San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Harris leads Roadrunners to record day
Quarterback accounts for five touchdowns as team overcomes litany of issues to win
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor keeps a small black journal in his pocket on game days. He said he likes to jot “big thoughts,” maybe during pregame warmups or in timeouts.
Before the Roadrunners took the field Saturday, Traylor put down the names of the 11 players who would be unavailable, many due to COVID-19 protocols. The Roadrunners were also going to be without star running back Sincere McCormick due to the birth of his child.
At halftime, UTSA announced that defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix had been placed on administrative leave and was not coaching against UTEP, giving Traylor and the Roadrunners another hurdle.
“I wrote tomyself, ‘This should not go well today,’ ” Traylor said after the game. “But I have a feeling our guys are going to show up and play. It just happened.”
Quarterback Frank Harris threw for three touchdowns and ran for two as UTSA set a program record for total offense, pushing through the unusual set of challenges to notch a convincing 52-21 win in the Alamodome.
Traylor called the performance the “most complete game since I’ve been the head coach here, for sure.”
“Our kids didn’t blink,” Traylor said. “I don’t know what this chapter of the book is going to be, but I think it’s going to be the unexpected. The whole week, and
the game, was unexpected.”
UTSA (5-4, 3-2 Conference USA) posted its largest margin of victory this season, racking up a record 600 yards of total offense.
Harris completed 22 of 26 passes for 312 yards and added 43 yards on the ground.
Brenden Brady carried the bulk of the rushing workload in McCormick’s absence, setting career highs with 26 carries and 124 yards.
Brady said he learned he’d be taking such an extensive role just a couple hours before the game, but Traylor saidMcCormick has been “fantastic” about planning around the due date for the past few months.
McCormick had been the focal point of UTSA’s offense, entering the week as the NCAA’s second-leading rusher with 921 yards. For a time, the plan was for McCormick to rejoin the team late, playing as Brady’s backup. The outlook changed when McCormick called Traylor at 4:45 a.m. Friday morning.
“He said, ‘Coach, man, I’m struggling. I don’t want to leave her,’ ” Traylor said. “I said, ‘Boy, stay there and take care of that girl, and we’ll take care of this.’ … You talk about a man of integrity, Sincere McCormick did it right.”
Zakhari Franklin, Tykee
Ogle-Kellogg and Brennon Dingle hauled in touchdown passes for the Roadrunners, while Kaedric Cobbs and BJ Daniels added rushing scores.
Traylor said the aerial success is a credit to improved protection from the offensive line, the play of Harris and his receivers, and the emphasis from opposing defenses to take away the run.
Harris said he’d been “down on myself” because of his performance in recent games, feeling stress over a sense that “I let my teammates down.” On Saturday, he connected on the deep throws that had eluded him in his last outing against FAU, leading to a career-high passing total.
“It was a good game for me to just come back out there and get my confidence back and just play the game that I love,” Harris said. “I had a fun time doing it. It was just an unbelievable feeling.”
UTSA’s defense limited UTEP (3-4, 0-3 Conference USA) to 246 yards, including 71 yards in the second half.
During the game, UTSA announced Nix had been “placed on administrative leave in connection with an internal investigation.” The program offered no further details, and athletic director Lisa Campos declined to address the situation after the game.
Traylor said the coaching staff had a late night Friday and an early morning Saturday trying to adjust to the
late-week change, with safeties coach Jess Loepp stepping into the play-calling role.
Safety Rashad Wisdom said the players learned of the change Friday.
“It’s sad,” Wisdom said. “We’d definitely love to have himhere. It’snextman up, and we’re going to keep on going and keep on rolling, whether it’s withhimor without him.”
UTSA confirmed two positive COVID-19 tests conducted Nov. 5 and two additional positive tests Monday, triggering additional absences this week due to contact tracing. The school’s online tracking data on Friday added another positive test to the count for students in the athletic department.
A week after UTSA was forced to postpone its game against Rice, Traylor said Saturday’s game was nearly in jeopardy. Only nine offensive linemen participated inwarmups for theRoadrunners, with every-game starter AhofituMakaamong those who didn’t play.
“I don’t think I could’ve taken one more offensive line hit,” Traylor said. “We totally social distanced those guys, like we had like bubbles around them all week. It was very scary. But we made it.”
Traylor said the players drew confidence from their Friday walkthrough on the Alamodome turf, when the group lined up in a triangle around midfield to represent the program’s “Triangle of Toughness.”
Traylor ran through every name that would be unavailable, bringing their backup to the middle of the group and asking the rest of the teamif they trusted that player.
“I didn’t want my team sitting around in their moments privately going, ‘God, we’re missing all of these kids, we have no chance to win,’” Traylor said. “We put it all out on the carpet and just said, ‘Anybody have any excuses?’ ”
Still, Traylor said the Roadrunners offensive production Saturday defies explanation, capping a whirlwind 36 hours for the program.
“Exhausting. Emotional. A lot of prayer. It’s a tough business,” Traylor said. “We’ve been through a lot, but it’s worth it to see those kids in that locker room.”
DaVontray Simmons of Sam Houston runs for a touchdown against Luke Converse of Edison during the Hurricanes’ 26-23 victory Friday at the Spring Sports Complex.