Tai Leonard and Shad Banks Jr.Tai Leonard and Shad Banks Jr.
Vashaun Newman/UTSA Athletics
Football

UTSA set for Saturday matchup at North Texas

Game #7
UTSA Roadrunners (3-3, 1-1)
at
North Texas Mean Green (5-1, 1-1)
2:30 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 18
DATCU Stadium | Denton, Texas
Series History: UTSA leads, 8-5
Last Meeting: UTSA 48, UNT 27 (11/15/24 • San Antonio, Texas)

OPENING DRIVE

  • UTSA and North Texas will meet for the 14th time on Saturday, making it the most-played series in program history.
  • The Roadrunners have won the last four meetings with the Mean Green and lead the all-time series, 8-5.
  • The Mean Green hold a 4-2 edge in the series in games played in Denton.
  • Under Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners have rushed for a total of 1,721 yards in six games (268.8 ypg) against North Texas, including 589 (294.5 ypg) combined over the last two meetings.
  • UTSA is 39-25 (.609) all-time against teams from the state of Texas, including 19-9 (.679) under Jeff Traylor.
  • The Roadrunners are 49-23 (.681) in the Jeff Traylor era, the 10th-most wins in the FBS since 2020 including the most among current American Conference teams and tied with Texas for the most among teams from the state of Texas.
  • The Roadrunners improved to 21-0 in regular season conference home games and 6-0 in Homecoming games under Jeff Traylor with the 61-13 win over Rice last Saturday night.
  • The Roadrunners set or tied school records for points (61), defensive scores (3) and tackles for loss (17) in the Homecoming victory versus Rice.
  • After posting two against Rice, UTSA now has recorded a sack in 28 of the past 29 games.
  • UTSA has had a 100-yard rusher in five of the six games this season.

SETTING THE SCENE
Fresh off a record-setting 61-13 win over Rice, UTSA will travel to Denton, Texas, to face North Texas on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff for the 14th meeting between the two teams is set for 2:30 p.m. at DATCU Stadium. The Roadrunners have won the last four meetings and own an 8-5 advantage in the series with UNT. UTSA set or tied program records for points (61), defensive scores (3) and tackles for loss (17) in the Homecoming triumph over Rice last Saturday night to improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the American Conference. The Mean Green dropped a 63-36 home decision to South Florida last Friday night to fall to 5-1 and 1-1.

TUNING IN
Saturday’s game will air on ESPN+. James Westling, (play-by-play), Leger Douzable (analyst) and Maria Trivelpiece (reporter) will call the action. UTSA Sports Media Network will air the game live in the San Antonio area on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket, online at ticket760.com and via the free iHeartRadio app. Andy Everett (play-by-play), Jay Riley (analyst) and Ed Suarez (reporter) have the call. There will be a two-hour pregame show hosted by Pat Evans and a 45-minute postgame show.

CELEBRATING CAMPAIGN NO. 15
The Roadrunners are celebrating their 15th season of football in 2025. One of the newer FBS programs and now in its third year as a member of the American Conference, UTSA started its program from scratch and, following a practice year in 2010, played its first season as an FCS Independent in 2011 before joining the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012 campaign. UTSA moved into 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 the Big 12 Conference the following season with a 17-10 victory over Baylor. The Roadrunners made history in 2021, opening the fall with a road win against Illinois of the Big Ten Conference, capturing their first conference championship with a 49-42 decision against WKU and capping a 12-2 ledger with their third bowl game. They repeated as league champions with a 48-27 win over North Texas in 2022 and made their third straight bowl appearance, ending the year with an 11-3 mark. The Roadrunners notched their first bowl victory with a 35-17 decision over Marshall in the 2023 Frisco Bowl to cap a 9-4 ledger that include a 7-1 mark in their debut in the American. UTSA collected its second straight bowl win with a 44-15 triumph over Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to close out a seven-win campaign in 2024. UTSA has posted at least six wins in nine of its 14 previous seasons, and it has reached the seven-win plateau seven times, including in each of the first five years of the Jeff Traylor era.

LAST TIME OUT
UTSA set or tied school records for points scored, defensive scores and tackles for loss in a 61-13 Homecoming victory over Rice in American Conference action last Saturday night at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners registered three defensive scores with a Kendrick Blackshire interception return for a touchdown and a fumble return for a TD by Shad Banks Jr. on back-to-back Rice possessions to start the second half and they added a safety by Jon Jones later in the third quarter as part of a dominant defensive performance. UTSA also tallied a program-record 17 tackles for loss paced by two apiece from Tai Leonard and James Walley Jr., The Roadrunners limited the Owls to just 269 yards of offense, including only 79 passing. Offensively, the Roadrunners piled up 437 yards, 191 on the ground and 246 through the air. Owen McCown completed 15 of 21 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns, while Will Henderson III rushed for a career-high 115 yards and two TDs on only five carries. UTSA stormed out to a 38-10 halftime lead, scoring on six of its first seven possessions and posting 315 yards of offense, the most in a half since a 360-yard, first-half output against Temple on Nov. 22, 2024.

TRAYLOR TAKING ROADRUNNERS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Sixth-year head coach Jeff Traylor has taken UTSA to new heights during his time in San Antonio. The Roadrunners are 49-23 (.681) under his direction, the 10th-most wins in the FBS since 2020 including the most among current American Conference teams and tied with Texas for the most among teams from the state of Texas. UTSA boasts a 31-4 (.888) home record in the Traylor era, the fifth-most home victories since 2020 including the most among Texas FBS teams and tied with Memphis for the most among current American Conference. Additionally, the Roadrunners ran their record under Traylor to a perfect 21-0 in regular season conference home games and 23-0 against league foes when including the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA Championship Games at the Alamodome. Since Traylor — the winningest coach in program history — arrived in San Antonio, UTSA has captured a pair of conference championships, earned five straight bowl berths with back-to-back bowl wins and made a combined 23 appearances in the three major national polls. He has coached nine All-Americans, three national award finalists, 91 all-conference selections and a trio of NFL Draft picks at UTSA.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS 
The Mean Green started the season with five consecutive wins before dropping a 63-36 decision to South Florida last Friday night in Denton. North Texas is averaging 434.7 yards and 43.3 points per game while allowing 360.2 yards and 27.2 points per contest. Drew Mestemaker has completed 136 of 204 passes (66.7%) for 1,573 yards and 13 touchdowns against three interceptions. Miles Coleman is the top pass-catcher with 30 receptions for 320 yards and a TD. Caleb Hawkins has rushed for 356 yards and seven scores and Makenzie McGill II has tallied 349 yards and five TDs to pace the ground game. Defensively, Shane Whitter leads the way with 55 tackles, while Keviyan Huddleston has a team-high 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss. Head coach Eric Morris is 16-15 in his third season at UNT and he owns a 40-33 career record in seven years including a four-year stint at UIW.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the 14th meeting between UTSA and North Texas, making it the most-played series in program history. The Roadrunners have won the last four meetings and lead the series, 8-5. The Mean Green hold a 4-2 advantage in games played in Denton. Two of the last three meetings have resulted in a 48-27 victory for the Roadrunners. UTSA scored a 37-29 road win on Nov. 4, 2023, in the last matchup at DATCU Stadium.

UTSA/North Texas Series History

Date

Location

Score

11/23/13

Denton

W, 21-13

11/30/14

San Antonio

W, 34-27

10/31/15

Denton

L, 23-30

10/29/16

San Antonio

W, 31-17

10/14/17

Denton

L, 26-29

11/24/18

San Antonio

L, 21-24

9/21/19

Denton

L, 3-45

11/28/20

San Antonio

W, 49-17

11/27/21

Denton

L, 23-45

10/22/22

San Antonio

W, 31-27

12/2/22

San Antonio

W, 48-27

11/4/23

Denton

W, 37-29

11/15/24

San Antonio

W, 48-27

WHO’S COUNTING?
Now in their 15th season of play, the Roadrunners will play the 179th game in program history on Saturday when they face North Texas in Denton. UTSA is 94-84 (.528) all-time and 36-50 (.419) on the road. By comparison, North Texas has been playing football since 1913 and owns an all-time record of 554-549-34.

LAST MEETING
UTSA used a balanced offensive attack to set a school record for total yards and Zah Frazier picked off two passes to help guide the Roadrunners to a 48-27 victory over North Texas on Nov. 15, 2024, at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners racked up 681 yards of offense on the night, rushing for 302 yards and passing for 379 in their fourth straight win over the Mean Green. Owen McCown directed the record-setting offensive output, completing 29 of 43 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a career-best 88 yards on 10 attempts, giving him 467 yards of offense. Robert Henry Jr. piled up 168 rushing yards and a pair of TDs on 20 carries including an 83-yard touchdown dash. David Amador II also topped the century mark through the air, piling up 122 yards and a TD on nine catches. In addition to his two interceptions, Frazier broke up three passes and registered four tackles, including one for a loss.

SUCCESS ON THE GROUND
UTSA has had success rushing the football against North Texas in the Jeff Traylor era. Since his arrival for the 2020 season, the Roadrunners have racked up a total of 1,721 yards in six games against North Texas, good for an average of 268.8 per game. Over the last two meetings, UTSA has tallied 589 yards on the ground, including 302 in last year’s 48-27 home victory that saw the Roadrunners break the program record for total offense with 681 yards. In his first UTSA/UNT matchup in 2020, the ground game set a school record with 443 rushing yards on the strength of former All-American Sincere McCormick’s school-record 251 yards en route to a 49-17 home triumph.

UTSA Offense vs. North Texas — Jeff Traylor Era

Date

Total Yards

Rushing Yards

Passing Yards

Result

11/28/20

624

443*

181

W, 49-17

11/27/21

366

205

161

L, 23-45

10/22/22

495

257

238

W, 31-27

12/2/22

571

227

344

W, 48-27

11/4/23

421

287

134

W, 37-29

11/15/24

681*

302

327

W, 48-27

* school record

UTSA VERSUS IN-STATE FOES
The Roadrunners are 39-25 (.609) all-time against teams from the state of Texas including 19-9 (.679) under sixth-year head coach Jeff Traylor. North Texas is the last of five opponents from the Lone Star State on this season’s regular season ledger, which also included Texas A&M, Texas State, UIW and Rice.

FAMILIAR FOES
UTSA will face familiar foes in 2025, as the Roadrunners have previously faced all 12 teams on the regular season schedule. The most-played series in program history is with North Texas, and the two teams will meet for the 14th time this Saturday with UTSA holding an 8-5 edge. The Roadrunners and Rice played for the 13th time on Oct. 11 with UTSA now boasting a 9-4 advantage. UTSA and Texas State met for the seventh time in the home opener, while the regular season finale will mark the sixth meeting with Army.

HENRY HONORED BY THE ATHLETIC
UTSA senior Robert Henry Jr. has landed on The Athletic Midseason All-America Team, which was unveiled on Oct. 15. A native of Lumberton, Mississippi, he earned one of the two second-team spots at running back. He has emerged as one of the top rushers in the FBS this season. Through the first six games, he has piled up 730 yards and eight touchdowns on 92 carries. He also has caught 14 passes for 105 yards and a pair of scores, giving him 835 all-purpose yards.

LAPEZE LANDS ON CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST LIST
UTSA redshirt junior Luke Lapeze has been chosen as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. Celebrating its 36th year, the Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The Humble, Texas, native is one of 177 semifinalists for the award, marking the ninth consecutive year that a Roadrunner has made the semifinalist list. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in December 2024, graduating with a 3.36 GPA. A two-time American Conference All-Academic Team selection, he has made the UTSA Honor Roll three times and the Dean’s List once.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
UTSA is no stranger to close contests in the Jeff Traylor era, as 41 of the 72 have been one-score ballgames in the fourth quarter. The Roadrunners own a 26-15 record (.634) in those games. Dating back to the 2021 campaign, UTSA has seen 28 of the last 51 contests decided in the fourth quarter or later. Since 2020, the Roadrunners are 20-12 (.625) in games decided by eight points or less.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE UNVEILS 2026 SCHEDULING MODEL
The American Conference has announced the pairings for the league’s 2026 football schedule, which were unanimously approved by the league’s athletic directors last week. The 2026 season will once again see all 14 American teams play eight conference games, with four home games and four road dates for each team. UTSA will host home games against Navy, North Texas, South Florida and Tulsa in 2026. The Roadrunners are slated for road contests against Florida Atlantic, Rice, Tulane and UAB next year.

UP NEXT
The Roadrunners will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 30, when they host Tulane in a nationally televised conference matchup at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

-UTSA-