Counterpoint: UTSA v TxState Should Be on Thanksgiving

There has been Thanksgiving Day football since 1876, when Yale and Princeton began a series. The University of Michigan began a string of 19 straight from 1885 to 1905. Big brother UT-Austin and TAMU began Thanksgiving Day football play in 1901 and did that dance off and on until this last game in 2011. Grambling, Alabama State, Tuskegee, Southern and a long list of high schools in the northeast (and a few in California) also line up on the day we celebrate thankfulness by feasting.

Of course, Dallas, Detroit, one rotating host and three others take up something like nine hours of television time while you indulge in the greatest holiday of the year and prepare for battle at Walmart the next morning or wherever your Black Friday battleground of choice is that year.

I see all that and think, "I'll have some of that, thanks."

It has to start somewhere. Why not this year? Why not San Antonio?

Let's give the people something other to do than eat and watch Cowboy football. Give people an option other than enduring the Detroit Lions game and fighting through a day with annoying relatives. Let them spend the day with friends and food and live football downtown once every two years.

Thursday is for turkey and football. Friday is for shopping. Saturday is for recovering. Sunday is for flying back home.


Some people think that we won't get good attendance because a bunch of UTSA students will be back home in Houston or the Valley or wherever. So what? This game isn't to get one good day of attendance. We'll already reach 60K on opening day. Later, when those students become alums and nostalgia is taking hold of them as they begin their lives in the real world with all of its responsibilities they'll take the opportunity to come back and make an event of it. Current San Antonians will have another event to come out to.

It has got to start somewhere, though. If we don't consider it prominant and worthy of a place on the holiday then why should anyone else?

**

Unfortunately we will likely be at the mercy the World Wide Leader. The point still remains.

Point: On the TXST v. UTSA Football Game

As the top dogs of college football begin to roll out their schedules, the WAC is finally able to begin penciling in dates and times around marquee match ups in other conferences that command more prominent television contracts. You know it's the worst part of the Football Year when this is ALL WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT. Most importantly, we can begin to speculate on when the inaugural Texas State/UTSA game will go down. There have been countless rumors that ESPN is seeking to broadcast the start of the rivalry. It makes sense to me-- ESPN has a contractual obligation to air WAC games and the WWL would be hard pressed to find a more intriguing match up in this shell of a conference outside of conference champion Louisiana Tech vs. runner up Utah State.

While the decision is likely out of the administration's hands, it's an interesting debate on when to host the game. Two main factors play into the arbitration:

1.) Are UTSA's fans dedicated enough to show up on Thanksgiving?

and

2.) What time slot will draw the most eyeballs?

Landing in the sweet spot between the two factors will be a delicate balancing act. While a Thanksgiving game with reduced competition for rankings from other games will probably provide UTSA with the most national visibility, fan attendance would probably be highest on a Saturday game. Even if the Bobcats roll into town on Thanksgiving, I still think attendance will be quite high thanks to the average San Antonian's penchant for showing up for hyped-up events. While we certainly welcome any fan to the game, it's in UTSA's best interest to put its best product forward. That means a huge and loud student section, which I'm worried may not be the case if the game is played on Thanksgiving-- just take a look back at the student section on the game after Halloween. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of UTSA's student body is NOT from San Antonio. Would kids from Houston and the Rio Grande Valley really skip out on Thanksgiving with their families for the game? After just one year of attachment to the Roadrunners? The odds are nebulous at best, in my opinion.

I crowdsourced the fanbase on Twitter and found that most of you approve of my proposal of playing the game on Friday. While a healthy chunk of fans will miss the game traveling to and fro Grandma's house, I think the date will appease the majority. There were 14 FBS games on the day after Thanksgiving last year, highlighted by marquee match ups between Iowa and Nebraska, and LSU and Arkansas. The LSU/Arkansas game has moved to Saturday, while Arizona and Arizona St. are now playing on Friday. ESPN owns the rights to both Pac-12 and B1G games, so the Texas Twins showdown will most likely be scheduled around those two games. If I were to wager a bet, look for Nebraska and Iowa to get the ABC treatment on basic cable, while UTSA and Texas State air on ESPN for a regional counterpoint to the midwestern affair. The Arizona game will be able to be broadcast after the other two games thanks to time zone differences. Official guess: UTSA v. TXST in the Alamodome on ESPN. 11/23 at 3:00 pm.

Be sure to troll the comment section below to let us know what you think of my prediction. When do YOU want the game to be?

Link Roundup - 8/1/11

Picture courtesy of UTSA Athletics

Dan McCarney - The Dawn of UTSA football approaches [mySA.com]


We got our first post-WAC media day check-in from dear friend Dan McCarney over at the Express News UTSA sports blog. Dan points out the general sense of optimism from WAC officials in Las Vegas, the uphill battle administration faces in raising funds for D1 caliber football facilities, and touches on upcoming position battles afoot.

On the more practical matters, specifically UTSA’s first season, which will get underway on Sunday with the first official workout.

The Roadrunners are expecting 90 players to report on Friday. The vast majority of this year’s signing class have already been on campus with summer school, with the only absences being Madison RB Troy Williams (academics, legal issues) and Brenham DB Desmon Mathis (academics).

It’s the first of nine scheduled practices — all of which will be closed to the public and media, save the first 30 minutes — before the first game on Sept. 3, against Northeastern St.

Media day is next Tuesday, but considering how drastically the team is going to change with the influx of new players, I’m probably going to wait for a week or two before providing any significant preview material.

There are a handful of guys you can pretty safely pencil in for starting positions barring injury — players like QB Eric Soza, LB Steven Kurfehs and DB Mark Waters — but otherwise, I expect things will be fairly wide open.

As such, those position battles will even more notable than they would on a more established team. That should make for an interesting camp.

Wasn't aware that Desmon Mathis didn't qualify. Big loss from a talent perspective, but Coach Neathery has a swarm of stud secondary players to work with. Hopefully Desmon was able to get some work done in community college this summer and will be good to go for the fall. For those that hadn't heard, Troy Williams is currently facing sexual assault charges. I think the story sounds fishy so I'm going to reserve judgement until Troy has his day in court. Actually, I don't really care since it's safe to say he's DOA at UTSA. Yet again, a big loss in talent at a position the Runners are thankfully stacked at. These two hombres are case exhibit 1.0 as to why college football fans must curb their excitement when a 17 year old kids decides to play ball at your university of choice.

As far as position battles go, I've got my eye on Blake Terry vs. Brandon Reeves for the second linebacker spot. Reeves brings some valuable experience from his JUCO days in SoCal, while Blake is a high-ceiling athlete and extremely motivated. Reeves didn't do too much during this year's spring game, but it's hard to fault a guy that only had a few weeks of practice with the current regime. Some more promising battles are Josiah Monroe vs. Kam Jones at slot receiver and the two defensive end spots. I really like Jason Neill as a true freshman-- great frame and a nose for the ball. Kristian Bryant has a very high ceiling, while Marlon Smith showed great improvement throughout the past year. Ole Miss transfer Lekenwic Haynes will man one of the slots if he is not used as a Super Strong Safety™ in the 4-2-5. It's nice to have choices.

Tyler Mayforth -  The WAC's Future Salvation [San Marcos Daily Record]

Texas State and UTSA will save the Western Athletic Conference.

Think about it: What does the WAC need other than two football-playing schools?

Here’s a hint — it’s called a rivalry.

Right now, every other conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision has one.

cont.

In 335 days, the WAC will finally have two schools that are developing animosity for each other join its ranks. The Bobcats and Roadrunners can’t wait to get on the field with each other.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione said, downplaying his seething hatred for all things UTSA. “From what I watched during basketball season, this rivalry can get testy and adding football can only make it better.” 

Some good thoughts here from Texas State's resident beat writer, Tyler Mayforth. I'm glad he's starting to ditch his previously held pessimism regarding the WAC. This conference still has plenty of life and equity, despite however ugly 2012 might be. Rivalries are an excellent way to generate interest from fringe fans and instill pride in students. Ain't nothing more American than hatin' on the guy next to you. The I-35 rivalry is already a very good rivalry. I once watched Rowdy dip a bobcat doll in fake blood then rip it apart in front of the UTSA student section at a freaking volleyball game. Football is going to take this to whole new paradigms. I've already heard a lot of people with no connections to UTSA or State express interest in attending the first I-35 game in the Alamodome next year which is GREAT for both schools. I just hope ESPN picks it up.

Darrell Williams - Projected 2011 Two-Deep Roster [utsafootball.wordpress.com]

Roster projections are next to impossible for UTSA right now. So many moving parts and an infinitely small sample size to draw from. Check out Darrell's projections and let him know what you think, but don't be an anonymous ass wipe like "nobody" and bash him without offering up any alternatives, kapish? A few of my thoughts-- I have Josiah Monroe returning kicks and punts, Brandon Armstrong is definitely option #2 though. Have a feeling that Jason Neill is going to get a lot more burn this year than most are expecting. Darrell didn't even list him in his top four for D Ends. While Nielsen and Kazen are sure-fire tight ends, I think David Morgan is going to make some big catches when Coach Bush throws out a spread offense. I guess he technically wouldn't be a tight end in that situation though, huh? Charting out the offense and defense likes this really hammers home just how thin the Runners are going to be for the next two years. Keep the voodoo dolls on the shelf because injuries could decimate this team in a week's time.

UTSATailgaters - BREAKING NEWS!! UTSA vs UTEP (b-ball) [UTSATailgaters.com]
Really dig this. Always good to establish rivalries with fellow UT system schools. UTEP fans pack their stadium and it should be a great game considering how similar the two schools' seasons were last year. Thought about making the road trip but... yeah.

Oddities

I can't remember where I read this and my Google-fu is failing me, but I believe Football jerseys are being officially revealed on August 3rd. Don't quote me on that though.


Edit: Thanks Darrell, you're the man.

Episode 4 of "Birth of a Program" was the best in the series so far. Loved the music choices- Kid Cudi, Phoenix, etc. I've been really surprised at how often Fox Sports Southwest has been showing the program, ratings must be fairly decent. Incredible tool for UTSA. Can't wait to see the show continue to develop and improve with episode 5.

If you haven't heard already, UTSA landed a huge pick up in Ashaad Mabry recently. Mabry could be a game changer for the defense. Might do a full post on this at some point in time. Hat tip to Darrell at utsafootball.wordpress.com (Bookmark his site, dammit).