Seniors ready for possible last game
’Runners focused on Mean Green amid strange season
Knowing the 23 seniors set to be honored before UTSA’s final home game Saturday might not be comfortable speaking in front of their teammates, coach Jeff Traylor gave them a template.
Each player was asked to highlight something they’re thankful for, a reason this season has been special and a piece of motivation for the rest of the group.
Traylor has coached programs that allowed every senior to deliver their message at the team hotel the night before the game, but such a drawn-out process can wear on young attention spans. Instead, UTSA this week aimed to split the addresses across six or seven occasions, making sure every player had a spotlight.
As each senior’s moment arrived, some likely wondered if they’ll still be looking around at the same group of faces next week, or even next year.
A matchup against North Texas at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Alamodome stands as the final date on UTSA’s calendar, though a lastminute rescheduling, an appearance in the Conference USA championship game and a bowl berth all remain possible.
For seniors, the uncertainty has an extra layer, as the NCAA’s decision to grant fall sports athletes an additional year of eligibility means UTSA’s upperclassmen may also have a full season left to play in 2021.
Linebacker Solomon Wise, like most of UTSA’s seniors, said he hasn’t pondered whether he’d like to return next year — a sense of indecision sure to complicate his reaction to being recognized before Saturday’s game.
“I don’t know,” Wise said. “I do
love UTSA. I do love playing here. So it’ll probably be emotional for me. But it might not be emotional for me because I might come back next year. So who knows?”
The process is just as confusing for coaches, who for the first time must balance the roster from both ends, finding space for incoming freshmen and returning seniors.
Traylor said he and his staff have held preliminary conversations with some of the seniors about their next steps. An understanding of who intends to return is “something we need to start moving toward,” Traylor said.
“That has been awkward, to say the least,” Traylor said. “We are starting to have those conversations. We will figure it out as we go. Right now, we are treating all 23 as if it is their last game, and then we will revisit the guys who
are considering coming back.”
Seniors Charles Wiley, Antonio Parks and Dominic Pastucci all said they haven’t much thought about the decision, wanting to wait until after the season to consider the possibilities.
Wiley said he will approach the process the way NFL prospects evaluate the end of their junior seasons. He said he wants to gauge how NFL teams view his ability, what other players at his position might be in the draft mix and how he can impact his stock if he returns.
Parks said the biggest factors he’s weighing relate to his role at UTSA.
“Can I help the team? Can I be a guy that takes the culture to another level? Can I be a guy that can coach the younger guys around me?” Parks said. “And also, personally, what I want to do in the future.”
Pastucci said he needs to evaluate where he stands academically, measuring what he can accom
plish with an extra year. After being limited by injury through the bulk of the season, he also plans to judge how he feels physically and whether his body is prepared for the grind of another year.
He intends to treat Saturday’s game as if it’s his last.
“It’s going to be very sentimental for me,” Pastucci said. “I don’t think my parents will be able to come out there due to COVID, but I’ll be waving to them in the stands, saying hi to them. I’ll probably tear up a little bit.”
A win Saturday can only boost the Roadrunners’ chances of keeping the season alive. With this week’s games and two weeks of makeup dates yet to be played, UTSA (6-4, 4-2) is tied with UAB (4-3, 2-1) atop the Conference USA West division. Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-2) and North Texas (3-3, 2-2) also are still in the mix.
While the Roadrunners have crossed the traditional six-win threshold for bowl eligibility, the NCAA’s decision to remove the win requirement this season and the mounting list of bowl cancellations could limit the number of openings, increasing the importance of another résumé-boosting victory.
On Saturday, UTSA will be tasked with slowing a North Texas unit that ranks third nationally in total offense at 593.6 yards per game.
Traylor called North Texas’ uptempo attack “the best offense we’ve played since BYU.” But as UTSA enters possibly its last game of a year complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, Traylor said he expects the Roadrunners to continue to rise to the challenge.
“We can go on and on and on about what our kids have overcome,” Traylor said. “I am just thrilled for them. Opportunity or adversity? That is how we started the year out. We have made it a year of opportunity.”