UTSA Roadrunners (7-3, 6-0)
vs.
South Florida Bulls (5-5, 3-3)
8 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 11
Alamodome | San Antonio, Texas
Series History: First meeting
OPENING DRIVE
• UTSA and South Florida will meet for the first time on Friday night.
• UTSA is tied with SMU and Tulane at 6-0 atop the American Athletic Conference standings.
• The Roadrunners have won 14 straight regular season conference games and 16 consecutive contests against conference foes when including the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA Championship Games.
• UTSA has won 20 of its last 22 home games and is 22-3 (.880) at the Alamodome under head coach Jeff Traylor.
• The Roadrunners are 17-0 versus league foes at home under Jeff Traylor.
• With Jeff Traylor at the helm, UTSA boasts a 26-3 (.897) record in regular season conference games and a 28-3 (.903) mark versus league competition when including the two C-USA Championship Games.
• The Roadrunners are 12-1 in the month of November under Jeff Traylor
• UTSA is 7-6 all time in weekday games, including 6-3 on Fridays.
• The Roadrunners are 37-13 (.740) in the Jeff Traylor era, the most wins and best winning percentage by a UTSA head coach.
• UTSA will honor 18 seniors during a pregame ceremony on Friday night.
• Redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Trey Moore’s school-record 14 sacks are only a half-sack shy of The American’s single-season record.
•UTSA defensive coordinator Jess Loepp has been named a nominee for the Frank Broyles Award.
SETTING THE SCENE
Winners of six straight games and tied for first place in the American Athletic Conference, UTSA (7-3, 6-0) will look to keep pace in league title race when it hosts South Florida (5-5, 3-3) on Friday, Nov. 17. Kickoff in the first meeting between the two schools is set for 8 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The Roadrunners have won 16 consecutive games against conference opponents and are 17-0 against league foes at home under fourth-year head coach Jeff Traylor.
TUNING IN
Friday’s game will air on ESPN2, on WatchESPN and via the ESPN mobile app. Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst) and Paul Carcaterra (reporter) will call the action. The game will air live in the San Antonio area on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket, online at Ticket760.com, via the free iHeartRadio app and on SiriusXM 392. Andy Everett (play-by-play), Jay Riley (analyst) and Pat Evans (reporter) have the call. There will be a two-hour pregame and 45-minute postgame show.
REMEMBER NOVEMBER
UTSA owns a 12-1 record in games played in the month of November under head coach Jeff Traylor following last Saturday’s 34-14 home victory over Rice. The Roadrunners are 2-0 this season after going 3-0 in his debut campaign in 2020, 3-1 in 2021 and 4-0 a year ago.
UTSA in November (Jeff Traylor era)
|
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Location |
|
11/14/20 |
UTEP |
W, 52-21 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/21/20 |
Southern Miss |
W, 23-20 |
Hattiesburg, Miss. |
|
11/28/20 |
North Texas |
W, 49-17 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/6/21 |
UTEP |
W, 44-23 |
El Paso, Texas |
|
11/13/21 |
Southern Miss |
W, 27-17 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/20/21 |
UAB |
W, 34-31 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/27/21 |
North Texas |
L, 23-45 |
Denton, Texas |
|
11/5/22 |
UAB |
W, 44-38 (2OT) |
Birmingham, Ala. |
|
11/12/22 |
Louisiana Tech |
W, 51-7 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/19/22 |
Rice |
W, 41-7 |
Houston, Texas |
|
11/26/22 |
UTEP |
W, 34-31 |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
11/4/23 |
North Texas |
W, 37-29 |
Denton, Texas |
|
11/11/23 |
Rice |
W, 34-14 |
San Antonio, Texas |
LAST TIME OUT
Bolstered by a stiff defense and balanced offensive attack, UTSA remained in a tie atop the American Athletic Conference standings with a 34-14 victory over Rice last Saturday night at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners held the Owls to 229 yards of offense while countering that with 199 rushing yards and 182 through the air to improve to 7-3 overall and 6-0 in the league. Jamal Ligon paced the defense with seven tackles, all unassisted, while Trey Moore registered a pair of sacks to match Marcus Davenport’s career program record of 22.0. Offensively, Rocko Griffin rushed for a game-high 81 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts, good for 6.8 yards per carry, while Robert Henry piled up 63 yards and a score on 19 totes. Frank Harris added 31 yards on the ground to go with 175 yards and a TD on 15-of-24 passing. Armed with a slim 10-7 advantage at the half, the Roadrunners scored back-to-back, unanswered touchdowns in a one-minute, 45-second span in the third quarter, eventually tacking on a third TD to break the game open with the 21-point period.
GOING BOWLING
UTSA is bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year and sixth time in program history. The Roadrunners have played in a bowl game in each of the first three seasons under head coach Jeff Traylor. UTSA dropped a 31-24 decision to No. 16 Louisiana in the 2020 First Responder Bowl, a 38-24 contest to No. 24 San Diego State in the 2021 Frisco Bowl and an 18-12 matchup against No. 23 Troy in last year’s Cure Bowl. The Roadrunners made their first bowl appearance in the 2016 New Mexico Bowl, falling to New Mexico, 23-20. UTSA was bowl eligible in 2017 with a 6-5 regular season record but was left out of the postseason picture. Additionally, the Roadrunners were 7-5 in 2013 during their second year of reclassifying to FBS, but all bowl slots were filled by full-fledged FBS teams.
SENIOR NIGHT
UTSA will honor 18 seniors in a pregame ceremony on the field. The Roadrunners will recognize Daron Allman, Ernesto Almaraz, Trumane Bell II, Oscar Cardenas, Joshua Cephus, Lucas Dean, Joe Evans, Nicktroy Fortune, Rocko Griffin, Frank Harris, Makai Hart, Terrell Haynes, Payne He’Bert, Brandon Matterson, Kelechi Nwachuku, Tykee Ogle-Kellogg, Kyle Wakefield and Rashad Wisdom.
ROADRUNNERS RACING THROUGH CONFERENCE COMPETITION
The Roadrunners have won their last 16 games against conference opponents. The streak began with the 49-41 victory over Western Kentucky in the 2021 Conference USA Championship and continued with a perfect 8-0 regular season league slate in 2022 before extending the stretch to 10 with a 48-27 triumph over North Texas in the 2022 C-USA Championship Game. UTSA has kicked off its American Athletic Conference debut campaign with six wins in a row, including a 34-14 home triumph over Rice last Saturday. The Roadrunners now have won 26 of their last 27 contests against conference competition dating back to a three-game win streak that closed out the 2020 C-USA schedule in Jeff Traylor’s first season. In fact, UTSA boasts a 26-3 (.897) record in regular season conference games and a 28-3 (.903) mark against league foes under Traylor. Additionally, the Roadrunners are 17-0 at home versus league foes in the Traylor era.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
This week, UTSA will play on a Friday for the second time this season and sixth time dating back to last season. The Roadrunners appeared on Friday four times in 2022 and posted a 3-1 record in those contests. UTSA, which also has a scheduled Black Friday appearance next week against Tulane, will enter this week’s matchup against South Florida with a 6-3 all-time record on Fridays. Additionally, the Roadrunners have played 13 non-Saturday games in their 13-year history and they tote a 7-6 mark in weekday games.
UTSA’s Non-Saturday Games (7-6)
|
Day |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
|
Friday |
8/29/14 |
at Houston |
W, 27-7 |
|
Thursday |
9/4/14 |
Arizona |
L, 23-26 |
|
Thursday |
11/13/14 |
Southern Miss |
W, 12-10 |
|
Thursday |
9/3/15 |
at Arizona |
L, 32-42 |
|
Friday |
9/16/16 |
Arizona State |
L, 28-32 |
|
Friday |
9/25/20 |
Middle Tennessee |
W, 37-35 |
|
Friday |
12/3/21 |
Western Kentucky |
W, 49-41 |
|
Tuesday |
12/21/21 |
vs. #24 San Diego State |
L, 24-38 |
|
Friday |
9/30/22 |
at Middle Tennessee |
W, 45-30 |
|
Friday |
10/14/22 |
at FIU |
W, 30-10 |
|
Friday |
12/2/22 |
North Texas |
W, 48-27 |
|
Friday |
12/16/22 |
vs. #23 Troy |
L, 12-18 |
|
Friday |
9/15/23 |
Army West Point |
L, 29-37 |
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
The Bulls improved to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the American Athletic Conference with a 27-23 victory over Temple last Saturday. South Florida is averaging 30.1 points and 453.4 yards per game while allowing 35.6 points and 452.2 yards per contest. Byrum Brown has completed 212 of 332 passes for 2,538 yards and 18 touchdowns against eight interceptions, and he has added 659 yards and nine scores on the ground. Nay’Qan Wright is the leading rusher with 690 yards and six TDs, while Sean Atkins has a team-high 69 receptions for 808 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, Jhalyn Shuler paces the team with 68 tackles, while Daquan Evans has 11 tackles for loss and three sacks. Head coach Alex Golesh is in his first season at the helm.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between UTSA and South Florida, which has been a member of the American Athletic Conference since the league’s inception in 2013.
SIMILAR STARTUP
Now in their 13th season of play, the Roadrunners will play the 157th game in program history on Friday when they face South Florida. UTSA is 82-74 all-time and 48-30 at home. A similar modern startup program, USF played its first season of football in 1997 and owns an all-time record of 166-153.
HOME SWEET DOME
UTSA has been tough to beat at the Alamodome during the Jeff Traylor era. The Roadrunners have won 20 of their last 22 home contests and are 22-3 (.880) at the facility since his arrival prior to the 2020 season. UTSA reeled off a school-record 10-game win streak at home that started with a 27-26 victory over Louisiana Tech on Oct. 24, 2020, and ran through the 49-41 win against WKU in the 2021 Conference USA Championship Game before it was snapped in triple overtime against No. 24 Houston in the 2022 season opener. The Roadrunners have won 10 of the last 11 at home and are 48-30 (.615) all-time in the Alamodome. Additionally, UTSA is 17-0 at home versus conference opponents under head coach Jeff Traylor.
PACKING THE DOME
UTSA fans have packed the Alamodome over the past two-plus seasons, as five of the program’s nine-largest home crowds have been recorded during that span. Two of the most recent home games now rank second and fourth on the all-time chart, as 49,342 fans watched UTSA beat Texas State in the 2023 home opener to mark the second-largest crowd in program history. In the final home contest last season, the Roadrunners raced past North Texas, 48-27, to capture their second straight Conference USA Championship in front of 41,412 fans, which now ranks fourth on the list of largest home crowds. That figure edged the 41,148 fans who watched UTSA outlast WKU, 49-41, in the 2021 C-USA Championship Game, now the fifth-largest home attendance. The 2022 season opener against 24th-ranked Houston drew 37,526 fans, which ranks eighth all-time, just ahead of the 34-31 thriller against UAB in front 35,147 fans in 2021. The UTSA/Texas State crowd is the second-largest in the American Athletic Conference this season behind South Florida’s home game versus Alabama that drew 65,138. UTSA ranks fourth in The American, seventh among state of Texas FBS schools and 71st nationally in average home attendance (30,232). UTSA led C-USA in average home attendance in each of the past two seasons, averaging 28,917 per game last fall and 26,643 in 2021. A total of 540,082 fans have filed into the Alamodome to watch the Roadrunners since the return from COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season. In fact, UTSA is approaching the two-million mark all-time, sitting at 1,966,335 fans entering this week’s regular season home finale versus USF. UTSA set NCAA modern startup program records in its first season by drawing 56,743 fans to the inaugural game against Northeastern State on Sept. 3, 2011, and by averaging 35,521 fans for six home contests.
UTSA’s Top 10 Home Crowds
|
Attendance |
Date |
Opponent |
|
56,743 |
9/3/11 |
Northeastern State |
|
49,342 |
9/9/23 |
Texas State |
|
42,071 |
9/8/18 |
Baylor |
|
41,412 |
12/2/22 |
North Texas |
|
41,148 |
12/3/21 |
Western Kentucky |
|
40,977 |
9/7/13 |
Oklahoma State |
|
39,032 |
11/24/12 |
Texas State |
|
37,526 |
9/3/22 |
Houston |
|
35,147 |
11/20/21 |
UAB |
|
33,517 |
9/24/11 |
Bacone |
AAC WEEKLY AWARD RECIPIENTS
UTSA has collected four American Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards this season. Outside linebacker Trey Moore has earned the honor three times, picking up the AAC Defensive Player of the Week certificate following wins against Texas State, UAB and East Carolina. Chase Allen garnered the AAC Special Teams Player of the Week accolade following the Texas State win.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
UTSA is no stranger to close contests in the Jeff Traylor era, as 30 of the 50 have been one-score ballgames in the fourth quarter. The Roadrunners own a 21-9 record in those games. Dating back to the 2021 campaign, UTSA has seen 17 of the last 28 contests decided in the fourth quarter or later. Additionally, the Roadrunners are 13-4 in games decided by eight points or less since 2021.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Roadrunners were working overtime in 2022, with a program-record three contests needing extra periods to determine the outcome. UTSA played the first back-to-back overtime games in program history to open the campaign. The Roadrunners dropped a 37-35 decision to No. 24 Houston in triple overtime in the opener. One week later, UTSA rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to score a 41-38 road triumph over Army West Point in one extra period. On Nov. 5 in Birmingham, the Roadrunners outlasted UAB 44-38 in double overtime to improve to 2-1 last season and 5-3 overall in overtime games. UTSA played overtime, double-overtime and triple-overtime games last season and joined Houston, Navy and Texas Tech as the only FBS teams to have played three overtime contests last year.
UTSA’s All-Time Overtime Games (5-3)
|
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
|
10/8/11 |
South Alabama |
L, 27-30 (2OT) |
|
10/29/11 |
Georgia State |
W, 17-14 (OT) |
|
11/14/15 |
at Charlotte |
W, 30-27 (OT) |
|
10/22/16 |
UTEP |
L, 49-52 (5OT) |
|
9/12/20 |
at Texas State |
W, 51-48 (2OT) |
|
9/3/22 |
Houston |
L, 35-37 (3OT) |
|
9/10/22 |
at Army West Point |
W, 41-38 (OT) |
|
11/5/22 |
at UAB |
W, 44-38 (2OT) |
UTSA PICKED SECOND IN AAC PRESEASON POLL
The Roadrunners have been picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll. UTSA received 440 total points and nine first-place votes ahead of its debut campaign in the AAC, good for second behind defending champion Tulane, which garnered 457 points and 20 first-place votes. SMU was projected to finish third, followed by Memphis, Florida Atlantic, East Carolina, North Texas, UAB, Navy, Temple, Tulsa, Rice, South Florida and Charlotte in the 14-team league.
American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll
|
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|
1. Tulane (20) |
457 |
|
2. UTSA (9) |
440 |
|
3. SMU (3) |
397 |
|
4. Memphis (1) |
362 |
|
5. Florida Atlantic |
312 |
|
6. East Carolina |
303 |
|
7. North Texas |
261 |
|
8. UAB (1) |
209 |
|
9. Navy |
199 |
|
10. Temple |
182 |
|
11. Tulsa |
160 |
|
12. Rice |
138 |
|
13. South Florida |
86 |
|
14. Charlotte |
64 |
TRAYLOR TAKING ROADRUNNERS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Head coach Jeff Traylor has taken UTSA to new heights since taking over the program prior to the 2020 campaign. The Gilmer, Texas, native has turned around the program by instilling his 210 Triangle of Toughness culture, producing results on and off the field. Taking over a team that won a combined seven games in the two seasons prior to his arrival, he has led the Roadrunners to a 37-13 record through 50 games, the most wins all-time and best winning percentage (.740) by a UTSA head football coach. In the Jeff Traylor era, the Roadrunners own a 26-3 (.897) record in regular season conference games and are 28-3 (.903) against league competition when including the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA Championship Games. Under Traylor’s direction, UTSA has won back-to-back conference championships, been nationally ranked in all three major polls in 2021 and 2022 and is now bowl eligible for the fourth year in a row. The two-time conference coach of the year has coached six All-Americans, three national award finalists, 13 national award semifinalists, six conference superlative award recipients, 67 all-conference selections, two academic All-Americans and a pair of NFL Draft picks during his UTSA tenure. He was the 2021 AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year and he has been a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year twice in addition to being a finalist for the 2022 Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards Coach of the Year, 2021 AFCA National Coach of the Year and the 2021 George Munger College Coach of the Year.
SEASON 13
One of the newest FBS programs and now in its first year as a member of the American Athletic Conference, UTSA is playing its 13th season of football in 2023. The Roadrunners started their program from scratch and, following a practice year 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 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 and fourth overall bowl appearance, ending the year with an 11-3 mark. UTSA now has posted at least six wins in eight of the 13 seasons in program history and it has reached the seven-win plateau six times, including in each of the first four years of the Jeff Traylor era. The Roadrunners reached double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons (2021-22), joining Baylor and TCU as the only Texas-based FBS teams since 2012 to notch at least 10 wins in consecutive years.
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners will close out the regular season on Friday, Nov. 24, against Tulane. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the game will be televised nationally on ABC.
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