Neighbors
Just an hour and a half drive separate the Longhorns and the Roadrunners, and this matchup will be the first ever meeting between the two UT institutions in football. The Longhorns are coming off a gritty heartbreaking loss to Alabama, while the Roadrunners just upset Army in their home opener. Both Texas teams have exceeded expectations in the early part of the season. In the AP Poll the Longhorns broke into the top twenty-five ranking 21 after going toe to toe with Alabama. This game seems to be lopsided, but the Roadrunners did go 12-2 last year in CUSA. Who knows, crazy upsets have happened multiple times already this year and will Hudson Card be able to go at quarterback?
Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are a young, progressing program, that have only been established since 2009. UTSA is 1-1 so far this season and is coming off a 41-38 victory over Army. The Roadrunners came back in the second half of the game with three consecutive touchdowns and won in overtime with a 7-yard touchdown pass to squeak out the win. Frank Harris, who is a senior quarterback, completed 32 of 45 passes for 359 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Lights Out
The Longhorns showed out last Saturday against Alabama and should have won! The defense was going berserk and pulled the Crimson Tide back down to earth. The Texas defense held Bryce Young and the Alabama offense in check for most of Saturday’s game. The Longhorns held the Crimson Tide to 374 total yards, and they sacked Young 2 times and had seven hits on him. The entire Longhorns defense played well, but junior linebacker Jaylan Ford played lights out. He was all over the field with ten tackles, two-and-a-half tackles for loss and a sack.
Time to Mesh
Quinn Ewers was injured against Alabama and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a sprain in his left shoulder. This means Hudson Card should be under center for Texas against UTSA, Texas Tech and West Virginia, and potential for his time to extend further into Big 12 play. Reports came out earlier today that Card has a high ankle sprain, and second year quarterback Charles Wright might have to lead the team this Saturday. Coach Sarkisian should be making a decision soon on who will be playing the quarterback position based on Card’s health. UTSA will likely get a heaping dose of Bijan Robinson this Saturday and hopefully Card will get more time to mesh with the offense and break out wider receiver Xavior Worthy. The offense looked good last week and hopefully the kicking game will improve with time and experience. The Longhorns should pummel the Roadrunners and send them limping back to San Antonio.