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.

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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32: QB Rotation

This week on the show we discuss the Tucker Carter/Eric Soza battle, Incarnate Word, Why football has to eat first, Virginia series, and much much more

contact us at podcast@cokerchronicles.com


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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.

Spring Game 2012

Spring Game Time.

This is the second spring game for the program and the second for yours truly, also. Expectations are markedly different this season than last. The whole thing is different. Spring Fiesta 2011 was new, exciting and fresh. This one carries expectations. I figure a similar feeling will be in the air surrounding Season Two.

This one should be fun. Instead of just the novelty of seeing college football (belonging to SA) in the Dome, we will have a right and proper quarterback controversy to dissect. Fandom!

That isn’t the real concern of the staff, however. Dan McCarney reports that Larry Coker would like to see some defense played, for once. I suppose that would be nice. How will the offense look when there is a crowd present? Will the defense continue to get pushed around? Will Ryan Polite enthrall the fan base with tight spirals? Will Tucker Carter make us call for Eric Soza to be benched? SHOW UP AND FIND OUT!

Again, none of this REALLY matters. There is a whole summer for guys to improve, get worse, and everything in between.

What really matters? You enjoying yourself. Don’t judge a work in progress like a finished product and drink some beer. I’ll be present. Say hi. Lets hang out and talk football and stuff.

Go Runners.

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

Episode 14

Podcast is up! Click the link to the feed or click 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.

UTSA lands post-season accolades

UTSA had six players named to College Sports Madness' 2011 FCS Independent All-Conference Team. In a move sure to make many Internet denizens insane, QB Eric Soza was named Offensive Player of the Year.

Making the cut:

QB: Eric Soza
KR: Kenny Harrison
OL: Scott Inskeep
DL: Marlon Smith
LB: Brandon Reeves
DB: Mark Waters

UTSA vs Georgia State: Winning in Overtime

Hey! we won. That means we feel better about the dreadful play preceding the final field goal by Sean Ianno. It is funny how that happens. I mentioned on the podcast about the Cult of The Quarterback and how a comeback or two by Tebow seemingly erases all his flaws. Perhaps it is just that the glow of a win makes any flaws imperceptible. Wins are glamour shots -- the team looks like a hollywood starlet with the soft lighting and a perfect smile.

And so it goes.

Soza had some throws that were nearly cause for a benching. My dad, in his first visit to The Bird Dome (yeah, I said it) did a double face palm after the heave down the middle to a lone Georgia State safety (who smartly let it fall). When that play is broken down, you’ll find that it was a miscommunication between Soza and Kenny Harrison. Soza read the safety and threw down the middle while Harrison read the safety and broke outside on a corner route. Without the benefit of a second look I’ll go ahead and say it was Soza who read wrong. There was more room outside than there was inside.

That said, despite losing their best linebacker, the defense stepped up late. The post-would-be-interception drive could have been a four minute, clock-eating display of power football. Instead it was eaten up by the HardHat defense, giving the offense one more shot at redemption. Prior to that, they had forced three straight punts and a missed field goal. I don’t know how much you credit a team for forcing a missed field goal when they didn’t block it but you give them some credit for not allowing a touchdown.

There are always some lucky plays in football. Coaches obsess over controlling the outcomes of all the others. In our case, the two missed field goals were fortune we needed. More concerning is the two touchdowns scored in the first half. One was a sickening cutback by Donald Russell that started as a sweep/outside zone run to the left and ended with him scoring near the numbers from the right side.

From the glow of a win look at that run as evidence of our fast-flowing defense and a risk when you attack the ball carrier. If we lost? Well, that is our youthful inexperience in these matters. The truth lies somewhere in that space between. If you are going to give up big plays, do it in the first half. The other team could fall in love with themselves and look for the big throw/big run instead of doing the little things. Maybe they were beneficiaries of busted coverage (GSU was, Mark Waters got caught in no man’s land on Albert Wilson’s 54-yard TD), in which case you simply don’t do that anymore.

UTSA’s defense didn’t give up a big play in the second. In fact, here are GSU’s second half drives:

• 11 plays 56 yards missed fg
• 7 plays 32 yards punt
• 5 plays 15 yards punt
• 5 plays 17 yards punt
• 4 plays 3 yards missed fg
• 1 play kneel end of half
• 4 plays -6 yards missed fg (OT)

Not only did we see progress from the defense in this game, but also in this season. University of South Alabama came down here and ran the ball fairly well in the second half, which led to their comeback, which led to their OT win.

That is the good. The bad is very bad. The offense looked terrible all game until the last drive. It was enough to make me consider the benefits of simplifying the offense. I’ve maintained that Soza looks infinitely better when he makes quicker decisions.* When he throws on the run he seems more comfortable (though not as successful). He is reading the defense too slowly. The interception was not into triple coverage no more than any throw against a zone is against double or triple coverage. Kam Jones was running a drag/slant across the middle.

*I don’t know his progressions. I don’t know the pass keys. I don’t know. Sure looks like he holds the ball too long and is indecisive.

Soza has to throw this ball as Kam crosses behind the defender and the linebacker is backpedalling. Instead, he waited for Kam to sit in the zone which let the defender sit and wait to react to the pass. I can’t give you the real reason. Travis Bush and Soza know.

Throw it when Kam gets to point A. Not when he stops.

The good news is that during the last drive Georgia State played zones. It wasn’t quite prevent defense but it sure wasn’t aggressive either. Although we lined up in five and four receiver sets, Eric Soza was only looking to one side. In this case that was to the short side of the field (left). GSU played a couple different coverages but all with the same personnel. Some times the corner would take the flats and other times he would sprint back to cover the deep quarter. In those cases where he would sprint deep, the playside backer would sprint out and take the flats. The deep safety would either cover high or sprint up to the linebacker’s vacated spot. It all isn’t very complicated if you know anything about Cover 2, Cover 3 and Quarters.

When I say GSU wasn’t aggressive I mean a couple things: 1. They didn’t bring additional pressure to help their coverage. 2. They didn’t press.

They may have feared our speed. We did burn them on a couple wheel routes (against man coverage the wheel route is deadly) and so maybe they didn’t want Brandon Armstrong to do more of that? Perhaps, but I think it was more Bill Curry betting against Eric Soza.

Back to the drive. Against that coverage we ran two man routes and Soza just found the open man. The combinations and routes and contstraint plays (backside screen to Kam Jones) aren’t the real story. The fact that Soza was taking three and five-step drops, reading only one half of the field and making a throw was key. He looked every bit the quarterback we want him to be.

Unfortunately he also looked like the guy who deserves a lot of criticism. He was still inaccurate on a couple of those throws. The incompletions to Kam across the middle and to Brandon Armstrong on the sideline were just poor throws.

One Eye on the Future: The Zach Conque Post

With a dire lack of the things to talk about, I decided now would be a good time to take a look at one of UTSA's two known recruiting commitments. A 6'5, 200+ lb. quarterback from Little Rock Catholic HS (Ark.), Zach Conque looks to be the cornerstone of the Roadrunners' future. Zach is the son of Central Arkansas coach Clint Conque who has led the Bears from a Division II non-factor to a strong competitor in the Southland Conference. It's becoming obvious that Coach Bush values kids that were born and raised in the film room, as both he and Eric Soza are coaches' sons. Zach's football IQ shines through on the field with his uncanny ability to place the ball in the perfect spot, making life easy on his receivers. Although Conque's frame causes him to be labeled as a pro-style QB, he is certainly a threat on the ground outside of the passing pocket with a reported 40 yd. dash of 4.6 seconds. He really is a carbon copy of Soza with about an extra half foot of height and a substantially better arm. That is enough to get me VERY excited for this young man's arrival into Bush's system.

I really love the above video because it gives us a great look at Zach's footwork and mechanics. His throwing motion is incredibly smooth with a high release point that comes across his chest with zip. Not only are his passes incredibly accurate, he also throws with velocity, preventing interceptions and lofty tosses that are easy to defend. Conque keeps his throws compact by holding his elbows up high and tight above his shoulders, following through with his body weight after his release. What impresses me most is Zach's footwork. On both his one and three step drop backs, he wastes no time backing away from the center with balance and rhythm. It's encouraging to see Zach nail the ten and out pass after watching Soza struggle to complete those passes all year long.

In the latest YouTube video I could find, we can see Conque's development from last year. His field vision is impeccable, finding open receivers on all sides of the field and checking down from covered primary receivers. Perhaps the most notable improvement is how much of a scrambling threat Conque has been this year. He really flashes his wheels throughout this video, picking up some huge gains on scampers. Zach does a great job of feeling out the pocket and avoiding pressure. It's easy to see why he was such a highly-sought after prospect, drawing interest from TAMU and several SEC schools (edit: I guess TAMU counts as an SEC school too now, right?) as well as scholarship offers from UCA, MTSU, and Toledo. One thing that Zach could use some work on is improving the consistency of his delivery. During a couple of plays in these videos I noticed him lowering the slot of this throwing motion or throwing a tad side-armed. While such tendencies are permissible at the high school level, Zach will run into trouble if he maintains the habit in Division I play.

All in all, UTSA landed an absolute steal in Conque, and I can't wait to see him throwing passes to Josiah Monroe and Kenny Harrison in '14.

Read about Conque's recruitment here
Rivals profile
Scout profile

How Sweet It Is - Bacone College Recap

Eric Soza shows love after the win. Pic via mysa.com

Sandwiched between two road games against nationally-ranked FCS opponents, 2011's Homecoming game was an opportunity for UTSA to bolster their confidence before making the three hour trek to Huntsville next week to face a very salty opponent. A 54-7 romp of NAIA opponent Bacone College (hopefully) provided a renewed sense of confidence and swagger for a team that had been severely lacking in composure in several facets of the game the past two weeks. 

Defensive pass coverage and special teams play were improved ten-fold; a monumental step up from weeks Two and Three, even if this showing came against lesser talent. Today's win proved the answer for a crucial question in UTSA's first year of football: This team full of inexperienced freshmen showed that they can in fact correct deficiencies in their game, perhaps a response to strong coaching. Bacone only picked up one yard from UTSA’s three punts, and 101 yards on eight (!) kick offs for an average of 12.6 yards per kickoff return. UTSA also blocked a punt near the Warriors’ end zone and recovered a muffed punt to set up the Roadrunners’ first of many touchdowns of the day. Sean Ianno did a magnificent job, going 4 for 4 on field goals (21, 25, 42, 45 yards) and averaging 67.1 yards on kickoffs, resulting in three touchbacks and horrible field position for the Warriors for the duration of the game.

UTSA’s defense terrorized Bacone for four quarters, forcing the Warrriors to punt ten times, netting Bacone a mere 260 yards of offensive production. Coach Neathery’s staff was only one play away from pitching a shutout, as a brain-fart in coverage allowed the Warriors to get on the board with a wide-open 71 yard touchdown pass. If you were to negate that play, Bacone would have only amassed 118 yards through the air in their spread offense, a telling statistic for the UTSA D. Most importantly, Bacone converted only three of their 15 third down attempts. As I’m sure all of our astute readers are well aware, the Roadrunners have had a very tough time containing opposing offenses on third down this season with McMurry and Southern Utah both racking up third and fourth down conversions with ease.

We’re starting to see a sense of stability in the secondary with the addition of Erik Brown at cornerback. Starling and Brown give the defense two guys that they can trust to make plays on the corners. Starling had yet another great performance with four tackles and two pass break ups. Darrien was crashing in on receivers hard, jarring the ball out of the opponents’ hands with strong licks. Starling did make one big mental mistake when he released off of his coverage in an attempt to come down with an interception that he narrowly missed. His coverage assignment ended up catching the ball instead and picked up a first down. That’s a play I’m willing to let fly since it’s an easy six points if Starling can snag the ball. While we’re on the subject of the secondary, Nic Johnston had a monster game with **deep breath** two tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, lock-down pass coverage, and an interception that he returned 12 yards up the field. Triston Wade also had somewhat of a breakout game on the heels of his ejection from the Southern Utah game. Wade provided strong coverage and brought down an interception for 29 yards. Triston racked up six tackles (four solo), forced a fumble, had a tackle for a loss of one yard, and broke up a pass. That’s called putting in the WORK right there. Another freshman safety, this time Joseph Lizcano, also threw in a strong contribution by blocking a punt and pulling down a 23 yard sack.

Looking at 54 points on the scoreboard, one would assume that the Roadrunner offense was firing on all cylinders. In reality that was not necessarily the case. While Bush’s offense didn’t have a huge problem moving the ball, there was plenty to be discouraged by. In general, Soza looked frazzled and off-kilter, throwing balls into the turf, rushing throws, hitting receivers on the wrong shoulder, and focusing too much on a sole receiver. Soza was not able to establish his running game, losing a total of 17 yards while gaining 12. I feel like Soza gets in certain zones when he’s playing, either “pick up first downs with my feet if nothing’s open”, “try to create a big play however it comes”, or “work methodically up the field by using check downs and short route audibles”. Once Soza gets into one of these zones he tends to stick to those guns, often to fault. Obviously Soza is going to be at his best when he learns to incorporate all three of his different styles into his repertoire.

Today’s offensive player of the game is without a doubt “Evil Evans” Okotcha. Okotcha needed only eight carries to move the ball 106 yards, willing his way through defenders while toting the rock. The sturdy Roadrunner halfback finished with one touchdown and became UTSA’s first running back to ever surpass 100 rushing yards in a single game.

The receiving corps was very inconsistent in this game. There was many a drop, including three in a row as the Roadrunners were marching towards a touchdown right before half time. Kenny Harrison continued to show his speed and agility, while Brandon Freeman reeled in any pass sent his way. Bush played around with the Wild Runner formation yet again, this time using Kam Jones as the lone upback with a motioned jet sweep.

For the most part, Soza enjoyed great protection in the pocket. While Bacone recorded four sacks, I still felt like the offensive line did a great job. At least two of the sacks came when Soza panicked upon finding none of his receivers open, then attempted to scramble forward only to be met by Warrior defensive linemen. Can’t blame Soza for not trusting in his pocket security given previous performances from the big boys up front. This offensive line is growing steadily. Let’s see how they do against more D1 competition in the next couple of weeks.

All in all, a good win for the Runners. It’s great to get a truly dominative victory under your belt, demoralizing your opponent in the process. The crowd was terrific, coming in at 2,000 higher than the McMurry game. I personally can’t wait to play some D1 talent in the Alamodome.

Oddities: Southern Utah smashed UNLV tonight. Told you guys they were good. UTSA gave Southern Utah a much better game than what they saw out of Mountain West member UNLV.

Southern Alabama lost to Kent State and Georgia State got demolished by Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars. This week’s opponent, Sam Houston State, upset FBS opponent New Mexico in overtime during their homecoming. SHSU's stud sophomore running back Tim Flanders had five touchdowns. After the game New Mexico's program pretty much fell to dust. Much more coming on Sammy State later in the week. Be sure to check out our podcast on Tuesday/Wednesday for good times.

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.

Discuss the game on Rowdyville


Game stat sheet

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