AZTECS SCOUTING REPORT: UTSA
The University of Texas at San Antonio excitedly announced Thursday morning that it achieved the elite R1 status from the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education, aligning the school with the country’s top public and private research institutions. It was UTSA’s second-biggest news of the day.
The top story: Sincere McCormick, the Roadrunners’ AllAmerica running back, announced that he will declare for the 2022 NFL Draft and miss Tuesday’s Frisco Bowl between UTSA (12-1) and No. 24 San Diego State (11-2). What has McCormick meant to the Roadrunners?
This season he carried 298 times for 1,479 yards and 15 touchdowns. Each number is a school record. McCormick, honored this week as a third-team All-American by The Associated Press, holds nearly two dozen school records, including career marks for all-purpose yards (4,438), rushing yards (3,929), rushing touchdowns (34) and 100-yard rushing games (18). He will be missed.
The Aztecs rank No. 2 in the nation against the run, so McCormick vs. the SDSU defense was going to be one of the game’s biggest storylines. Indeed, it was among the reasons some observers ranked this among the postseason’s top 10 bowl matchups.
SDSU is a two-point underdog in the first meeting between the teams.
About the Roadrunners
UTSA started its program from scratch a decade ago, playing its first game on Sept. 3, 2011.
The 31-3 win over Northeastern State came before an Alamodome crowd of 56,743, an attendance record for an NCAA Division I FBS start-up program.
The Roadrunners’ 35,521 average attendance also set a record for a new program. UTSA had plenty of off-thefield support as well. The run-up to launching the program included approval for an $84 million athletic complex and a $15 million fund-raising campaign to provide seed money for salaries, scholarships and practice facilities. Larry Coker, who guided Miami to a national championship a decade earlier, was hired as the Roadrunners’ first head coach.
UTSA started out as an independent, then spent a season in the WAC before joining Conference USA in 2013. The Roadrunners had their share of ups and downs over their first five seasons, which were highlighted by 8-4 and 7-5 finishes during the 2012-13 seasons.
Coker bowed out following a 3-9 season in 2015 and was replaced by Frank Wilson, who guided UTSA to a 6-6 record his first season and an appearance in the 2016 New Mexico Bowl.
The program’s inaugural bowl appearance — a 23-20 loss to New Mexico — turned out to be the highpoint of Wilson’s four-year term He was fired after going 4-8 in 2019. Arkansas running backs coach Jeff Traylor replaced Wilson and immediately guided UTSA to seven victories and a berth in the 2020 First Responders Bowl, where the Roadrunners lost 31-24 to Louisiana. That set the stage for this season, which began with 11 straight victories. UTSA appeared in the top 25 rankings for the first time in Week 8. The Roadrunners come into this game ranked No. 24 in the AP poll.
UTSA’s unbeaten season ended with a 45-23 loss to North Texas in the regularseason finale.
The Roadrunners rebounded a week later with a 49-41 win over Western Kentucky for the Conference USA championship.
A victory against SDSU would even UTSA’s all-time record at 67-67.
The offense
The absence of McCormick, Conference USA’s two-time Offensive Player of the Year, leaves a huge hole in the Roadrunners’ offense. Senior backups Brenden Brady (243 yards, three TDs) and B.J. Daniels (182 yards, one 1 TD) have combined for only 83 carries, most coming when games were all but decided.
The team’s second-leading rusher is senior quarterback Frank Harris, who has carried 105 times for 565 yards and six touchdowns.
The quarterback’s running complements his passing ability. He has completed 66.6 percent of his passes (241 for 362) for 2,906 yards and 25 touchdowns with only five interceptions.
Harris’ passes are spread among three main receivers — juniors Zakhari Franklin (73, catches, 938 yards, 11 TDs), Joshua Cephus (69 catches, 793 yards, 6 TDs) and De’Corian Clark (46 catches, 683 yards, 6 TDs). Franklin and senior offensive lineman Spencer Burford earned firstteam all-conference honors. On those occasions where drives have stalled within field
goal range, all-conference kicker Hunter Duplessis has converted on 23 of 29 attempts. His longest make was from 51 yards.
UTSA has averaged 37.8 points per game this season, which ranks 12th in the nation (SDSU is averaging 26.5 ppg, which ranks 80th).
The defense
The Roadrunners were led by a pair of first-team all-conference selections in senior linebacker Clarence Hicks and junior defensive back Rashad Wisdom.
Hicks was among the nation’s leaders with 10 sacks and also had six quarterback hurries. Wisdom led UTSA with 87 tackles. That was 30 more than teammate Trevor Harmanson, who was second in the category.
Junior defensive lineman Trumane Bell II also was adept at getting to the QB, collecting five sacks.
UTSA is among the nation’s top teams in forcing turnovers, tying for eighth with 25 takeaways (12 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries).
The Roadrunners returned five of the turnovers for touchdowns. Only Middle Tennessee, Nevada and Ohio State, each with six TDs, did better. UTSA has limited opponents to 23.6 points a game, which ranks 44th in the nation (SDSU is allowing 19.5 ppg, which ranks 17th).