COLLEGE STATION, Texas — In football, David doesn’t always beat Goliath. Despite senior running back Robert Henry Jr. nearly surpassing his career-high in rushing yards and tying his career-high in rushing touchdowns, UTSA football suffered a 42-24 defeat at the hands of No. 19 Texas A&M University on Saturday at Kyle Field.
When Henry Jr. shook Aggies’ (1-0) defensive back Bryce Anderson out of his cleats and bolted 75 yards down the field for a touchdown, it seemed there was a real chance the Roadrunners (0-1) were about to shock the nation. A&M responded with 21 unanswered points and cruised through the remainder of the game, exiting its home field unscathed.
“We’ve got championship fiber,” coach Jeff Traylor said after the game. “We played about as good as we could have. We were really good upfront defensively; I was proud to see that. We just couldn’t last with them.”
The Aggies held a 14-3 advantage through two minutes of the second quarter, with A&M quarterback Marcel Reed’s two passing touchdowns broken up by a 36-yard field goal from UTSA sophomore kicker Michael Petro.
UTSA scored its first touchdown of the season with Henry Jr. rounding the left-side of the ‘Runners offensive line and tip-toed his way into the endzone.
“It means everything,” Henry Jr. said when asked about his performance. “[Fans] will get this from me every week. I just have to keep trusting the offensive line, keep trusting in [McCown] and continue to grind.”
Reed connected with wide receiver KC Concepcion on the ensuing possession to put A&M up by 11 heading into halftime, with UTSA set to receive the ball coming out of the break.
Henry Jr. took the first snap of the second half 75-yards to the house, cutting the Aggies’ lead to four points with the Roadrunners in sole possession of momentum. From then on, however, UTSA was unable to establish a rhythm on offense — particularly in the passing game — leading to missed opportunities to take the lead.
It wasn’t until junior starting quarterback Owen McCown was benched with 21 seconds remaining in the game that the ‘Runners found paydirt again. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Tennison connected with transfer wide receiver AJ Wilson for a 34-yard touchdown to dress up the scoreboard before the clock hit double zeros.
“We weren’t getting much separation; those guys were doing a good job covering us,” Traylor said. “We were worried about dropping back to pass too much. We didn’t know if we could protect [McCown], didn’t give him much of a chance.”
McCown finished 19 of 32 for 121 passing yards and zero touchdowns with sophomore wide receiver David Amador II leading the way in receiving yards with 41. Henry Jr. finished the night one yard shy of tying his personal record of 178. The new-look UTSA defense that returned zero starters from 2024 looked like the inexperienced unit they were tabbed to be in the preseason, registering zero sacks and zero turnovers.
UTSA will return to San Antonio for a rematch with I-35 rival Texas State University at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome.
