in the third, but Harris answered with his third rushing touchdown of the evening, scoring untouched on a 25-yard scamper to put the final exclamation point on his record-setting night.
Brown passed for 287 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 43 yards and a score to lead the Bulls. Wright rushed for 67 yards on 16 carries, while Sean Atkins caught 10 passes for 92 yards.
The Roadrunners will travel to New Orleans to face Tulane next Friday, Nov. 24. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at Yulman Stadium and the game will be televised nationally on ABC.
-UTSA-