Game Preview: UTSA vs. Texas State

The UTSA Roadrunners are preparing for the home opener against the Texas State Bobcats.

UTSA dropped a 17-14 decision at Houston in the season opener on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium in Houston. The Bobcats upset Baylor, 42-31, last Saturday night in Waco.

Kickoff for UTSA vs. Texas State is Saturday night at 6 p.m. The game can be heard live on Ticket 760.

OPENING DRIVE

• UTSA will host Texas State in the home opener this Saturday at the Alamodome.

• The game is UTSA’s annual Let’s Go 210/Blue Out.

• UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor coached Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne during his senior year (2006) at Gilmer High School.

• The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 4-0, including a 2-0 mark in San Antonio.

• UTSA won the last meeting, 51-48, in two overtimes in what was Jeff Traylor’s debut as head coach on Sept. 12, 2020, in San Marcos.

• The Roadrunners are 7-5 all-time in home openers.

• UTSA has won six straight and 16 of its last 17 home games.

• The Roadrunners are 30-11 under Jeff Traylor, including a 23-6 mark dating back to the 2021 season, tied with Cincinnati and Ohio State for the fourth-best win total among FBS teams during that span behind only Georgia (30), Michigan (26) and Alabama (25).

• UTSA is 32-20 overall and 12-4 under Jeff Traylor versus teams from the state of Texas.

SETTING THE SCENE

UTSA will host Texas State in the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 9, for the annual Let’s Go 210/Blue Out Game. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will air on ESPN+ and KTKR-AM Ticket 760. The Roadrunners and the Bobcats will meet for the fifth time in a series that has seen UTSA win each of the four previous matchups. UTSA is coming off a 17-14 setback at Houston, while Texas State scored a 42-31 road upset of Baylor last Saturday. The Roadrunners have won six straight and 16 of their last 17 home games. UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor coached Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne during his senior year at Gilmer High School in 2006.

HOME DEBUTS

UTSA is 7-5 all-time in home openers, including 2-1 under fourth-year head coach Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners have won five of their last seven home debuts.

HOME SWEET DOME 

UTSA has been tough to beat at the Alamodome during the Jeff Traylor era. The Roadrunners have won 16 of their last 17 home contests and are 18-2 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 their last six at home and are 44-29 all-time in the Alamodome. 

 

PACKING THE DOME 

UTSA fans have packed the Alamodome over the past two seasons, as four of the program’s eight-largest home crowds have been recorded during that span. In their last home appearance, the Roadrunners raced past North Texas, 48-27, to capture their second straight Conference USA Championship in front of 41,412 fans, the third-largest home crowd in program history. That figure edged the 41,148 fans who watched UTSA outlast WKU, 49-41, in the 2021 C-USA Championship Game, marking the fourth-largest home attendance. The 2022 season opener against 24th-ranked Houston drew 37,526 fans, which ranks seventh all-time, just ahead of the 34-31 thriller against UAB in front 35,147 fans in 2021. Additionally, 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 388,920 fans have filed into the Alamodome to watch the Roadrunners since the return from COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season. 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 VERSUS IN-STATE FOES 

The Roadrunners are 32-20 all-time against teams from the state of Texas including a 12-4 mark under fourth-year head coach Jeff Traylor. Texas State will mark the second of four opponents from the Lone Star State on the 2023 schedule, joining Houston (Sept. 2), North Texas (Nov. 4) and Rice (Nov. 11).  

 

UTSA vs. Texas teams 

1-2 vs. Baylor 

1-3 vs. Houston 

1-0 vs. Lamar 

0-1 vs. McMurry 

6-5 vs. North Texas 

7-3 vs. Rice 

0-1 vs. Sam Houston 

1-0 vs. Stephen F. Austin 

0-1 vs. Texas 

0-2 vs. Texas A&M 

1-0 vs. Texas A&M-Commerce 

1-0 vs. Texas Southern 

4-0 vs. Texas State 

1-0 vs. UIW 

8-2 vs. UTEP 

32-20 overall 

SCOUTING TEXAS STATE 

The Bobcats upset Baylor, 42-31, last Saturday night in Waco. Texas State gained 441 yards and outlasted the Bears despite giving up 524 yards, including 416 through the air. Transfer quarterback TJ Finley completed 22 of 30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was Joey Hobert, who caught six passes for 105 yards and a TD. Ismail Mahdi rushed for 83 yards and a score on just six carries. Defensively, Brian Holloway registered eight total tackles and Tavian Coleman posted two tackles for loss including a sack, while Kaleb Culp came up with Texas State’s first interception of the season. 

 

FAMILIAR FACE 

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor will see a familiar face across the field on Saturday at the Alamodome. Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne played quarterback under Traylor as a senior at Gilmer High School in 2006, helping lead the Buckeyes to a 10-0 record and the district title. The two also worked together on the same staffs in 2017 at SMU and in 2018 at Arkansas. 

 

SERIES HISTORY 

Saturday will mark the fifth meeting between UTSA and Texas State on the gridiron. The Roadrunners have won all four previous matchups, including both played in San Antonio. UTSA outlasted Texas State on the road, 51-48, in two overtimes on Sept. 12, 2020, in the last meeting in what was Jeff Traylor’s debut as head coach. The Roadrunners registered a 38-31 home triumph on Nov. 24, 2012, a 44-14 road victory on Sept. 23, 2017, and a 25-21 win on Sept. 22, 2018, at the Alamodome. Three of the four meetings have been decided by one score. 

LAST MEETING 

Sincere McCormick rushed for 197 yards and Hunter Duplessis drilled a 29-yard field goal in the second overtime to lift UTSA to a 51-48 road win over Texas State in Jeff Traylor’s debut as head coach on Sept. 12, 2020, at Bobcat Stadium. Duplessis split the uprights on his third kick of the day to help the Roadrunners put an end to a wild contest in the fourth meeting on the gridiron between the I-35 rivals. UTSA built a 24-7 halftime lead only to see the Bobcats claw back to knot the score on a 91-yard punt return by Jeremiah Haydel with 1:16 left to play in regulation. Texas State had a chance to grab the lead but Alan Orona’s extra point sailed wide. Pinned deep in its own territory following the ensuing kickoff, UTSA chose to run out the clock and send the game to overtime. The Roadrunners scored on their first possession when Joshua Cephus made a diving one-handed grab in the end zone with a defender draped all over him. Duplessis’ extra point put the visitors up 48-41. The Bobcats answered on a 4-yard TD pass from Tyler Vitt to Marcell Barbee and Orona’s PAT knotted the score once again. Texas State had the ball first in the second overtime, but Orona’s 20-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. UTSA took advantage of the miss, as three straight rushes by McCormick set up Duplessis for the game-winning kick.