Summer Walk-Ons

In today's latest reminder that college football has no off season, UTSA has recently released an updated roster for us nerds to devour. I've been preaching the team's advancements in the realm of strength and conditioning for months, and now we have hard evidence that I'm not crazy. Also that I'm really good at judging guys' bodies ;)  

'murica. happy early fourth o' july.

David Morgan is up to 240, Josh Walker down to an athletic but under-sized 260, Cody Harris is suddenly up to 300, and Kurfehs is down to 215 to point out a few of the most notable changes. Walker will get his weight back up-- he needed to slim down in order to get his footwork quicker and shift his body type to a more athletic stature. Look for him to play at 280 this season then max out around 290 in the future. Harris is now a picturesque FBS offensive lineman with his long arms at 6'5". The 300 pounds behind those long arms will pack a punch at the line of scrimmage. I'm hoping Kurfehs's drop in size will keep him healthy and mobile. He probably put on too much weight coming out of O'Connor where he was a scrawny corner back just a few years back.

The updated roster is available here if you'd like to really get a sense of how much bigger this team is. From a physical stand point, there's not much difference in size from this roster to other low-tier FBS programs. Don't forget the guys still have another whole month to bulk up before they report to camp. Give Coach Dudley a damn raise and buy more MET-Rx..

While there were a couple of unfortunate defections from the team in Malcolm Scott, Marlon Smith, and possibly Mason Russell, UTSA was able to land some pretty good talent in this class of walk-ons. The first to catch my eye was Christian Wood. After losing one converted basketball player in Marlon Smith, I guess UTSA felt they needed another. Wood transfers from Southwestern Assembiles of God where he had signed an NLI for their basketball squad. Side note: Why doesn't this school roll with the SWAGU acronym? Grammatically incorrect, but c'mon man!

An athletic 6'3" linebacker, Wood garnered every reward a 3A basketball player can get, including Mr. Basketball in Texas. While we'll have to wait a few months to see if Wood's hardcourt skills can bring value to the gridiron, Wood received high praise from Refugio head coach Jason Herring whom I consider one of the best small-school coaches in Texas. After playing Halletsville in 2010, Herring told the Victoria Advocate "The best thing I like about [Woods] is the kind of kid he is. He's one of the best we've ever tried to defend. We tried about five different kids on him. He kept making plays. He was also all over the field at linebacker. We've played him for three years and he's very hard to block. He's very active. He shows up and he plays hard".

Next up is Brent Swanson, a 6'0", 280 pound lineman from Corpus Christi Carroll. Brent played guard his senior year but also trained at center. Swanson has impressive size and power, but is much too slow for FBS play. He's a project that could pay dividends with hard work in the weight lifting and nutrition department.

UTSA has done a pretty good job of scoping out talent from up I-35 in New Braunfels, with four NB kids on the roster. The latest to suit up is Gage Hadlock, a 5'11", 190 lbs safety that also took reps at wide receiver at Canyon last year. After giving his tape a brief look, I haven't decided if I like him more as a free or strong safety, but he definitely fits the hard-hitting safety precedent that the program has set with Triston Wade, Nic Johnston, and Cody Berry.

While some of the other walk-ons have already been written about, Codie Brooks is the crown jewel of the latest batch of walk-ons that fans haven't already been made aware of. At 6'1", 240 lbs., Codie Brooks has the strength and modest agility to become an FBS strong side defensive end. Brooks was a menace at Seguin the past two years. From watching some tape on him, I think Brooks has a really, really high ceiling after DI weight lifting and technique coaching enter the picture. A lesser version of recent signee Brendon Brinkmann, if you will. My biggest take-away from checking out all of these new walk-ons is that they're all hard workers and high characters kids. The silent killer asset for any good football program.

UTSA v. UIW 7 on 7

Dropped by Incarnate Word's campus today to check out a 7 on 7 scrimmage between the Lone Star Conference Cardinals and UTSA's Roadrunners. Most of UTSA's skilled position players were present, amounting to around 35 to 45 players by my guess. In contrast, UIW only had around 25 guys and did very little substituting. A cautionary tale: I was sitting quite a ways away from the action and the players weren't wearing any form of identification, so take player names with a grain of salt as I could have screwed up. Except Carter, can't miss that flame-red ginger dome of his.

New comer quarterback Tucker Carter started the scrimmage by leading the Roadrunner offense down the field on a crisp and efficient drive without a single incompletion. Carter threw exclusively and quickly to under routes with a strong plant step and a clean follow through. The Roadrunner defense was equally impressive on the defensive side of the ball on the first series as Darrien Starling picked off the Cardinals' quarterback on a tipped pass on their third play in the series.

Sorry guys, phone picture is gonna have to do for this one

Following the interception, incumbent QB1 Eric Soza took over under center for Carter. Not to be outdone, Soza lead an even more efficient drive for a touchdown. Soza's footwork looked near perfect and his throwing motion was swift and compact. Eric often quickly cycled through three check downs before finding an open receiver to dump off to or hit in stride. After two drops, Soza found pay dirt by nailing a slanting Mike Wilburn (I think) through two defenders in traffic for about 17 yards. On the following play Soza threw up a perfectly-placed bomb to Marcellus Mack on a flag route in the end zone.

After the Roadrunners came to a 2-0 lead over the Cardinals, the team started to lose focus as the Roadrunner secondary let a Cardinal streak past the defense for a touch down on UIW's first play following the UTSA touchdown. Soza would remain at quarterback for the majority of the scrimmage, presumably in an attempt to build a repertoire with the UTSA receiving corps. Soza dug deep through his options to throw to nearly every player UTSA had on the sideline, from walk-ons to guys I swear I have never seen before. Neither Soza nor Carter ever looked particularly deep on routes, opting to work on their short throws and check downs instead. Overall the Roadrunner quarterbacks performed generally well, with Soza missing on a few passes and Carter having a little bit of trouble with his release in his last series.

If anyone was wondering about Nic Johnston's injury, he was present at the scrimmage without any type of protective wear on his foot or a noticeable limp. While Johnston didn't play, he was coaching up several of the Roadrunner newcomers on the sideline throughout the evening with some occasional help from Mauricio Sanchez. Interestingly enough, JUCO transfer Cody Berry showed some leadership following a defensive break down that led to a UIW touchdown by pulling the secondary aside to talk over the play and the unit's assignments. Not only does this show that Berry has the psyche mettle to lead, but also that he has absorbed UTSA's defense in just a few months. Kid's gonna be special.

Individual highlights include a 10 & delayed out route from Sean Hesler that ended in the RS FR. dragging an inch of his toe over the turf for a first down and drawing a gasp from all of the players in attendance. Hesler's speed is impressive, as he shot off of his defender with a sudden and violent burst. It was tough for me to identify some of the lower profile players from my seat in the stands, but Cody Berry and who I believe was Spencer Phillips had a strong pass break up on a Cardinal receiver at the goal line. Gonna dub that one the Cedar Hill Shutdown.

In the "Why isn't this kid getting hype" department, I had my first chance to see the menacing Jordan Gray play football. I've seen this dude at the gym every day this summer so I can ensure you that he's a physical specimen. GOUTSA lists him at 6'4", 250 lbs. which is SEC size at tight end. Gray only lined up for two plays so I didn't get much of a chance to see him move in space, but on his second play he caught a hard pass from Soza with impressive dexterity on a curl route. He was covered by a kid that was around 5'10", 170 lbs. Don't think homeboy would have brought down Gray before he rumbled for a handful of additional yards. I can definitely see UTSA adopting a tight end-first passing game with Gray and David Morgan, similar to the Patriots current system with Gronkowski and Hernandez. Kam Jones is Wes Welker.

The most impressive play of the game was the last. With UIW leading 3-2, Soza lofted a pass to the back of the end zone. David Morgan, who looks like a new man after going through an intense spring strength training regiment, broke off of his defender and dove backwards over a good three yards of turf to come down in bounds with a batshit crazy touchdown. GOUTSA lists Morgan at 225 but I'd guess he's at around 235~240 off the eyeball test. Morgan's rambunctious catch brought the 30 minute scrimmage to an end at a 3-3 draw.

Pretty funny moment towards the end of the scrimmage-- UIW was driving and in the red zone when a Cardinal attempted to beat Erik Brown on an out route. Brown swatted the ball away, causing a UTSA player to yell out "don't let him score with New Balances on!" A couple of UIW's players took offense, and let the Roadrunners know they were moving to Nike gear this year, causing another UTSA player to rebut "we've got the Nike shit you boys won't see for years." UTSA is an Adidas school, but the premise was both true and hilarious. I kind of still can't believe the triple stripe is hooking us up with custom print gloves next year.

Miscellaneous: Our friend Kevin McGuire at No 2 Minute Warning recorded a podcast with Coach Coker this afternoon. It's about 10 minutes long and is a great listen. Pay close attention when Kevin ask Larry about potential rivalries. Listen here.

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.

Southern Utah Game Recap

Evans Okotcha runs behind a block in the first quarter- Ashwer Swan/University Journal

A mini third quarter comeback wasn't enough to thwart Brad Sorensen and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. While the Roadrunners fell on the losing side of a 22-45 affair, the young UTSA team showed admirable resilience and flashes of brilliance against one of the best FCS teams in the nation. Similar to last week's loss to McMurry, this game exposed more areas of needed improvement for UTSA, while simultaneously allowing certain players to establish themselves as players to be called upon during crunch time. The first drive of the game had "upset" written all over it as Eric Soza led the Runners to a near-flawless opening, endcapped by a 10 yard touchdown pass to David Morgan. UTSA's first drive consisted of 12 productive plays and ate up 6:17 on the clock. Evans Okotcha made big contributions early with a completion for seven, followed by carries for nine and five yards. I'm quickly becoming a big fan of Okotcha, he puts his head down when necessary and runs hard, while also showing good speed on the end and terrific blocking skills.

Following UTSA's impressive start, Southern Utah wasted no time establishing their superior size and aggression as running back Deckar Alexander took it 50 yards up the field on the Thunderbirds' first play from scrimmage. Southern Utah's offensive line opened up a gaping hole for Alexander to rush through, showing the dominance they would maintain through four quarters. Whether it be manhandling the pass rush to give Sorensen all the time he could ever dream of, or pounding Marlon Smith into the ground every other play, the Thunderbirds' line showed little struggle outside of some linebacker blitzes and a couple of great rushes from Jason Neill. I will be very surprised if UTSA faces an offensive line as big and physical as this at any point throughout the remainder of the season, maybe even next year in the WAC.

SUU would rattle off consecutive scores on the strength of Sorensen's arm and nice rushes from Alexander and Minefee to bring it to 38-7 before UTSA would score again on an eight yard rush from David Glasco on an option. As Southern Utah continued to rack up points, UTSA's weakness on special teams was exposed yet again. Brady Measom totaled 102 yards on punt returns, ensuring strong field positions on almost every Southern Utah possession. Thankfully Josh Ward's punts were improved from last week and his wind up was a bit shorter. Unfortunately the coverage on punts were this week's glaring weakness. Poor tackles and bad spacing made it easy for Measom as he sliced his way up the field on four returns. Sean Ianno seems to have usurped Ward's kick off duties from him, sending his first kickoff of the game into orbit with a kick that escaped the back of SUU's end zone through the air.

One could easily fixate on the negatives of this game-- poor zone coverage in the secondary, dumb penalties (again), lack of a pass rush on Sorensen, some bad decisions from Soza... but I took away a good chunk of positives from this performance. It's approaching midnight and I'm getting a bit lazy, so let's step away from paragraph format and break it down:

UTSA Offensive Line- Some break downs, but a net win for the OL tonight. Zero sacks and two QB hurries for Southern Utah, although I'm pretty sure Soza was forced to scramble more often than that. SUU has a quick defensive line so I was quite impressed to see the OL biding some time for Soza and relatively shutting Tyler Osborne down (2 tackles, 1 QBH). Better blocking tonight than against McMurry. The OL opened up some holes for Tevin Williams to produce his most successful game of his collegiate career thus far.

UTSA Defensive Line- Faced a tough task in lining up against SUU's offensive line and didn't look ready for the challenge. Sorensen had time to bake a cake in the pocket on most downs, and that's taking the high elevation into account (har har). After a career game against McMurry, Marlon Smith reminded us that's he's only 225 pounds in this outing. Over 80 pounds outpaced, Smith saw many a pancake block and spent a multitude of plays running in place while being stood up by beefy Thunderbird linemen. Smith still has some work to do on his technique. A more athletic three point stance will allow him to fire off the ball and utilize his speed and athleticism to get into the backfield before an offensive tackle can lay a hand on him. Easily fixable and I'd be willing to bet Roark has already made a note of it. True freshman Jason Neill stood his ground well today, collapsing Sorensen's passing pocket on a few plays and pulling down a tackle for loss that he wasn't credited with. Richard Burge had a few nice plays at the beginning of the second half, breaking off his block for a TFL then knocking down a pass on consecutive plays.

Eric Soza- Very inconsistent play tonight from the offensive head honcho. Soza came out of the gate flawless, completing all five of his pass attempts in UTSA's first possession. Eric made good decisions with his feet by picking up yards on zone reads and keepers. When #8 becomes a dual threat the Roadrunners offense is tough to stop. Unfortunately Soza was not able to maintain his early success as pressure mounted. Finishing with 14 completions on 28 attempts, Soza totaled 141 yards through the air which looks elementary across from Sorensen’s 20-28, 287 yd., 3 TD line on the stat sheet. Exercising some brutally ill-advised judgment, Eric forced way too many throws to places where they simply were not going to be caught. Most egregious of all came on UTSA’s first offensive play of the second half. After meeting pressure in the pocket, Soza rolled to his left sideline, staring down Brandon Freeman all the way through. Naturally, SUU’s Dion Turner noticed and hopped in front of the pass to return it for a Southern Utah touchdown. Freeman was never open in the first place, and staring him down only makes matters worse. A wasted down on a thrown-away pass is much more manageable than handing over an easy touchdown. Tough game, but don’t forget that this is only Soza’s third collegiate football game.

Kam Jones- Dude, Kam Jones is really good. He did a little bit of everything tonight including catching four passes for 43 yards and reeling in 18 yards on the ground via a reverse on his way towards leading the team in all-purpose yards with 124. Kam deserves extra praise for fighting through some bumps and bruises, especially after enduring a brutal hit early in the game that sidelined him for a while. Lest we forget, Jones had a touchdown-saving tackle on a kickoff as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing Coker bench Kam next week against a weaker opponent to ensure he bounces back from the beating he took tonight.

Kenny Harrison- Blazing fast. Ran a beautiful slant route for a first down. Flew with the ball on a kickoff return after both Jones and Armstrong went down with injuries. I’m starting to see why the coaching staff is so high on Harrison and I’m looking forward to seeing him develop as a receiver.

David Morgan- Another great game from the talented, young tight end, amassing 35 yards on just three completions. Hauled in the first touchdown of the game on a very nice catch. David may have the best hands on the team at 6’5, 225. An offseason regiment with a Division I strength and conditioning coach is going to make Morgan a scary option for Eric Soza moving forward. He’s pretty skinny for his frame, yet he still trucked through three Thunderbirds on a five and out route tonight.

Steven Kurfehs- Just how good is Steven Kurfehs? 13 tackles, including 8 solo in tonight’s contest. Kurfehs flashed his athleticism throughout the game, chasing down speedy Thunderbirds with ease and crashing through the line for a loss of five in the second quarter. The anchor of UTSA’s defense is already up to 29 tackles on the year.

Brandon Reeves- Big bounce back from a lackluster performance last week. Reeves enjoyed the Roadrunners’ lone sack in the game while also pulling down seven tackles, five of which were brought down for a gain of four yards or less. You’ve got to admire Reeves passion on the field, you can tell he’s one of those guys that just absolutely loves playing the game of football.

Nic Johnston- We might be entering the zone where it’s safe to say that Nic Johnston is the best player on this football team. Nic had seven tackles tonight, was credited with a force fumble, and delivered two CRUSHING blows to SUU receivers. Nic is great in coverage and does a phenomenal job of getting his hand in between the receiver and the pass. Teams are going to start game planning around Johnston. If I’m a receiver I don’t want my route to run anywhere near this dude.

Play calling- Although it might have been a bit unnecessary, we got a peek into a few wrinkles in Coach Bush’s offense. A lot of motion going on all over the field, some times going into and out of double tight sets. This interests me in particular because it completely changes the mindset of the defense, even if all you did was tell what would have been your slot receiver to go down into a three-point stance. Best play of the game? Soza motioned a back out to a slot receiver position, then handed a reverse to Kam Jones for a big pick up. Set up by the previously described play, Bush later ran a fake reverse to Jones, only to have him continue running out for a pass that Soza completed, nearly leading to a Roadrunners touchdown. The more ways we can get Kam into open space, the better.

Six Fumbles- WHAT….. This is the only answer to these woes.

Triston Wade’s ejection- This is a weird play and it’s always tough to see a player ejected, but Wade could have cause serious brain injury to Measom. Granted, Wade was .1 second away from having made a perfect play on the punt, he still put Measom’s life in danger which is absolutely unacceptable. I hope Measom made it out alright without any type of damage and he learned his lesson about calling for a fair catch. That rule is there to protect you, Brady. Use it, it could have saved your ass tonight

The “Wild Runner” formation- So I guess we could not be lame and just call it the Wildcat, but Bush finally paraded out his wildcat formation. I failed to take notes of who all was involved, but it looked like Jones and Johnson were the two upbacks. UTSA was fairly efficient out of this set. Don’t forget that Jones (and Josiah Monroe) was an all-state quarterback in high school… just sayin’.

I’m fading fast so I’ll wrap this up and hit the hay. Bottom line: A team full of freshmen made their first road trip EVER to a mountain town to play one of the best FCS teams in the nation and played pretty well for about 35~40% of the game. I felt that UTSA had the edge in pure talent, but of course that doesn't win football games. This team needs to continue getting reps and coaching to be at the level of play that they are capable of. Let’s hope that develops sooner rather than later. After watching this game I'm convinced that UTSA can hang with the rest of the FCS teams on its schedule. Winning those games is a different story. That takes game planning, execution, preparation, and *gasp* maturity.

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