They Grow Up So Fast

I hear it all the time.  Anytime I talk to the older folk about my 2 year old daughter, the conversation usually ends with some form of "Enjoy it, they group up fast."  While for those old fogies, this is a perception of 18 years, it truly is occurring with your UTSA Roadrunner football team.  The program's voice is about to start cracking as they take on their first full FBS opponent in WAC conference mate New Mexico State.  The more embarrassing stuff like pimples and sticky computer mice (publications in my day) come later in the season in the form of Louisiana Tech and Utah State.  While puberty is quite a horrific event for all, I think the Runners just might be ready.

There will be many times to say it, especially in the short term, but this is the biggest game of UTSA's history.  The initial WAC game would have been a big deal anyway, but a somewhat surprising 4-0 makes it seem so much sexier.  As firsts go, it's a pretty fair opponent as NMSU typically is considered one of the less formidable FBS level teams.  Last week they lost to New Mexico, another team that has been pretty lousy the last few years.

I like to consider myself a realist, but the Kool-Aid tastes so good.  Before the season, I predicted all road WAC games as a very probable losses.  I did this out of respect for FBS level and the fact that UTSA struggled against some really low level competition last year, especially on the road.  This year has offered some higher quality opponents in name, but all four of them are having terrible seasons, even within their own levels.  That being said, these last two games haven't just been good wins, the team actually looks the way that it should as an FBS level school against lightweights.  Maybe, just maybe, we are already at that low tier level in the FBS.  Perhaps I am being too optimistic.  Looking at the point spreads tonight I am seeing a range of 4-7 favoring NMSU.  If home field advantage is worth the standard 3 points, Vegas doesn't think we are that far off.  Neither do I.

Preseason Prediction- NMSU big
New Kool-Aid Preditction- UTSA by 9

Preseason Record Prediction- 5 wins
New Kool-Aid Season Prediction- 7-5
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Don't feel like getting abducted as you drive through El Paso to Las Cruces?  Come by to Freetail Brewing Company for a watch party.  Game is Saturday at 7pm.  Should be a lot of fun and you can be productive with your Saturday before getting drunk!
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I heard a legend of a guy pulling a Zack Morris this past weekend.  As the story goes, he mistakenly scheduled two dates to the pregame tailgate.  Being the smooth player he is, he put one date at a tailgate party in Lot B and the other girl in Lot C.  He floated between the two effortlessly without either girl knowing of the other.  Both did give him a hard time for breaking the seal early and having to hit the porto-pot all morning.  Not sure which one got the game ticket.

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Fool's Gold?

After pulling off the week one victory at South Alabama, I asked the guys on the podcast, "Ready to predict a 4-0 start?"  Seemed pretty plausible and after beating Georgia State tonight, it looks likely.  No doubt, for an FBS team (even transitional), the front part of the schedule is very light for the beloved Roadrunners.  Georgia State and USA were two schools with just slightly more time playing football than UTSA, and beating the two of them is good for the program.  However, the two initial home games are gimmies, even with McMurry in mind.

So what does it all mean?  What will happen after the 4-0 start, with games in Las Cruces (NMSU) and Houston (Rice)?  Both schools are among the weaker in FBS, and you would think both should dominate a second year program.  Does UTSA really have a chance against either?  At the beginning of the season, my answer was an absolute "No!".  But I am coming around, I am starting to drink the Kool-Aid.  Am I ready to predict the mighty peckers will win one of these two? Hmmmm, I don't know, I am getting close.  It will be exciting to see a 4-0 (jinx be damned) squad jump into their first WAC game against their first "real" FBS opponent.

Lets pop some quick hits, because I am a pro at popping quickly...

• It's my thought, and whoever was manning the CC twitter account today, that this was UTSA's best performance of their brief history.  The defense was dominant, with the two scores coming on one fluke play and a late interest lost drive.
• Soza had some great throws today, especially in first half.  He continues to spread the love, like John Stockton in daisy dukes.
• You guys thought I bitched about our crowd?  Certainly most of the fans were on the camera side, because if not, the attendance would be about 127 or so.
• Despite advertising a white out and giving away some stupid ass blinking shades, red was dominate as that was the lower level's seat color.  Note to UTSA staff, if you do a (place color here) out, make sure (place color here)=blue in the Alamodome.
• Never enjoyed using Rowdy Zone last year, but today I put it up on the big screen.  Found the video quality tolerable when combined with solid audio, which I received most of game.  However, I am happy that the remaining road games will most likely have traditional TV options.  It was well reported that the NMSU game will be on KCWX, but I am also hearing that talks to do the same with the Idaho game are firming up.
• After somehow putting a picture of myself in the last two week's entries, management has instructed me no more pics of my joyful mug.  I have already filed with BUFF (Balding, Ugly, Fat Federation) to pursuit legal action.
• Oh forgot to mention, guess Tucker Carter may be getting that redshirt, if there were a game to get him some reps, this would have been it.

Follow me on Twitter, where I tell you about how I hate my co-worker, cute stuff my kid does and my latest bowel movements... @shafercc

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Georgia State Q&A

As UTSA's road show down with Georgia State approaches, we continued our question and answer series with Georgia State fan site PantherTalk.com. Be sure to check their site out to get a pulse on the Panthers. Thanks to Ben from PantherTalk for putting this together. You can check out my side of the Q&A at this link.

Billy Calzada/SA Express News

Georgia State has really struggled to score this season, averaging around nine points per game after scoring just six points at home against South Carolina State. What issues have you identified with the Panthers' offense so far?

Georgia State entered the season with a RS Freshman QB (the program’s 3rd opening night starter in 3 years) and four new offensive lineman. Panther fans definitely knew that the potential was there for early struggles. The Panthers offense is loaded at the skill position players with RB Donald Russell, WR Albert Wilson, WR Danny Williams and WR Jordan Giles. The main issue right now is protecting McLane and the first two games certainly amplified that issue.

Redshirt freshman Ben McLane has assumed signal-calling duties for the Panthers. How has Ben performed this season and how do you predict him developing as a quarterback?

Ben has played well at times with poise and toughness but has played like a RS Freshman making two career starts. He has had some issues taking snaps from center and holding onto the ball in both the SC State and Tennessee game, this has to get fixed this week in practice. I believe, long-term, Ben can be a very good quarterback as he has the accuracy and poise to lead the Panther offense. He has plenty of weapons to make his job easier but needs to improve his consistency and confidence in his ability.

Donald Russell has been a monster this season, rushing for 94 yards per carry through 2012. Do you anticipate Russell to keep up this pace? Who is option number two for the Panthers' offense?

The Donald, as Panther fans call him, is tremendous. For his career, he averages 5.6 yards per carry (on more 232 carries at UK and Georgia State) and is approaching 1300 career yards. What most frustrates most Panther fans is the fact that Russell has only two games of more than 20 carries in his Georgia State career. There is no question Russell can be a 100+ yard per game guy for this offense and the play calling has seemed to focus on getting the ball in his hands more.

The second option thus far has gone to Parris Lee who has very good acceleration and cutting ability. Do not discount Travis Evans who had 6 carries vs. UTSA last season. My magic number is 40 carries on the ground on Saturday. If the Panthers reach this number, I believe they have a great shot to win.

Kelton Hill, who was Georgia State's leading passer and second highest rusher last season, has been moved over to defense as a safety. Why the move and how has Hill looked so far?

The decision was actually Kelton’s. The game plan is totally different with him in the game vs. McLane because their skill set is so different. Hill is more of a Wildcat guy and he approached the coaching staff about helping the team in other capacities including returning kicks and playing in the secondary. It was a confusing move for Panther fans but McLane responded very well against Tennessee and should find some solace knowing the QB job is his.

Hill has yet to see game action in the secondary and I do not expect him to play this Saturday while he is still learning his responsibilities and improving his technique. I’ll say this: Kelton Hill may be the best overall athlete on the Georgia State roster so it’s very possible he could impact a game this season.

Georgia State allowed Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray to throw for 4 touchdowns, amassing 310 passing yards with a 90% completion rate. How do you expect the Panther defense to respond against UTSA? Do you anticipate any schematic or personnel changes?

It was very troubling to see back-to-back 300+ yard games through the air through the first two games as the secondary was looked upon as a strength. Very few Panther fans believed they would slow Tennessee’s aerial attack led by Tyler Bray. His wide receiving corps is elite and no matter how the Panthers defense lined up, they were going to get beat.

I expect to see some tweaks to the positioning of the corners. The safeties have played pretty well through two games and I expect to see more pressure being sent by defensive coordinator Anthony Midget to force the Roadrunners into quicker decisions.

Head coach Bill Curry has publicly announced his retirement following this season. What impact has this had on current players and in the recruiting sphere? Any candidates you would like to see in the Georgia Dome?

The current players responded well early and wanted to use it as a rallying point. I will be very interested to see how they rally as the season goes on. On the recruiting front, it has been received pretty well. Coach Curry has been very honest about his intentions about 2012 being his decision year with both recruits and current players. The current committed players knew the possibility of Coach Curry not being here when they were set to sign was a real possibility. The move to the Sun Belt, great facilities and a tremendous University have been the selling point to 2013 recruits.

I honestly have not put a candidate wish list together but Stewart Mandel of SI.com put the name of former SEC coach Houston Nutt out there publicly which certainly got our site buzzing. Whoever the new coach is, he will inherit a Senior heavy roster (more than 39 Juniors – both RS and true Juniors on current roster) and the ability to sign as many 28 players in February. This is an attractive job and Panther fans are hoping for a hire by the beginning of December.

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Where the Home Boys At?

Before I get started, check out the above photo.  It was taken back in 1918.  At that time the Alamodome was considered an architectual marvel and was deemed the eight wonder of the world.  By a large margin, it was the largest indoor facility on the planet.  Interesting story, Henry Cisneros' father was born in Meeting Room H.  More famously, in one of it's darker times, it stored Pee Wee Herman's stolen bicycle in the seldom seen basement.

Now on to stuff containing a little less BS, just a little...

I had expected a bit more.  Our team looked a little flat versus Texas A&M Commerce, and our crowd size looked like they followed the team's lead.  It was a win and the Runners first ever 2-0 start, but some concerns were raised, both on the field and around it.  How does a team have an opening of 57k one year and drop down to almost half that the next?  Not that anyone was expecting a sellout, but still, this attendance last year would have been among the lowest last season, outside of the infamous Halloween game (cue drunk coeds dressed like various sluts).

So where was everyone?  The student section looked strong.  Reports are we have more season tickets sold this year than last.  So that leaves one group, the casual San Antonio fan.  So it's excuse time for T-shirt fan.  Here we go:

There were other games casual fans were more interested in.
While I hate this whole concept of competing with Aggie and Longhorn games, this actually might have some merit behind it.  Texas A&M was playing their first SEC game, quite a historic event, against the Florida Gators.  This game was played during the day, a direct conflict with UTSA taking on a different version of Texas A&M.  It was also a big day in San Marcos, the Bobcats coming off one of their biggest wins ever and opening their new stadium against a Big 12 school, Texas Tech.  It was the Bobcats coming out party against the big boys they have so wanted to be grouped with during their drive.  Sure they laid an egg, but the hype was pretty thick going into the weekend.  Then there is the ultimate T-shirt team, the Texas Longhorns, playing at home against the mighty Lobos of New Mexico.  Okay this one is dwarfed next to the others, but still another one on the list.  I hope to never wave (see what I did there) this excuse around again, but it was a special day for a few Texas schools, and well, we were playing a team in the Lone Star Conference.  Plus everyone knew they would get another chance to see the Lions when they return to San Antonio to play Incarnate Word at the beautiful Tom Benson Stadium.

I am going to save my money for better opponents.
Saw this one on the internets a few times.  Well, casual fan, I have news for you, there is nothing coming up that is going to knock your socks off (outside of TxSt).  Sure we know that Utah State, San Jose State are upgrades from last years schedule, but is anyone's sexy meter going off for those (my meter is still going off from the costume coed reference)?  Not casual fan, that's for sure.  If this is the argument, expect a cavernous dome for a directional school in Oklahoma.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed.  I was excited to hit up tailgating in the dome lots for the first time, and while that was a blast the lot was pretty empty through the morning.  I was surprised to see this especially in the first game coming off an exciting and historic win for the program.

I hope things get better, but I am not so positive it will.  I thought we had settled into a normal average of 32-33k, but expected it to be higher as the first game of the season.  If things continue this way it could be a light season until thanksgiving weekend.

Perhaps these are just growing pains, one thing for sure is next season will be better.  Oklahoma State, Houston and 1 or 2 CUSA Texas teams coming to the dome.  In the meantime, stay with us casual fan!

P.S. Lynn Hickey loved my shirt, so mission accomplished.  On seeing it, Dr Romo wanted to know where the I Love Romo shirt was!

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Roadrunners stay undefeated despite bleak second half

Kin Man Hui/SA Express News 

As the age old cliche goes, it was truly a tale of two halves in the Alamodome this afternoon. The Roadrunners flew out of the gate, jumping out to a 24-3 halftime lead over the Texas A&M Commerce Lions. From there, UTSA seemed to go blank, scoring just three points in the second half against a miserable Division II squad. Though the 30,000+ in the Runnerdome certainly would have like to see a bit more separation in the score, UTSA came out ahead 27-16.

The victory pushed the Roadrunners to the .500 mark, the program's best since the infamous loss to McMurry. Dating back to last season, UTSA is currently on a three-game winning streak and have rushed for over 170 yards in all three affairs. Rushing the ball has continued to be a huge point of contention for the Roadrunners as they took every opportunity they could to keep the ball on the ground. As Commerce coach Guy Morris put it, "I think they felt they could run the ball on will and they pretty much did it." While UTSA's recent emphasis on rushing the ball may not be as sexy as Soza hitting Brandon Freeman in stride, the rushing game has been extremely efficient. Each ball carrier averaged over 4.0 yards per carry, outside Aaron Grubb who had one carry-- a busted jet sweep. Another promising factoid: The Runners have yet to fumble the ball on a designed running play in 2012.

While UTSA did a fantastic job toting the pill, Commerce was miserable at it. UTSA's defensive line and linebackers held the Lions to 16 rushing yards and a cool average of .7 yards per carry. Wow. The front six also brought constant heat to the Commerce backfield, racking up nine tackles for losses, five sacks, and four quarterback hurries. Jaron Harris and Cody Rogers were particularly outstanding on the pass rush. This is the way bigger schools are supposed to knock smaller schools silly. Domination in the trenches.

Now to the miscellaneous thoughts department. Going bullet style cause I'm feeling lazy.

- UTSA experienced what was likely their worst kick returning performance in program history. Kenny Harrison and Kenny Bias both lined up as the return man throughout the game, averaging just 6.3 yards per return. I feel like coaches across the NCAA landscape are experimenting with their return game following the rule changes that we saw in the offseason. It didn't work at all, but Blake Terry and Lekenwic Haynes were lined up in front of the return man on kickoffs. Being two of the team's hardest hitters, I guess the coaching staff wanted them to land a big block or two and hopefully spring the Kennys for a big return. Things got pretty awkward when middle linebacker Blake Terry caught a directional kick though...

- Eric Soza's offense went 4-4 in the redzone this afternoon to come to 6-6 on the season. I think that's a huge testament to the improved and enlarged offensive line who can actually get a surge at the line of scrimmage now. Most of the credit should go to Sean Ianno, who I heard once kicked a 73 yarder in practice (without a defense to kick over, but impressive nonetheless).

- Not sure what his injury was, but Darrien Starling became the second Roadrunner cornerback to miss a game this season. Crosby Adams started in his wake and did a fairly admirable job. That should be a good confidence boost for the young CB who has struggled to solidify his playing time despite flashes of great potential. Adams delivered a forceful (illegal) blow to a Lion receiver and sent the Dome into a frenzy.

- Kevin Brown's infatuation with running the option to the short side of the field is starting to drive me nuts. The offense's speed becomes underserved when placed within a shallow boundary and it becomes much, much easier for safeties and cornerbacks to come up to help stop the run on a short field. Just feels like overcoaching to me, unless there's something I'm missing.

- Commerce's quarterback Deric Davis performed admirably under great pressure. His offensive line really let him down, but the 220 pound, lefthanded signal caller did his damned best to keep the ball moving up the field. He had some pretty wildly errant throws but placed the ball decently enough on the short stuff to keep the Lions in the game. I doubt many people cared but myself, but I was immensely impressed with the moxy, determination, and strength he showed on his own half yard line. With a physically imposing defensive line to his front, and a drunk and loud student section to his back, Davis made sure that the defense would not be coming off the field with a safety. At one point Davis had about three or four Runners piled up on him, but Davis kept his feet moving to get out of the endzone.

I think that's a decent enough amount on a sort of tune-up game for the Runners. Next up we rematch with the Georgia State Panthers who just fell to 0-2 on the year after being smoked by Tennessee 51-13. I'm gonna try to take a bus out to Hotlanta for the game, so keep your eyes peeled on the forum for more info on that, as well as an eye on the blog for more info on the Georgia State Panthers.