Team patches up special teams after rough start
During the past few years, UTSA safety Rashad Wisdom might have looked to the sideline for someone to step into his spot on special teams, sensing an opportunity to conserve energy for defense.
Few with his stature fill those roles to begin with, as special teams responsibilities often fall to the roster’s reserves or younger talent. But even as a five-season starter and multiyear captain who holds the program record for career solo tackles, Wisdom has taken a role on UTSA’S kick coverage, punt return and field-goal block teams for stretches of 2023, understanding his No. 0 jersey shouldn’t afford him any special privileges.
“If we’re willing to do it, anybody should be willing to do it,” Wisdom said. “There’s a lot of things that play into special teams that really affect the outcome of the game, so why not be out there and try to go make a play?”
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor included special teams as one of three legs of his “Triangle of Toughness” alongside running the football and physicality on defense, saying the pictures of the branding around the Roadrunners’ facility remind him to utilize his top talents in that aspect of the game.
Starters including linebackers Donyai Taylor, Jamal Ligon and Avery Morris, corner Nicktroy Fortune and tight end Oscar Cardenas have all claimed special teams roles this year despite holding starting spots, as Traylor describes the opening kickoff as “the first play of defense.”
Despite the emphasis, UTSA floundered on special teams during a seasonopening 17-14 loss to Houston. Kicker Tate Sandell misfired on a 44-yard field goal, Chris Carpenter muffed a kickoff at the 3yard line, and both Cougars touchdowns were fueled by special teams play — first a long punt return, and later a penalty against UTSA for lining up over the center on a Houston field-goal attempt.
But UTSA rebounded and patched up the early red flags, now counting special teams among the list of reasons the Roadrunners are 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference entering a matchup with FAU at 5 p.m. Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla.
“Houston wasn’t our best game, and we saw that,” kicker Chase Allen said. “We realized that. We know that for the team to do good and operate, we’re one-third of that triangle. So, we need to pull our weight and keep improving as the year continues. That’s our goal.”
Allen was out of action against Houston due to a back injury but has since emerged as UTSA’S primary kicker, hitting four of five field goal attempts while going 19 for 19 on extra points. Traylor said he entered the year expecting Sandell to hold the job, but Allen “just kept producing, and kept producing, and kept producing.”
A transfer from Alabama who shifted to UTSA this year in search of a playing opportunity and a chance to be closer to home in Colleyville, Allen hit kicks of 46
Ronald Cortes/staff photo and a school-record matching 53 yards against UAB.
Though Traylor said the record-setting kick fell 1 yard outside Allen’s usual range, Allen said he had converted from greater distances in practice, and he credited his time in the high-pressure environment under Nick Saban at Alabama for being prepared when his moment arrived.
“That’s definitely a great feeling, having a record like that for a university and a team like this,” Allen said. “Very special.”
Entering his first season with the Roadrunners, Allen grappled not just with the tightness in his back that flared up the week before the opener, but also with the death of his grandmother, who called “really instrumental in my life.”
He fell back on the culture of brotherhood that lured him to UTSA in the first place, talking through his situation with “a lot of the guys and some coaches here you wouldn’t exactly expect.”
“The start to the season has really tested me not just physically but mentally, a lot,” Allen said. “A lot of the coaches really reached out, helped, had my back and were there for me, so that made it easy. As hard of a process as it is, they made it as easy as possible, which was really good and really kind.”
UTSA has also benefited from a switch at kick returner, as JUCO transfer Willie Mccoy claimed the role in Week 3 while starter Chris Carpenter battled injury. Wanting to avoid the physical toll on Carpenter’s 5-foot-11, 155-pound frame, Traylor has since kept him focused on punt returns, allowing Mccoy to handle kicks.
Mccoy delivered against UAB with a 58-yard return during the first quarter, prompting the Blazers to kick away from him the rest of the game. UTSA’S average starting field position on the remaining three kickoffs was the 39-yard line.
When his number was called, Mccoy said he told himself I had to “step up like I’ve always been a great returner.” As a sophomore at Kilgore College last season, he returned two of seven punts and two of 12 kicks for touchdowns.
“They don’t want to kick me the ball. I wouldn’t want to kick me the ball, either,” Mccoy said.
Overall, Traylor said UTSA’S special teams units had “tremendous success” against UAB and “continued to get better each week,” cleaning up mistakes from early in the season.
As the year wears on, he said he’d like to protect some of UTSA’S offensive and defensive stalwarts by replacing them with young players who can fill the roles for up to four games without losing the opportunity to claim a redshirt season.
Until then, the Roadrunners will continue to lean on their standouts.
“A lot of times, people overlook special teams as an intermission of the game,” Wisdom said. “But the game is really honestly won and lost within special teams. There’s a lot of hidden yards in special teams and the kicking game, a lot of hidden points. Those are what turn the tide within the game.”