UTSA defeated Florida Atlantic University 38-24 in a heated conference game on Saturday to earn their first conference win of the season at the Alamodome.
The battle of the birds was no easy feat for either team as the Roadrunners (3-4, 1-2 AAC) and the Owls (2-5, 0-3 AAC) tried to decipher the undecided pecking order between the two. Branded with the same non-conference and conference record, both UTSA and Florida Atlantic have struggled to make a statement in the American Athletic Conference this season. Though, under pressure, UTSA finally churned out a diamond in the rough with starting quarterback Owen McCown, aided by the defensive line, as they stamped another win in UTSA’s column.
“Coming in, I know we have a lot of penalties, and that was one of the forbidden words this week,” McCown said, alluding to his coach’s suspension of the word “penalty.” “To shut that down or not have as many penalties offensively was big time for us.”
McCown doubled as a major running factor against the Owls in the first quarter, darting to secure two first downs in UTSA’s 67-yard opening drive. Despite a thwarted attempt at a touchdown, UTSA was the first to put points on the board during their homecoming game with a 33-yard field goal made by redshirt sophomore kicker Tate Sandell.
Combatting offensive injuries, all eyes were on Roadrunner defense to pick up the slack. UTSA has not accumulated more than a two-win streak this season, but it does hold a now 17-game sack and takeaway streak. The defense as a whole notched 53 tackles with a total of seven sacks accompanied by two takeaways, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
UTSA carried over the momentum they built in the last minute of the first quarter to score in the second. A 30-yard bomb from McCown to former Kingwood Park High School quarterback turned college tight end, Patrick Overmyer, put the ‘Runners back in the lead.
The second quarter touchdown was Overmyers’ first collegiate career touchdown for the redshirt freshman.
Running back Zuberi Mobley was knocked to the ground by redshirt senior safety Ken Robinson for an incomplete pass. McCown stepped onto the field to translate Robinsons’ play into the offense, but the ball was intercepted by defensive back Jaden Williams for his first pick of the year, giving the ball immediately back to Florida Atlantic.
The touchdown call was overturned and left Williams at the 3-yard line for a first and goal. Senior defensive line Brandon Brown took down quarterback Cam Fancher for his first sack of the game, but Fancher snapped back on the third down to score his second sole touchdown. UTSA struggled to bounce back following an Owls field goal and a late first half pick by Williams.
The Roadrunners have found themselves in difficult positions when it comes to second-quarter plays; UTSA has been outscored by 61-48 in second-quarter surges made by other teams. While a 17-10 scoreboard in the second quarter wasn’t a huge deficit, the ‘Runners struggled to bounce back until Fancher lost grip on the ball and defensive lineman Asyrus Simon recovered the ball in a pivotal turn for UTSA.
McCown found senior wide receiver Willie McCoy for a 26-yard gain that put UTSA inside the 25-yard line. McCoy has been UTSA’s top receiver this season. With three timeouts left in the last minute of the first half, head coach Jeff Traylor called a timeout and it seemed to be just the thing the team needed.
Following the timeout, McCown found uncovered senior running back Robert Henry Jr. on the left side of the field for a first down. McCown switched sides and threw to redshirt freshman wide receiver Jamel Hardy, who barely got one foot in the endzone, to score a touchdown. Only his fourth catch of the season and second collegiate touchdown, Hardy evened out the playing field between the two birds before heading into halftime.
“That was actually all Owen,” Traylor said on the decision to call a timeout. “There’s an RPO option there. If we don’t get the look we like in there, Owen has an option to take the single over there, so that was all Owen. It was just a really great catch and a really great job by Jamel getting his foot down.”
With the help of carries from redshirt sophomore tight end Houston Thomas, senior wide receiver Chris Carpenter and McCown, UTSA pushed toward the Owl’s endzone. Henry Jr. charged through a wall of Florida Atlantic linemen for a 1-yard gain to score a touchdown and place the Roadrunners ahead of the Owls.
A fumble by McCown in the third quarter directly led to a Florida Atlantic touchdown, but the Roadrunners took the lead back with two field goals made by Sandell.
As if redshirt freshman running back Brandon High Jr.’s late fourth quarter touchdown had not already secured the ‘Runners first conference win, Henry Jr. rushed the endzone for a good two-point conversion to end the game with a 14-point lead.
UTSA will play The University of Tulsa at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
