After returning home from their game in Alabama against the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, the UTSA Roadrunners will hit the road again and travel to Utah this weekend to play the Brigham Young University Cougars. The Blazers were the stiffest test the ‘Runners have faced so far this year, but the Cougars provide an even bigger step up in competition. 

It all starts at the quarterback position for the Cougars. Junior signal caller Zach Wilson has completed 60/71 pass attempts, thrown for six touchdowns, run for another five, and is on a short list of players in consideration for the Heisman trophy. His team is also currently ranked 15th in the nation. BYU is the only school on the ‘Runners’ schedule that is currently ranked inside the top 20. They are a true offensive juggernaut. They average 49.3 points per game and both run and pass the ball extremely well. Their defense is only allowing eight points per game to its opponents, so besides having to deal with an explosive offense, the ‘Runners will have to find a way to score consistently. The Cougars have played the Troy University Trojans, the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen and the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs. They dominated all of them, and none of those teams scored more than 14 points.

 The ‘Runners hope to get an offensive boost in the form of quarterback Frank Harris. He will most likely return to the starting lineup after suffering a knee sprain two weeks ago against the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. Harris’ absence was clearly felt in the ‘Runners’ game against the Blazers. The passing game was out of sync for most of the game, and pushing the ball down the field became a difficult task. Harris’ return bodes well for the ‘Runners’ offense, which is currently averaging 31.3 points per game. Harris, Sincere McCormick and the receiving core will all need to have a great game if they intend to keep the score close. 

The key to the game, similar to the game in Birmingham last week, is the ‘Runners’ defense. They played very well against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and the Blazers but let up a considerable amount of points against the Texas State Bobcats and the Blue Raiders. If they cannot at least slow down Wilson and the Cougar offense, this game may get ugly. The ‘Runners’ best chance to win is to keep the score low. The ‘Runners and the Cougars will kick off their game at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday.