A chance at a trophy

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The Alamodome will be the place to be in San Antonio on Friday night. At 6 p.m. the UTSA Roadrunners will take the field as the hosts of the Conference USA Championship game. On the other sideline will be the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and their high-flying passing game.

It will be the Roadrunners first appearance in the Conference USA championship but it won't be the Alamodome's first time hosting a conference championship game or series.

This Friday will be the seventh time the Alamodome hosts a conference championship game or series since its opening in 1993. From 1993-2002 the San Antonio Spurs called the Alamodome home. They played in three western conference finals during their time in the Alamodome. Each time the team that won the series was the eventual NBA champion.

In 1995 the Spurs and Houston Rockets met in the Western Conference Finals--the first conference title to be contested in the Alamodome. The Rockets won all three games in the Alamodome en-route to winning the series four games to two.

Two years later 1997 the Alamodome hosted the Big-12 Championship for the first time. That year the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 54-15.

The year of 1999 was a good year for conference championships in the Alamodome. In May of 1999 the Spurs swept Portland in the Western Conference finals. The most famous play of that series was Sean Elliott's game winning shot in game two. A few months later in December 1999 the Big-12 Championship was back in the Alamodome. Once again Nebraska got the better of a school from Texas. This time it was the Texas Longhorns who lost to the Cornhuskers by a score of 22-6.

About 16 months passed before the next conference championship was contested in the Alamodome. In May of 2001 the Spurs met the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. This time the Spurs were on the other side of a sweep as the Lakers won in four straight games.

It wasn't until 2007 that the Big-12 Championship game returned to the Alamodome. That year the Oklahoma Sooners beat the Missouri Tigers 38-17. That was the last time a conference championship was contested in the Alamodome until this Friday night's contest between UTSA and Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky has an all-time record of 595-416-31. The Hilltoppers began playing football in 1913. That year they played one game, beating Elizabethtown (KY) High School, 20-0. Since that first game the Hilltoppers historically played at the Division II and Division I-FCS level. Western Kentucky joined the FBS in 2007. From 2009-2013 they were members of the Sun Belt Conference before joining Conference USA in 2014.

As a school Western Kentucky has been around since 1906. It was created by the Kentucky legislature as a merger of two separate male and female colleges. From 1906 to 1922 it was known as Western Kentucky Normal School. In 1922 the school was renamed Western Kentucky Normal School and Teachers College. In 1930 it became just Western Kentucky State Teachers College. Western Kentucky added University to its name in 1966 when it adopted its current handle.

In the 10 years since UTSA began football, Western Kentucky has compiled a record of 84-56. The Roadrunners and Hilltoppers met earlier this season on October 9 in Bowling Green. In a back and forth shootout the Roadrunners held on for a 52-46 win thanks to a Clarence Hicks interception in the final minute of the game. Prior the October 9 contest the only previous game between UTSA and WKU was back in the 2014 season when Western Kentucky beat UTSA 45-7 in Bowling Green.

The Hilltoppers are making their third appearance in the Conference USA championship game. Western Kentucky made the championship as the winners of the East Division in 2015. That year they beat Southern Miss 45-28 in the conference championship game. In 2016, the Hilltoppers repeated as conference champions with a 58-44 win over Louisiana Tech.

When UTSA and Western Kentucky met on October 9 few could have guessed it would be the preview of the conference championship game. At the time Western Kentucky entered with a 1-3 record. UTSA was 5-0. After UTSA won the game 52-46 the Hilltoppers fell to 1-4 on the season and UTSA moved to 6-0.

For most of the year when teams lost to UTSA it seemed to be the start of a longer losing streak. Western Kentucky did the opposite. The Hilltoppers have not lost a game since UTSA escaped Bowling Green with the victory in October. Western Kentucky will arrive in the Alamodome riding a seven-game winning streak.

When UTSA last played in the Alamodome they provided the fans with the greatest moment in program history to this point with a last second touchdown to beat UAB and claim the C-USA West Division. It was the Roadrunners 11th win in a row. They followed it up last weekend with a downer in a downpour in Denton, losing to North Texas 45-23.

The loss to North Texas meant the Roadrunners finished the regular season with 443 points scored (36.92 points per game). This is the first time in program history that UTSA has scored 400 points in a season. With two games remaining it is possible they get to 500 points scored this season.

UTSA opponents have scored 266 points this season (22.17 points per game). The 266 points given up by UTSA this season are the third fewest given up by a Roadrunner team in program history.

Western Kentucky has scored 519 points this season (43.25 points per game) and has given up 324 points to opponents (27 points per game).

As far as offense goes UTSA has 5202 yards of offense (433.5 per game). Western Kentucky has 6301 yards of offense (525.1 per game). The Roadrunners have 3054 yards passing (254.5 per game) and 2148 yards rushing (179 per game). Western Kentucky has 5073 yards passing (422.75 per game) and 1228 yards rushing (102.3 per game).

On defense the Roadrunners have given up 4161 yards to opponents (346.8 per game) and Western Kentucky has given up 4936 yards (411.3 per game). UTSA opponents have passed for 2702 yards (225.17 per game) and run for 1459 yards (121.6 per game). Hilltopper opponents have collected 3143 yards passing (261.92 per game) and 1793 yards rushing (149.4 per game).

INDIVIDUAL STARS

Those neutrals who tune in to CBS Sports Net at 6 p.m. on Friday night to watch UTSA and Western Kentucky will see no shortage of star players on both teams.

Western Kentucky is led by Victoria, Texas-Native Bailey Zappe at quarterback. Zappe has led the Hilltoppers air-raid offense with 406 completions out of 580 attempts for 4968 yards and a nation-leading 52 touchdowns. Zappe has also thrown nine interceptions including the one to Clarence Hicks in October that won the game for UTSA.

UTSA was unable to get the passing game going last Saturday. Through the first 12 games Frank Harris has completed 222 of his 334 pass attempts for 2688 yards and 23 touchdowns. Harris threw five interceptions during the regular season.

Harris has had no shortage of targets to throw to this season. Zakhari Franklin has caught 67 passes for 871 yards and 10 touchdowns. Joshua Cephus has caught 66 passes for 758 yards and six touchdowns. DeCorian "JT" Clark has caught 42 passes for 624 yards and five touchdowns.

Western Kentucky obviously has a group of receivers putting up gaudy numbers. Jerreth Sterns leads the group with 127 catches for 1539 yards and 12 touchdowns. Mitchell Tinsley has caught 71 passes for 1126 yards and 10 touchdowns. Daewood Davis has caught 38 passes for 652 yards and eight touchdowns.

At running back UTSA's Sincere McCormick has yet to have a breakout game this season like he seemed to on a weekly basis last season. McCormick has been consistent all season but hasn't had a game that he took control of. Through the regular season McCormick has carried the ball 262 times this season for 1275 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Western Kentucky's leading rusher has been Noah Whittington with 90 carries for 452 yards and a touchdown.

SPECIAL TEAMS AND TURNOVERS

If the game comes down to special teams both teams are well stocked in that department. The two best kickers in the conference will be on display Friday night.

UTSA has made 24 of 29 field goals attempted this season. Hunter Duplessis has kicked most of those field goals, making 23 of 28 attempts. Duplessis's 23 makes are third most in the country. Everett Ornstein kicked one field goal in the Lamar game.

Western Kentucky has Brayden Narveson handling the field goal kicking duties. Narveson has made 20 of his 23 field goal attempts this season. Narveson is tied for eighth in the country in made field goals.

In the punt game UTSA has Lucas Dean. Dean has punted 41 times this season for 1870 yards (45.61 per punt). Of his 41 punts, Dean has placed 18 inside the opponents 20 and had 10 go for 50-plus yards. Western Kentucky counters with John Haggerty III. Haggerty III has 29 punts for 1411 yards (48.66 per punt). Haggerty III has had 10 punts downed inside the opponents 20 and 14 punts go for 50-plus yards.

UTSA had some fumbling issues with the return game last weekend in Denton but on the season the Roadrunners have had Sheldon Jones and Cade Stoever fielding punts. Jones has returned 22 punts for 264 yards. Stoever has four punt returns for 18 yards.

The Hilltoppers punt returns have been handled by Jerreth Sterns. Sterns has returned 11 punts for 73 yards.

Kick returns for UTSA have been handled by Dadrian Taylor this season. Taylor has eight returns for 198 yards. The Hilltoppers leading kick returner is Beanie Bishop with 21 returns for 480 yards.

In the area of turnover margin the Roadrunners saw their differential slightly affected by the game in Denton last week. UTSA lost three fumbles but also recovered two fumbles against the Mean Green.

On the season as a whole UTSA has a plus-11 turnover differential. The Roadrunners have thrown five interceptions and lost seven fumbles on offense but come away with 10 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries on defense.

Western Kentucky also has a plus-11 turnover differential. The Hilltoppers have thrown 10 interceptions and lost six fumbles on offense but their defense has 19 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries.

before these two teams played in October, I predicted a final score of 28-24. It turned out that was the halftime score. UTSA was fortunate to win the game in Bowling Green in October. If not for a Clarence Hicks interception in the last minute the Hilltoppers might have handed UTSA their first loss of the season back on October 9.

This time there is a lot more on the line and the game is in San Antonio. There will be a lot of points put up in the Alamodome but two things will help the Roadrunners on Friday night.

The fact the game is in San Antonio and not Bowling Green could be worth some points for the Roadrunners. Zappe and the Hilltoppers will have to overcome what is likely to be a large and loud crowd in the Alamodome. The crowd likely helped lift the Roadrunners to wins over Southern Miss and UAB. They will need to bring the energy one more time this season for UTSA to claim the conference trophy.

The second reason UTSA could be able to win the championship is that for the first time in a few weeks they have people picking against them. UTSA thrived on being the underdog earlier in the season when they won in Champaign and Memphis. This will probably be the first of two more times this season that UTSA is an underdog.

I think having the home crowd behind them will give the Roadrunners the boost they need to win that first conference championship game. That and a key turnover should be the difference on Friday night.

My pick: UTSA 38 WKU 31

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