Game #5
Conference Opener
UTSA Roadrunners (2-2, 0-0)
at
East Carolina Pirates (2-2, 0-0)
3 p.m. CT | Saturday, Sept. 28
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium | Greenville, N.C.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: UTSA Sports Media Network / Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket
Live Stats: goUTSA.com/fbstats
Series History: UTSA leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: UTSA 41, ECU 27 (10/28/23 • San Antonio, Texas)
OPENING DRIVE
• UTSA and East Carolina will meet for the second time on Saturday.
• The Roadrunners registered a 41-27 home triumph over the Pirates in the first meeting on Oct. 28, 2023.
• UTSA is 8-4 all-time and a perfect 4-0 under head coach Jeff Traylor in conference openers.
• The Roadrunners will open league play on the road for the third consecutive season and ninth time overall.
• UTSA is 27-4 (.871) in regular season conference games in the Jeff Traylor era and 29-4 (.879) when including the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA Championship Games.
• The Roadrunners have been victorious in 15 of their last 16 regular season league contests.
• UTSA logged a 7-1 conference record in 2023 in its American Athletic Conference debut season.
• Jeff Traylor boasts a 41-16 overall record at UTSA, the most wins and best winning percentage (.719) in program history.
• Traylor will match Larry Coker for most games coached at UTSA with his 58th against East Carolina this Saturday.
• UTSA has won 10 of its last 13 games dating back to last October.
• The Roadrunners are riding a streak of 14 consecutive games with a takeaway and a sack.
SETTING THE SCENE
Fresh off a 45-7 victory over Houston Christian to close out the non-conference slate, UTSA will open American Athletic Conference play against East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Central time at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina, and the game will air on ESPN+ and Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket. The Roadrunners and Pirates will carry identical 2-2 records in the league lid-lifter, in what will be the second meeting between the two teams. UTSA scored a 41-27 home triumph over ECU on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Alamodome.
TUNING IN
Saturday’s game will air on ESPN+ and via the ESPN mobile app. Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Reginald Walker Jr. (analyst) 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.
LAST TIME OUT
UTSA piled up a season-high 536 yards of offense and a school-record 34 first downs and held Houston Christian to just 177 yards in a 45-7 victory last Saturday at the Alamodome. Bryson Donnell and Brandon High Jr. each rushed for a game-high 74 yards, while Kevorian Barnes added 64 yards to lead the ground game. Owen McCown completed 18 of 25 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Devin McCuin had a team-best five receptions for 43 yards and a TD, and Willie McCoy racked up 85 yards and a score on two catches. Defensively, Jimmori Robinson had seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal to help the Roadrunners limit the Huskies to seven points and 50 rushing yards, the fewest allowed since Rice ran for 47 on Nov. 11, 2023. UTSA totaled seven TFLs, including four sacks, as Joe Evans, Owen Pewee and Ronald Triplette joined Robinson in the sack column. The Roadrunners also kept their turnover streak alive on Robinson’s forced fumble and recovery in the first quarter, extending the stretch of consecutive games with a takeaway to 14.
UTSA IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
UTSA is 8-4 all-time in conference openers, including a perfect 4-0 under head coach Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners beat Middle Tennessee in three straight Conference USA lid-lifters before scoring a 49-34 road triumph over Temple last year in their American Athletic Conference debut. This will mark the third straight and ninth time overall that the Roadrunners have opened the league slate on the road.
UTSA’s Conference Openers (8-4)
|
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
|
9/29/12 |
at New Mexico State |
W, 35-14 |
|
9/21/13 |
at UTEP |
W, 32-13 |
|
9/27/14 |
at Florida Atlantic |
L, 37-41 |
|
10/3/15 |
at UTEP |
W, 25-6 |
|
9/24/16 |
at Old Dominion |
L, 19-33 |
|
10/7/17 |
Southern Miss |
L, 29-31 |
|
9/29/18 |
UTEP |
W, 30-21 |
|
9/21/19 |
at North Texas |
L, 3-45 |
|
9/25/20 |
Middle Tennessee |
W, 37-35 |
|
9/18/21 |
Middle Tennessee |
W, 27-13 |
|
9/30/22 |
at Middle Tennessee |
W, 45-30 |
|
10/7/23 |
at Temple |
W, 49-34 |
ON EASTERN TIME
The Roadrunners will play the first of two regular season games in the Eastern time zone this season. UTSA is 7-8 all-time in games played in the Eastern time zone with road wins against Georgia State in 2012, Charlotte in 2015, Old Dominion in 2019, Army West Point and FIU in 2022 and Temple and Florida Atlantic last fall.
UTSA in the Eastern Time Zone (7-8)
|
Date |
Result |
Location |
|
9/15/12 |
UTSA 38, Georgia State 14 |
Atlanta, Ga. |
|
10/5/13 |
Marshall 34, UTSA 10 |
Huntington, W.Va. |
|
9/27/14 |
Florida Atlantic 41, UTSA 37 |
Boca Raton, Fla. |
|
11/14/15 |
UTSA 30, Charlotte 27 (OT) |
Charlotte, N.C. |
|
9/24/16 |
Old Dominion 33, UTSA 19 |
Norfolk, Va. |
|
11/4/17 |
FIU 14, UTSA 7 |
Miami, Fla. |
|
11/17/18 |
Marshall 23, UTSA 0 |
Huntington, W.Va. |
|
11/9/19 |
UTSA 24, Old Dominion 23 |
Norfolk, Va. |
|
10/31/20 |
Florida Atlantic 24, UTSA 3 |
Boca Raton, Fla. |
|
9/10/22 |
UTSA 41, Army 38 |
West Point, N.Y. |
|
10/14/22 |
UTSA 30, FIU 10 |
Miami, Fla. |
|
12/16/22 |
Troy 18, UTSA 12 |
Orlando, Fla. |
|
9/23/23 |
Tennessee 45, UTSA 14 |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
|
10/7/23 |
UTSA 49, Temple 34 |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
|
10/21/23 |
UTSA 36, Florida Atlantic 10 |
Boca Raton, Fla. |
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates fell to 2-2 on the season with a 35-24 road setback to Liberty on Saturday night. East Carolina opened the campaign with back-to-win wins over Norfolk State (42-3) and Old Dominion (20-14) before dropping the last two to Appalachian State (21-19) and Liberty. The Pirates are averaging 26.3 points and 406.8 yards per game while allowing 18.3 points and 330.0 yards per contest. Zakye Baker paces the defense with 38 total tackles, including a team-high six for loss. Gavin Gibson and Shavon Revel Jr. share the team lead with two interceptions apiece. Offensively, Jake Garcia has completed 86 of 138 passes for 1,021 yards and five touchdowns, but he has thrown nine interceptions this year. Winston Wright Jr. is the top pass-catcher with 18 receptions for 207 yards and a TD. Rahjai Harris leads the ground game with 289 rushing yards and three scores on 63 carries. Head coach Mike Houston is 26-36 in his sixth season at the helm.
SERIES HISTORY
This will mark the second meeting between UTSA and East Carolina. The Roadrunners registered a 41-27 victory over the Pirates in the first matchup on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Alamodome.
LAST MEETING
Frank Harris threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns and Trey Moore had three sacks to break the program’s single-season record and help UTSA to a 41-27 victory over East Carolina in American Athletic Conference action on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Alamodome. Harris completed 20 of 32 passes to rack up a season high in passing yards while notching his 12th career 300-yard game. The senior found eight different receivers, including Joshua Cephus, who piled up a career-high 183 yards — the third-most in program history — and a touchdown on only four catches. In fact, his TD went for 84 yards, the longest pass play in school annals. UTSA tallied a season-high 516 yards of offense, as Tykee Ogle-Kellogg hauled in five passes for 85 yards and a pair of scores while Rocko Griffin rushed for 80 yards on only five attempts. Meanwhile, Moore eclipsed Clarence Hicks’s school standard for sacks in a season of 10.5 from the 2021 campaign. The defense also came up with a takeaway for the fifth game in a row, as Elliott Davison picked off a pass in the end zone. Jamal Ligon and Ken Robinson matched Moore with seven stops, while Brandon Matterson and Owen Pewee each registered a sack to give the Roadrunners five for the game.
WHO’S COUNTING?
Now in their 14th season of play, the Roadrunners will play the 164th game in program history on Saturday when they face East Carolina. UTSA is 86-77 (.528) all-time and 34-44 (.436) in road games. East Carolina has been playing football since 1932 and owns an all-time record of 466-456-11.
UTSA PICKED SECOND IN AAC PRESEASON POLL
UTSA was picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll. The Roadrunners received 368 points and four first-place votes to check in at second behind Memphis, which had 409 points and 23 first-place votes.
2024 American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll
|
|
|
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|
|
1. |
Memphis (23) |
409 |
|
|
2. |
UTSA (4) |
368 |
|
|
3. |
Tulane (2) |
362 |
|
|
4. |
South Florida |
339 |
|
|
5. |
Army (1) |
236 |
|
|
6. |
Florida Atlantic |
228 |
|
|
7. |
East Carolina |
219 |
|
|
|
Rice |
219 |
|
|
9. |
North Texas |
216 |
|
|
10. |
UAB |
192 |
|
|
11. |
Navy |
150 |
|
|
12. |
Tulsa |
95 |
|
|
13. |
Charlotte |
77 |
|
|
14. |
Temple |
40 |
TRAYLOR TAKING ROADRUNNERS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Head coach Jeff Traylor has guided 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 41-16 record through 57 games, the most wins all-time and best winning percentage (.719) by a UTSA head football coach. In fact, he will match Larry Coker’s program standard for most games coached of 58 set from 2011-15 with the East Carolina game this weekend. In the Jeff Traylor era, the Roadrunners are 25-3 (.93) at home. They own a 27-4 (.871) record in regular season conference games and are 29-4 (.879) 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, has been nationally ranked in all three major polls in 2021 and 2022 and has played in a bowl game in each of his four seasons, including defeating Marshall, 35-17, in the 2023 Frisco Bowl for the program’s first bowl win. The two-time conference coach of the year has coached eight All-Americans, three national award finalists, 13 national award semifinalists, seven conference superlative award recipients, 83 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 14
One of the newest FBS programs and now in its second year as a member of the American Athletic Conference, UTSA is in its 14th season of football in 2024. 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. Last fall, the Roadrunners notched their first bowl victory with a 35-17 decision over Marshall in the Frisco Bowl to cap a 9-4 ledger that include a 7-1 mark in their debut in The American. UTSA now has posted at least six wins in eight of the 13 full 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.
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners are idle next weekend before they return to action against Rice on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Houston, Texas.
-UTSA-