The Roadrunner football team’s first trip outside of San Antonio did not end well. The Southern Utah Thunderbirds answered a UTSA opening drive touchdown with 38 unanswered points on the way to a 45-22 victory.
For Head Coach Larry Coker the game was an indication of how far the team has to go.
“They manhandled our front early,” Coker said during a media roundtable Monday. “They kept a running back in the backfield to chip Marlon [Smith] some to help the tackle win.”
The inexperience of the Roadrunners has shown through in the two losses against McMurry and Southern Utah though there is reason for Coker to hope for a brighter future.
“This group is amazing because they really have bought into what we are trying to do here,” Coker said. “That is really players.”
Owing to the fact that very little is known about Bacone, it would be easy for the Roadrunners to overlook them but as McMurry taught the Roadrunners, no team can be taken lightly in college football.
“I dont see how anybody could be overconfident when we have lost two in a row,” Coker said.
As the season continues, it is possible that the Roadrunners will open up the playbook more as the players get comfortable with it but for Saturday it will most likely be a simple playbook.
“I think the thing you have to be careful with is how much do you want to confuse them,” Coker said. “We need to get good at our base stuff and then when we get good at that we can expand [the playbook].”
As the Roadrunners improve going forward, new names will pop up. One name for Roadrunner fans to look out for is cornerback Eric Brown.
Brown came to UTSA as a transfer from Fresno State and in action against the Thunderbirds came up with a tackle.
“Eric Brown is going to be awfully good. He is a little older, he’s got skills,” Coker said. “He knows how to be in flow with the receiver and he knows how to play the ball. He will be in the mix to start this week, we are going to start the best better.”