Harris, ’Runners show growth in victory
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — By the time UTSA’S Thursday quarterbacks meeting rolled around, Frank Harris had heard enough about Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe.
All through the week, coach Jeff Traylor praised Zappe as the best quarterback the Roadrunners had gone against in two seasons, highlighting the accuracy and the toughness of the player who stands as the nation’s leading passer.
One last jab from Traylor on Thursday finally got under Harris’ skin.
“He was polite, like Frank always is, but he gave me that look. Like, ‘Enough, Coach,’ ” Traylor said.
Harris responded by delivering the best game of his career Saturday, completing 28 of 38 passes for 349 yards and a school-record six touchdowns with one interception as UTSA topped Western Kentucky 52-46, pushing the Roadrunners to 6-0 for the first time in program history.
Traylor said Harris was in complete control of the offense, changing plays at the line of scrimmage and making the correct reads again and again on option calls.
“I’ve been talking about that other notch Frank had left,” Traylor said, “and you saw it tonight.”
Harris insisted he wasn’t impacted by all the talk surrounding Zappe through the week, saying that his approach is to “compete within yourself” rather than worrying about anyone else.
He was quick to deflect credit for his record-breaking night to the play-calling of offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., the blocking of the offensive line and the ability of his receivers to win one-on-one matchups.
“It’s all about confidence, not getting in my head,” Harris said. “Coach
did a great job of dialing up the plays, getting me loose, and getting me into a rhythm. I just give those guys a chance, and they’ll catch it every time.”
Harris had eclipsed 300 yards in a game just once in his career before Saturday, and his previous career high for touchdown passes was three.
Through his five years in the program, including opening the past three seasons as UTSA’S starter, questions have swirled around whether he had the accuracy or arm strength to be an elite passer.
Many expected that Harris’ most efficient offense would come from his legs, looking back on a high school career at Clemens during which his rushing totals rivaled his passing.
But Harris committed this offseason to growing into a more accurate thrower,
and as coaches pushed him through the spring, Harris “just keeps getting better,” Traylor said.
After completing 63.6 percent of his passes in his first full season as the starter last year, Harris is hitting 69.8 percent of his throws so far in 2021. Among his 10 incompletions Saturday were four dropped passes, two balls that were batted at the line of scrimmage and one throwaway.
“He’s pretty accurate with every pass,” receiver De’corian Clark said. “He’s a great quarterback. … He’s the man for us.”
Harris hardly could contain his energy when the win went final, bouncing up and down as he highfived the first row of Roadrunners fans and then climbing into the stands to embrace his parents.
He said he was driven by “a lot of doubters that
didn’t think we would get the job done,” calling UTSA’S 6-0 start another marker of the Roadrunners’ belief in Traylor’s culture.
Tabbed by his teammates to wear the No. 0 jersey for a second consecutive year, Harris embodies many of those values and has taken up the mantle as a leader on the offense.
“Frank was just coming out here and doing what he does best, being a field general, taking control, and doing what he’s been doing since we were little,” safety Rashad Wisdom said. “I’ve been knowing Frank for a long time, and this is nothing new to me. I’ve been able to see this for years on end, so it doesn’t come as a shock to me to see Frank doing what he does best.”
As Harris has lifted his play, the Roadrunners have risen as a program.
While UTSA was running
out the clock on last year’s win against Southern Miss during the season’s 10th game, wide receiver Zakhari Franklin mimicked a bowling motion on the field, celebrating that the Roadrunners had achieved bowl eligibility with a sixth win. The Roadrunners went on to play in the postseason for just the second time in program history.
On Saturday, UTSA reached the six-win benchmark — a primary goal of many of the program’s previous seasons — without any thought of bowl possibilities, knowing much larger goals than simply appearing in the postseason are within reach in 2021.
Wisdom said he entered the week unaware UTSA had never been 6-0 before, underscoring Traylor’s commitment to shove aside talk of the Roadrunners’ accomplishments in favor of a short-term focus.
Still, as he plays through his third season with UTSA, Wisdom said he can see that “the expectations here just keep on building.”
Traylor, too, finds room for a big-picture perspective, intent on growing the Roadrunners into one of the nation’s premier Group of Five programs. He knows staying power can’t be achieved overnight, but he sees the momentum continuing to accelerate, with UTSA standing as one of just 13 unbeaten teams across the FBS.
“UTSA is getting closer. I’ve got some great players, and we’ve got a great program,” Traylor said. “This thing can last. We can be a school that every single week we go play, people know who we are. We can be that. I’m just happy right now.”