UTSA's improved rushing attack

Coming in to the 2012 season, it was no secret that UTSA's number one offensive goal for the season was to run the ball more efficiently. We're one game through the sophomore season and it looks like the Roadrunners have already made serious progress towards that goal. In 2011, the Roadrunners were only able to average over 4.5 yards per carry against a Division I opponent once, with their best statistical performance coming against Southern Alabama (176 net rushing yards, 4.6 average). UTSA rushed for 183 yards on Saturday, while averaging a very respectable 5.9 yards per carry.

New offensive coordinator Kevin Brown utilized many different looks to achieve these numbers. Soza lead many option plays with Okotcha, Armstrong, and Glasco all taking snaps at his side. Walk-on brothers Aaron and Seth Grubb were both used from wide out-- Aaron on a jet sweep and Seth on a four wide reverse. David "El Magnifico" Glasco was the day's leading rusher, seeing 70 yards on just nine carries (7.8). While Okotcha's and Armstrong's stats were mediocre, they did a great job of taking more than simply what the defense gave them with hard running and wise cuts. Similar to last season, UTSA was extremely efficient rushing from the wide receiver position. The Grubb bros combined for 34 yards on two carries, and Kam Jones brought in 15 yards on his sole carry.

Let's break down the day's biggest carry to see where UTSA found success:

All screenshots via ESPN3

Following a William Ritter fumble recovery of a botched snap to C.J. Bennett and an ill-advised pass attempt to a covered Brandon Freeman, the Roadrunners come out of the huddle with split backs out of a spread shotgun look-- Okotcha acts as the halfback, making the Runners strong on the left side, while Glasco becomes the tailback on the backside.


As Soza reads the defense before the snap, we see the Jaguars run up in their typical 3-3-5 look with the free safety shaded to the strong left side where UTSA has two receivers and a blocking threat in Okotcha. The defensive line looks normal --7 and 1 techniques-- with the weak side linebacker shaded out and up a little bit more than usual.

As Soza receives the snap from Leonard, the defensive line attempts to fire up the field while all three linebackers begin to read their keys. Slot receiver Kam Jones looks in for a screen, causing South's nickleback to sprint up to cover him. If Kevin Brown is as good of an OC as I think he is, Jones should be a legit option for a screen pass if South Alabama threatens with a blitz here. Fortunately for Glasco, they do not. Hoog seals off the strongside end with a perfect hook block. Leonard and Harris combo block the noseguard while Walker leaves the weakside end for Soza to read off of. Okotcha releases in front of Soza and Glasco to take out the weakside linebacker. No decoy or fake necessary. Thankfully Hoog has blocked off the strongside end so well that Soza has two good options on the play (again, three being a screen to Kam if Brown is smart).

Here's where the Roadrunner's luck on the play begins to turn. Both the middle linebacker and weak side linebacker play up to the line of scrimmage after seeing the end left open. At this point in the play, Glasco already has the ball and a half yard of separation from Soza, yet the two Jaguar defenders are looking and standing elsewhere. Afraid of the play action threat, the Jaguar secondary is slow to react.

Oh baby. South Alabama's defense has totally taken themselves out of this play to the point where poor Cody Harris doesn't even have anyone to hit, nor does Josh Walker have anyone to kick out on. Leonard manages to pancake the noseguard after receiving an assist from Harris. Soza does a great job of faking a keep, which leads to the linebackers biting away from the ball. Hoog has his defensive end three steps away from Glasco and Inskeep makes sure to seal off the strongside backer on his right shoulder, ensuring he won't be able to sneak by to blow the play up. Weakside end Romelle Jones tries to chase after David, but 275 pound guys aren't very good at that.

And with that, it's off to the races. USA's free safety takes a horrible, lazy angle on Glasco, who wisely cuts away. The Jaguars will finally catch up to El Magnifico 51 yards later.



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33 Big Blowout Spectacular Season Preview

This week on the show we have WackJack, aka Jack Hopkins of Bobcat Report fame and WacJack blog, Darrell of RowdyReport and of course, Adam, Shafer, and Jared.

We cover the schedule, the depth chart, Soza/Carter, expectations, attendance and much more. Get in contact with us at podcast@cokerchronicles.com or @cokerchronicles.


You can find the links to the episode on the iTunes on Stitcher or just subscribe directly to the podcast.

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The Bizarre Power of Social Media

By all means, I am a child of the Internet. Graced with a high reading and writing capability at a young age, I grew up lounging in AOL chat rooms via a 56k modem and a Netscape Navigator browser. As I entered adolescence, Netscape turned to Firefox, dial-up turned to broadband, and I continued to learn about the world through the communal power of the Internet. By challenging my morals and convictions throughout my young life, the Internet has certainly been a large factor in my life. That being said, I still don't understand it sometimes, and I was heavily reminded of the fact this week. A YouTube user named MrHurriicane uploads live streams of himself playing video games while providing commentary for his audience. Lately MrHurriicane has been streaming his latest project-- an NCAA Dynasty of the UTSA Roadrunners. By all accounts, it has been his most successful video series yet, with over a thousand viewers at the series' peak.

In his dynasty, Eric Soza, Evans Okotcha, and Kam Jones are some of the team's stars. The passionate followers of the UTSA Dynasty took to Twitter to see if any of the UTSA players they loved watching in virtual form were on Twitter. From there, things got weird.

I was watching Evans retweet all of his many, many mentions in real time, so when this tweet rolled through, I lost it. A couple of days later, Evans saw his followers count grow by over 700. His shoutouts to his teammates such as Darrien Starling and David Glasco also gave them hundreds of followers. Hell, Evans even had some fan Twitter accounts show up. Celebrity status?

MrHurriicane put up a video detailing how the Twitter blow up happened

And Okotcha and the rest of the "Big 3" put up a video thanking MrHurriicane and his followers

How cool is it that people from all over the world are now following these guys and rooting for UTSA? Stories like these are why the NCAA franchise is so important to relatively small-time football programs like UTSA. The exposure is priceless.

Picking and Choosing: Spring Practice Report

We certainly can make up any kind of storyline from a single scrimmage in March. The easy one is to call for Eric Soza’s benching after a slightly pedestrian performance at scrimmage number 2.

His stats: 5/11 79 yards and a score.

Tucker Carter: 9/16 for 152 and a score.

Ryan Polite: 7/14 for 142 and a score.

Hurm. The second-year returning starter had the least-impressive outing statistically speaking??! Yes. There are certainly mitigating circumstances that no doubt played a part in the ...

... you know what? It is spring. I can’t be angry, now. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and there are ducks chilling out at the pool. This isn’t the time to get angry and start yelling. What are we? Bostonites?

No.

It isn’t something to ignore, either. File this away under Things To Remember. We now have some evidence that the backup guys can play a little bit. At worst, it will be kindling for a firestorm of internet yelling. At best, it means we might have a couple of decent quarterbacks on the roster.


In other news: David Glasco, El Magnifico himself, tore off a 75-yard scamper. Evans looked good catching and running. Apparently the line was decent. Sweet.

Spring Game is April 15th.

Dan McCarney Reports

UTSA website reports

Another Take on the Offense

Quarterback

I am not as high on Soza’s performance as either Dan McCarney, or Jared. It isn’t that I don’t recognize the the situation that Eric was in an expected something outstanding when an average performance would be satisfactory. No, I had no problems with his accuracy. Leadership and the ability to manage fellow freshman doesn’t have much to do with not throwing the ball into the ground. In fact -- just to be the a-hole here -- it can be argued that leading a team of peers is not as mammoth of an ordeal as commanding the respect of guys who have been to Rose Bowls and National Championships a la Colt McCoy or something. Granted, this is a totally different scenario but so is the situation in Akron and Louisiana Tech.

I don’t want to diminish the guy’s season but merely put look at it for what it was. He did an commendable job considering he had an unsettled line. Both he and the running backs would have benefited from more experience up front. That must be considered. Also, I have to give weight to Travis Bush’s comments. He knows what demands are placed on the quarterback in this system and how Eric Soza should run it. He knows what plays were called and the progressions he may or may not have missed.

Both Jared and I have been guilty of tossing out some easy Soza hate when he throws a terrible pass or coughs up a fumble at a most inopportune time. Afterwards we are both more levelheaded. That said, his turnovers were still pretty bad. I don’t have a problem with inconsistency in general as much as the timing and nature of his turnovers. I am not even talking about early season stuff against the likes of Southern Utah. The terrible throws in the Georgia State on? Those are what stand out.

Hitting the ground on a slant, swing, and screen --especially wide-open stuff is scary. That is what holds me back from giving all gold stars here. I’m hoping the wideouts and newness of the system and lack of confidence in the line is what made him short his throws but I can’t help but feel that is a bit too generous. It doesn’t matter too much, now though. Everyone has plenty of time to improve on all that stuff. Hopefully Soza isn’t so entrenched that he feels overconfident and Simmons, Polite, and Conque give him a run for his position. It’ll do everyone some good.

Running Back

I was looking forward to some magic from these guys. We did get some, but not from Chris Johnson, David Glasco, nor the other guys. Instead it was Evil Evans Okotcha. This isn’t terribly unusual in college ball. You hear about a heralded class and think you have a stable of studs when only one or two do anything if at all. There are many reasons for this ranging from guys not fitting in with the system, not adjusting, mis-evaluation of talent, or bad luck. Hell, sometimes it just takes time.

I like what we have here at the end though. This position is fickle and a handful of guys similarly talented isn’t a bad thing especially in this offense. The multiplicity means you don’t need a workhorse nor a feature guy (though Bush seems to want one). Having a two-back system a a Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown or a Reggie Bush and Lendale White. I like Evans as a power guy and Brandon Armstrong as a speedy changeup. Brandon was an awesome threat on swings and out of the spread. Oklahoma used to kill teams with those passes to Demarco Murray (among other things). I can live with Glasco, Johnson, Williams and any other guy spelling them until they figure out whatever they need to figure out in and out of the Alamodome.

I figure Bush wants a feature back so he can do everything he wants to do on offense. That means a guy that motion out to the slot and also blow someone up on a blitz. Every team in the nation wants that, too.

Wide Receiver and TEs

There isn’t much to add here. Kam Jones was beastly. Some guys had drops and there were a couple bright spots. Wideout is so dependent on the line and quarterback that it is hard to rate them objectively. As much as I like Kam, I’d like to see the ball spread around more organically than via formations and swapping roles. That is more a philosophical question that I’ll get to later.

Also, David Morgan made some nice catches.


Offensive Line

Really, we should have started with these guys as the entire operation’s success is tied to them. As mentioned, this was gigantic question mark entering the year. Travis Bush (admittedly) played it close to the vest early in the year. Short passes and safe runs saved everyone. The big guys did good and might have prevented disaster on a number of occasions. The running game struggled as they all do when manned by young, smallish lines. A better line (as these guys improve and we bring in those JUCO guys) will “solve” a lot of offensive problems. We aren’t going to find a bunch of road-pavers at this level so we need to find diamonds in the the rough, to use another terrible cliche. We need diamonds and dudes with smarts and cleverness akin to the service academies and Hawaii that PreSnapRead mentions here:

One thing that’s important to consider: Hawaii has to play things differently. The Warriors can’t play things straight, in other words, but must approach football in a similar way to the three service academies, each of which runs an offense that works on technique and precision, not speed and athleticism.

We probably don’t need to quirk it up as much but “technique and precision” are the keys to winning with less.

That brings me to the Offensive Coordinator.

He can call a really good game. He found ways to work with his personnel and got the football to Kam in a myriad of ways when it became clear that he was and is our biggest home run threat. He has gotten raves from opposing coaches and looks to go on to bigger and better things eventually.

The only thing that I wonder about is the complexity of the offense. With so many young players and especially on the offensive line, it seems odd to throw so many formations and sets at a team. It is making his quarterback look bad. It may not be totally deserved, but he has to know that no one cares.

Philosophically, I lean more toward the Air Raid stuff for a number of reasons, but also because it makes experts out of players in the tiny amount of teaching time available at this level. It also is very good at spreading the ball around. Each guy learns his position and only his position. Air Raid guys like Dana Holgorsen say “the ball finds the playmakers.” You don’t need to move them around.

Again, that is a philosophical quibble I have. Bush has brought some excitement and for whatever this program means for this town, it still is ultimately entertainment.

I can’t wait for the spring game.

Offensive Post-Season analysis

Our man Dan McCarney is doing a post-season series with the UTSA coaches, getting a little bit of insight into how the coaches felt each unit performed, while also giving his own thoughts. I felt like this was a good opportunity for me to type out my two cents. It's nice to have quotes from coaches to peer into as well. Before we hop in, I need you all to click on this link to read Dan's entire post. It's several thousand words on UTSA football that's NOT about recruiting. And it'll make you a smarter fan. Hallelujah.

Quarterback

DM:

Consistency was the biggest shortcoming, not just from game to game but throw to throw. But considering he was starting for the first time, with a supporting cast that had even less experience, Soza’s rookie year has to be considered a success.

Couldn't agree more. Statistically, Soza was pretty great this year. A 124 QB rating is upstanding  for a first-year starter in Division 1 football in my book. Compare that to Louisiana Tech's freshman starter Nick Isham at 112.8 and no-experience sophomore starter Clayton Moore at Akron with a 96.3 rating (ouch!). Eric also made his presence felt with his feet, scampering for three touchdowns and rushed for 409 yards before sacks are applied. Soza struggled with the easy stuff: wide-open screen passes, swing routes, holding on to the ball. Soza excelled at the hard stuff: managing a team primarily made of freshmen, navigating a vast and deep playbook, identifying defenses, and avoiding pocket pressure. Give me that in a rookie year and I'll have a damn good quarterback after a few years of coaching. Bush went on record as penciling in Soza as the 2012 starter, a move that I'm in favor of. Conque will be redshirted, and neither Simmons nor Polite have shown enough to be able to put up a serious contest to a position that Soza handled quite well in the inaugural campaign.

Running Back

DM:

Perhaps the biggest disappointment on the entire team, let alone the offense, was the inability to establish a clear-cut starter here. Granted, dominant tailbacks are hard to find, and it wasn’t easy to operate behind a set of young and undersized blockers that rarely controlled the line of scrimmage.

The running back position was indeed a huge disappointment, and just goes to show that Rivals and Scout ratings do not mean a damn thing once a recruit steps onto the college gridiron. When he wasn't stricken to the sideline due to suspensions, assumed featureback Chris Johnson failed to get anything going in the backfield. In fact, Johnson didn't reach the endzone until his last game of the season against Georgia State. While the talent is still there, Chris struggled to adopt to the college game. Hopefully in 2012 we'll see a return to his hard-hitting, nose-down style. A beefed-up offensive line will go a long ways to help.

Likewise, heralded recruit Tevin Williams was nearly a no-show this season despite a solid showing against Southern Utah (49 yards, 1 TD). Tevin's last touch of the year was a two yard loss against Sam Houston. I hope I'm wrong, but I think #6 has a ways to go before he's reclaiming his Euless Trinity glory. 2011 should have been a redshirt year for Williams.

On to the more positive notes; Evans Okotcha was a godsend for UTSA in Year One. Okotcha laid some brutal blocks on defenders, broke a million tackles, and was generally the only sure thing in Soza's backfield. David Glasco fell off a bit towards the latter half of the season, but five touchdowns for a freshman is nothing to scoff at. One thing I'm looking forward to seeing next year is how Bush continues to use Brandon Armstrong. Armstrong did some big things this year when he got his paws on the ball and tore up a slow Minot defense for a 100+ yard game. I'm a fan of undersized running backs (did you know LaMichael James is just 5'8? A friend of a friend met him at a party and said he was the smallest dude in the room) and the way they can slip through the trees for big gains. While many will push for a recruiting effort to shore up the running back position, I'm confident that there is an internal solution waiting to happen. Remember that these kids are just that-- 18 and 19 year olds. An extra year of development could lead to a big break out from this talent pool.

Wide Receiver

DM:

Tabbed as the deepest and best all-around position for the Roadrunners, the group largely followed through on that promise. A run of injuries made almost no dent as Freeman and especially Jones established themselves as perhaps the two most consistent playmakers.
Beyond that duo, Harrison was a versatile threat, and Bush regrets not creating more opportunities for Monroe. He said he was also pleased with Holmes and Wanamaker, whose seasons were marred by injuries. The Roadrunners hope redshirts Sean Hesler and Kenny Bias, both of whom have speed to burn, can make an immediate impact.

I agree to a certain extent. Sure the receivers corps was deep and talented, but there was also areas to draw concern. Drops were a constant moderate hindrance to the offense (how much of that befalls Soza remains to be seen) and the 'Runners failed to develop a legitimate deep threat. Again, Soza may share some blame in that. The receivers unit boasted my personal offensive MVP, Kam Jones. With 881 all-purpose yards, Jones contributed at least 88 yards of production to each game. Kam was used in a variety of roles, from deep routes to slip screens and wildcat quarterback duties. Just pure explosiveness and speed. Kam had only three touchdowns, but was tackled within the three yard line several times. He also had a touchdown called back due to a penalty in the McNeese game. I suspect Jones will be every bit as large of a factor against WAC defenses. Kenny Harrison and Brandon Freeman were huge surprises to me this year with Harrison bring sheer speed to the offense via wide receiver options and kick returns. Freeman turned out to have some of the best hands on the team and was a season-long favorite target for Soza. Redshirted receivers Sean Hesler and Kenny Bias are both sleepers that could play a role next year, as Bush points out in Dan's article. My question is how is Bush going to distribute the ball to this many playmakers?

Tight End

DM:

With three players, only one on scholarship, there isn’t much room for analysis here. The two main figures are Moeller and Morgan. Combined, they’d be a hell of a player. But as it stands today, Moeller is more of a blocker/dirty worker, while the sure-handed Morgan is a good receiver who is still learning how to mix things up in the trenches.

As Dan said, there's not much to discuss here. Morgan gave a nice boost to the offense with his ability to get up and grab the high ball. If he manages to put on about 40 pounds by the time he graduates I can see the kid having a shot at playing on Sundays. There were a lot of complaints about Bush not getting the ball to Morgan enough, but I didn't see a problem. UTSA doesn't run the type of offense where you hit your tight end with ten touches a game.

Offensive Line

TB:

I was pleased with all of them, knowing obviously we aren’t the strongest or the biggest right now. For who we were up against, and what we asked them to do, they exceeded my expectations. There were times we got outweighed, there were times we got outquicked (SP), but they fought their tails off on every play.

I for one was extremely impressed with the offensive line collective. To field an offensive line with five freshmen is a monumental task and the outside observer would have no idea that this was the case. While UTSA never blew their opponents off the line of scrimmage for four yards and a cloud of dust, Soza was generally free from defensive linemens' grasps, running backs weren't being hammered in the backfield, and (to my eye) there were very few blown assignments. In this case, simply being average is something to take great pride in. Major credit goes to offensive line coach Jim Marshall. With the infusion of some true FBS size and the full-time addition of Patrick Hoog and Chance Vernon, the offensive line may very well be a strong point of the offense next season in the WAC, a conference that features some undersized linemen here and there.

Kicker

DM:

Ianno wasn’t perfect. (See: South Alabama.) But for the most part he was a revelation, a walk-on who ably filled a position that has caused an incalculable amount of heartache to any number of teams over the years. (See: Boise State.)
In addition to being relatively consistent on field goals, he also did a solid job on kickoffs, perhaps the least glamorous job in the game but one that has a critical, if subtle, impact.

When you go back and compare today's UTSA team with the one that lost to McMurry, Sean Ianno is the principal improvement. With a young team that can afford no margin of error to win ball games, it is crucial that the special teams play be excellent. After Ianno was granted sole possession of the kicking game, opponents started to become pinned within their own twenty and the Roadrunners were able to drill some fairly lengthy kicks. I am extremely comfortable with Ianno moving forward and hope he is rewarded for his effort with a scholarship.

Whew. Thanks for sticking with me. Be back soon with defense.

Reality Bites

Welcome to heart break, Roadrunner fans. After showing few signs of mortality against a strong Northeastern team, UTSA fell flat on their face today in the Alamodome against Division III McMurry University. Repeatedly stumbling under their own feet, the Roadrunners took away every chance of victory they had on their own accord. Plagued by special team woes, untimely penalties, poor blocking, and a simply pathetic showing from the secondary, UTSA looked every bit like a first year program comprised primarily of freshmen.

- Special Teams
This is what really stood out to me. Josh Ward (scholarship kicker) was absolutely miserable. Ward had three kick offs before being yanked in favor of Sean Ianno at the end of the fourth. Two of Ward's kicks flew wildly out of bounds, putting the War Hawks in excellent field position. Field position is absolutely crucial when you're facing a high-octane offense like McMurry's air raid O. At this point in time, I'm extremely disappointed in Coker & Tony Jeffery for offering Josh Ward a scholarship. If you're going to give a scholarship to a special teams player you need to be certain that he's a game-changer. After watching Ward's poor mechanics I'm forced to wonder if the UTSA coaching staff even saw him play before the day he showed up to practice. Ward's wind up on kicks is entirely too lengthy, opening him up to blocks like the one we saw McMurry return for a touchdown today. At this level of competition you must adjust your mechanics to the speed of the game. Aside from Ward, the blocking on special teams was also atrocious. In UTSA's first two games there have been a myriad of opponents in the backfield as the Roadrunners attempt to kick/punt. These issues absolutely must be addressed before UTSA can expect to compete and (hopefully) upset some of the tougher teams on their slate. On the flip side, major props to UTSA's return game who have provided Soza and his crew with great field position to start nearly every drive this year. I love the trio of Monroe, Harrison, and Jones on kick offs.

- Play calling
Was a bit confused here. Bush seemed to abandon everything that worked well in Week One. Granted, most of the bad looks we saw in Game Two were the fault of poor execution, but there were some real head-scratchers-- namely, why didn't Kam Jones (93 all-purpose yards) touch the ball until the second half? Jones is our biggest play maker and should be our go-to guy. What happened to the play-action game? I only counted a handful of play-action passes. I know McMurry was blitzing a lot of guys in their 3-man front, but damn. McMurry safety Will Morris was biting hard on every play, some play action could have led to deep completions.

- Offensive Line
Okay, I believe that they are all freshmen now. Guard Payton Rion played miserably. He is not ready to start yet; I expect Mike Sanchez or James Bakke to usurp his starting spot next week. Soza was under pressure too often (6 hurries, 1 sack). Often Soza only needed an extra split-second in the pocket to allow the passing routes to develop. This must improve. While the line's pass blocking was bad, the blocking from the running backs in the pocket was equally disheartening.

- Secondary

Wow, disgusting. Jeremy Hall got toasted early and was lifted in favor of Alondre Thorn who showed signs of promise, including a key pass break-up in the end zone. Starling got burnt on a few plays but played decent enough to keep the Runners in the game. His take-away interception in the third quarter was one of the coolest plays in UTSA football's short history. Yet again, Malcom Scott did not play. I think we can go ahead and label him as a redshirt. Getting Erik Brown into the program looks to be a huge coup after the UTSA corner backs took a lickin' in Week Two. McMurry was able to sneak quite a few deep balls past Mark Waters. As a 4-2-5 free safety, it is imperative that Waters stays behind all receivers. DISCLAIMER: Waters might have been dropping down into normal coverage when McMurry was rolling with five receivers. Can't recall.

- Linebackers

Steven Kurfehs played quite well, but that's easy to say when he's doing little more than guarding the flat. Kurfehs did a great job of coming in to mop up on tackles, got to love the guy's energy on the field. Brandon Reeves killed UTSA on several plays today. Kudos to Hal Mumme on recognizing his lack of speed and using it to draw mismatches that provided the War Hawks with several first downs. Personally, I would have put a corner back or safety in for Reeves since the front four were smothering the run anyways. Brandon Reeves simply does not have much coverage skill. Best believe that other teams have taken notes.

- Defensive Line

Impressed again. Jason Neill worked his way into the starting four and played well. All discussion must fall to Marlon Smith though, who garnered 4 sacks, 3 pass break ups, 9 tackles (5 solo), and a blocked field goal. What a monster-- I can't wait to watch Smith develop further as a defensive lineman. His 6'6 frame is a giant (ha, get it?) asset. Plenty of room to pack on the muscle. I believe Smith is up to five pass break ups on the season. He might break some kind of record for that.

- Running Backs

Very strong showing from the running backs today. David Glasco (50 yds., 1 TD) and Evans Okotcha (47 yds., 4 key first downs) both played brilliantly. Chris Johnson also bounced back in a minor way following his sloppy performance in Game One. We have to remember that Johnson is three years removed from the game. I've noticed that Chris hasn't done the best job of utilizing his blockers, instead trying to gain as many yards as he can by juking, jiving, spinning, whatever. I think in a few more weeks we will see his potential begin to blossom. CheRod Simpson made his presence felt with 42 receiving yards and a TD catch. CheRod, keep rocking the Polamalu bro.

- Soza

So maybe Eric Soza isn't quite a Heisman candidate. Forcing a lot of throws and keeping some balls he should have gotten rid of, Soza seemed to be trying to do too much. One particularly alarming throw was made into double coverage, deep down the field. Soza needs to learn that offense isn't always going to come easy-- trust the process and have the foresight to throw away dangerous passes. Under/over throwing screen passes to wide-open receivers is unacceptable. This has to improve (Noticing a trend?). Lastly, the overthrown pass to Wanamaker in the end zone was a killer. UTSA wins this game if Soza can lower that throw three inches. It would have been nice to blow out McMurry as was anticipated so we could get a taste of what Ryan Polite can bring to the table. C'est le vie.

- Receivers

Not a bad showing from the receiving corp. Armstrong and Freeman led the way with 41 and 35 yards, respectively. Freeman also pulled in a touch down in the third quarter. I still find it hard to fathom that Kam Jones only caught one pass. Only two balls were thrown his way. Travis Bush needs to get the ball into Jones' hands in open space. Reverses help, but that's not going to cut it. David Morgan continues to impress with three catches for 32 yards, including a rolling, shoe-string completion. Love this kid as a receiver-- as he grows and develops he's going to be a beast of a tight end.

- Fans

We need to be better. Fans were screaming while UTSA had the ball on offense, preventing Soza from effectively calling audibles, likely leading to unnecessary time outs. The volume level on the field was so loud that Leonard and Soza were forced to use a silent count... at home! The home-town crowd did the Wave for ten minutes straight.... while UTSA had the ball. Things like this need to be cut out. The energy and enthusiasm is awesome, but we're preventing our offense from operating at maximum efficiency. Save it for when the good guys are on defense. Be watching for more from Coker Chronicles on some sorts of a fan-education program. As our young team learns how to do this football thing, we must also learn as fans. In fact, the UTSA administration must learn as well. As our Twitter follower @Del_Negro pointed out, the Alamodome ribbon board said "Let's Get Loud!" when the Roadrunners were on offense.

- Halftime

Loved the mariachis. Puro San Antonio. I would have been totally down with UTSA having a mariachi marching band, but alas. Very cool gesture by UTSA to honor the military the day before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a lump in my throat as I watched the American flag cover the Alamodome turf.

- Closing Thoughts

This is how it feels to lose. It sucks. This was a horrible loss, but it's the type of loss that makes a team improve. The film from this game is going to show the coaches and players a myriad of mistakes that can be improved upon. Depth chart changes will be processed. The coaches will push the players to get better with a tough week of practice. A salty Southern Utah team awaits the Roadrunners next week. Remember how Sacramento State beat Oregon State last week and earned a #12 ranking in FCS? Yeah, well Southern Utah took them behind the shed today and delivered a thrashing. UTSA is Southern Utah's homecoming game. It's going to take focus, preparation, and luck to win the program's first ever road game. We're about to see what this UTSA team is made of. As always, be sure to add your game pictures to our Flickr group. We've got a great podcast with a very special guest lined up for you guys next week, so be sure to be tuning in.

McMurry vs. UTSA Box Score

Post-game notes

UTSA post-game Quotes

Discuss the game with fans