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A ThudderDome Finale

Roadrunners close out home schedule with 40-26 loss to Florida Atlantic that takes away chance at bowl eligibility

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Lowell Narcisse makes his way into the end zone to convert a two-point conversion following a touchdown against Florida Atlantic
Lowell Narcisse makes his way into the end zone to convert a two-point conversion following a touchdown against Florida Atlantic (Chase Otero)

The home portion of UTSA's 2019 football season came and went faster than Sincere McCormick in the open field. It ended on Saturday night not with a bang but with a thud. Florida Atlantic came into the Alamodome and made themselves comfortable against the UTSA defense en route to a 40-26 win that wasn't really as close as the final score appeared.

The Owls racked up 526 yards of total offense on the Roadrunner defense and UTSA had trouble with the Owls tight end Harrison Bryant. Bryant accounted for 54 percent of the Owls receiving yards, finishing with 182 yards on 10 catches and one touchdown.

"Their tight end is a Sunday player," UTSA Head Coach Frank Wilson said of Bryant. "He will play in the National Football League for years to come."

UTSA also had a strong performance from the offense as the Roadrunners collected 401 yards of total offense. 209 of those yards came through the air as both Lowell Narcisse and JoJo Weeks saw action. Weeks ended up being the leading passer for the Roadrunners with 123 yards on 8-of-11 passes completed and a touchdown. Narcisse completed 10 of 19 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

The Roadrunner receivers were led by Zakhari Franklin who caught seven passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Carlos Strickland II caught five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.

On the ground the Roadrunners were led by Brendan Brady who ran 15 times for 86 yards. Sincere McCormick ran 12 times for 76 yards.

"We're improving," Wilson said. "Early on (in the season) we were worried when we were in the hundreds (yards in a game). Now to be in the 400s, to continue to improve is something we're proud of. We will only get better."

The crusher for the Roadrunners were turnovers. UTSA fumbled three times and only recovered one of those. The Roadrunners also threw an interception. The interception turned out not to hurt the Roadrunners as FAU fumbled it back to UTSA when trying to stretch out for a touchdown. The biggest factor was the points off turnover. FAU got 14 points off turnover to UTSA's seven points.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot tonight," UTSA Offensive Tackle Josh Dunlop said after the game. "There were a lot of things we did to ourselves. We got to handle ball security."

UTSA fell behind early when FAU scored at the 10:39 mark of the first quarter to go up 7-0. The Roadrunners answered on their next drive with a 41 yard field goal from Hunter Duplessis to cut the deficit to 7-3.

It turned out that was the closest the Roadrunners could get to the Owls as FAU scored twice in the second quarter to take a 17-3 lead at halftime. The Owls went up 27-3 with a field goal and touchdown early in the third quarter before Narcisse found Franklin for his first touchdown of the night. Narcisse then converted the two point conversion to cut the deficit to 27-11.

FAU scored right before the end of the third quarter to take a 33-11 lead into the final quarter. In the final 15 the Roadrunners continued to fight and put two touchdowns on the board. The first touchdown of the quarter came on a two yard pass to Leroy Watson from Narcisse at the 8:42 mark. The Roadrunners were planning to go for two but a false start penalty backed them up five yards and they settled for an extra point to cut the deficit to 33-18.

The second Roadrunner touchdown was notched at the 3:01 mark when Weeks tossed a 24 yard pass to Carlos Strickland that cut the deficit to 40-26 following a successful two point conversion by Weeks.

In between the Roadrunner touchdowns the Owls added their final touchdown of the night.

On the whole it was a tough night for the Roadrunners. There was a slight uptick in the announced attendance as 14,355 were reported to have witnessed the game. Prior to the game the fans had gotten to honor the senior class and after the game they got to take part in a meet and greet with the players.

The Roadrunners were unable to send the fans home with what they most wanted, a win.

"We went out and we played hard," Wilson said. "We wanted to be able to dedicate a win for the seniors in their last game in the Alamodome. To fall short on that, not have a win, is the thing that hurts."

While the home portion of the schedule has been placed upon the shelf of history, there is still one more game for the Roadrunners. They must travel to the pineywoods of northern Louisiana to face a Louisiana Tech Bulldogs team that is locked in a three-way tie with Southern Miss and UAB for the West Division crown.

"We got to go to their place," Dunlop said. "We got to finish strong."

Added Senior Safety Carl Austin. "We're getting ready to play Louisiana Tech already."

After next week a proper look back can be done on the Roadrunner season. As far as the home portion of the schedule goes. They beat teams they were supposed to and lost to ones favored to beat them. For many of the games they were competitive but just didn't have enough.

There have been glimpses of how good this team could be. These games this year are the learning experiences that will help a youthful Roadrunner team down the road.

They might even help next week on the field at Ruston. That will be revealed next week.


UTSA v. FAU: Box Score
UTSA FAU

Points

26

40

Total offense plays-yards

68-401

80-526

Rush attempts

38

38

Rushing yards

192

190

Pass completions/attempts

18/30

27/42

Passing Yards

209

336

Turnovers (Int/Fumbles)

3 (1 Int/2 fumbles)

1 (0 Int/1 fumble)

Points off turnovers

7

14

UTSA: 4-7 overall (3-4 Conference USA)

Next week: 11/30 at Louisiana Tech. 2:30 p.m.

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way

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