As UTSA approaches its fourth and final week of non-conference play, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor looks ahead towards the Roadrunners’ faceoff against the Houston Christian Huskies.
Despite big losses against I-35 rival Texas State and the University of Texas — a newly minted SEC football program — Traylor shows optimism going into the team’s fourth week against the Huskies.
“I know we’re not very successful right now but historically we’ve come out of these things many times and we feel still confident we’re gonna do it again,” Traylor said.
As the Roadrunners look past week four, and onto the start of their first week of conference play, Traylor notes defensive improvements that need to be made in the coming two weeks.
“Our communication in the secondary has got to improve drastically. We took a step backwards. We looked similar to what we did two or three years ago when we had a bunch of transitions in the back,” Traylor said. “You know, losing Rashad [Wisdom] was a big loss because of his leadership, but we knew Ken [Robinson] would come in there and be able to hold that down, and him not being out there was big. You’ve got to get that. It’s not anything that the other guys did wrong. It’s just Ken is so much more confident, especially than that in a common environment.”
Traylor also noted that while the offensive line and the running backs saw more success against the Longhorns, the receivers and special teams still have work to do before they face off against East Carolina.
“Offensively, we’ve got to get our receivers going. Our running backs, we’re getting them going a little bit more. Our line’s blocking better, but we’ve got to get our receivers to ball in space. And special teams, while I’ve already mentioned it, our field goal operations is the last piece of the puzzle. Chris Carpenter did a great job of returning punts in the game, so every unit was solid, except for our field goal unit.”
Owen McCown’s performance in the I-35 matchup showed some cause for concern among the Roadrunner fanbase. However, McCown showed some signs of life against the Longhorns, with Traylor commending his noticeable improvement.
“I thought Owen’s pocket presence is getting better. He came out there a little early a few times, but you know, I don’t blame him. He was more calm than he was a week before”
As the Roadrunners approach their last non-conference game, Traylor sees the next two weeks as a great opportunity to prepare his team for tougher competition in the AAC.
“We just gotta keep getting better. I mean defensively we got to get the areas in the back cleaned up. Up front, our O-line continues to improve and give us time to get the ball down the field to our receivers, and then our field goal operations on special teams,” Traylor said. “We have improved in other areas but those are the things we’ve got to get cleaned up quickly.”
Although the program is in its first year competing in the AAC, the restructuring of the Pac-12 Conference has many questioning if UTSA will make the jump. Traylor had some thoughts about the possible move for his program.
“That’s why Dr. Campos is the leader of this place. She handles all those situations,” Traylor said. “I got to get to playing better, or they’re not gonna want us in anybody’s league. We got to go play good football, so somebody will want us to play for them. Obviously that’s where my focus is right now.”
