Series Overview: UTSA leads 3-0
Last Matchup: UTSA sealed the game after an errant QB draw turned into a safety for the Roadrunners leading to a 25-21 victory for UTSA.
Rivalry Week is here.
Time to discard any navy blue and orange colors. Put away any roadrunner themed items. Trash talk any UTSA diehard into oblivion and gear up for one best weeks during the Texas State football season.
Texas State and UTSA meetup again in the fourth edition of the I-35 Rivalry after taking a one year break from each other. The Bobcats are flying high despite a loss against SMU and are looking for their first win of the season against their arch rivals down south.
As teams prep for this week’s game, here are some key factors to look out for.
1) UTSA rushing attack vs the Bobcat DefenseIt’s fair to say the Texas State defense held their own against the vaunted SMU offense.
Holding the Mustangs to 31 points, forcing three turnovers, and an epic fourth down stop, the defense did it’s job by not allowing SMU to run away with the game and helped an improved Texas State offense keep up with the Mustangs.
With UTSA having a four way quarterback battle, and no wide receivers returning with more than 500 yards receiving, the Roadrunners will likely lean on sophomore running back Sincere McCormick for the offensive attack. In 2019 McCormick was named a (FWAA) Freshman All-american after tallying 8 TD and 1,177 all-purpose yards including 983 yards rushing at an average of 5.55 per carry and 81.9 yards per game.
If Texas State can bundle up the UTSA run game and force an unproven Roadrunner passing attack to the air, the Bobcats should be successful.
2) The Bobcat offense looked improvedWith one game under their belt, the Bobcat offense looks leaps and bounds better than last year and perhaps better than the last five years.
The dynamic rushing duo of Brock Sturges and Calvin Hill, a gunslinger of a quarterback in Brady McBride and a wide receiver core that just flat out balled last Saturday, has given hope that Texas State’s offense may be on a roll. But even better news is that the Bobcat offense can still improve from their SMU performance.
Despite all the good things the offense showed on Saturday, the passing game needs to improve their completion percentage (53%), the O-Line needs to give McBride more time and Coach Spavital needs to find the right play scheme for his quarterback. Overall though, all signs are pointing towards a bright future.
If the Bobcats can take another step forward in their offensive progress and exploit UTSA’s unproven inside linebackers, there is no telling how high this offense can soar this week.
3) The Elephant in the RoomFor whatever reason, UTSA has seemed to be one step ahead of Texas State in every football matchup between the schools since the two made the jump to FBS in 2012. Texas State has yet to defeat UTSA in three attempts.
But the agony goes farther.
Although Texas State was bowl eligible in both 2013 and 2014, it was UTSA who saw their first bowl game in 2016. UTSA was also first to beat a Power 5 team. (Baylor 2017) Since launching their football program in 2011, UTSA has had the jump on Texas State in every performance metric.
But all of that could change this Saturday.
A key milestone for a Texas State program looking to right itself would be ridding themselves of that King Kong size Roadrunner on their backs. What better way to do that than on national television?
Best Case Scenario: Texas State establishes the run early to open their passing attack. With a game under his belt, McBride settles down early and throttles an unprepared UTSA on national television. The Roadrunners are sent home licking their wounds while the Bobcats celebrate by burying the UTSA Curse deep beneath Bobcat Stadium.
Worst case scenario: After an excellent showing against SMU, the Bobcats come out flat. UTSA takes advantage and pulls out yet another win over Texas State. If UTSA manages to steal this game, one would have to question if Texas State will ever get over the hump.
