UTSA is two thirds of the way through its 11th season of football. The 11 other Texas FBS schools once completed an 11th season. How does UTSA's 11th season stack up to the other Texas FBS teams?
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UTSA has finally reached its bye week in week nine of the 2021 football season. A year ago the Roadrunners went through the entire 2020 season without a scheduled bye week. Later this week we will look at UTSA's history in the games played before and after bye weeks.
For now let us take a moment to look back on how far the Roadrunners have come in the first eight games of the 2021 season. We will also compare where the Roadrunners 11th season stands among the 11 other Texas FBS schools' 11th seasons.
Nobody before the season could have guessed that UTSA would enter their week nine bye week with an 8-0 record. Most predictions would have said anywhere from 4-4 to 6-2. Ever since they knocked off Illinois in the season opener the Roadrunners have seemed to get better each week. UTSA football seems to be rolling fast like a beachball down a hill of oak and cedar.
It remains to be seen how UTSA's 11th season of football will end but one thing is certain. UTSA will finish its 11th season with more wins than any other Texas FBS school had in their 11th seasons. It would make sense that UTSA would have more games in its 11th season compared to the other 11 FBS schools as 10 of those 11 other schools played their 11th season before World War II. Only Houston, the next youngest FBS program in Texas after UTSA, played at least 10 games in its 11th season.
The first of the current 12-pack of Lone Star FBS Teams to play an 11th season was the Texas Longhorns. Texas played its 11th season back in 1903. Three weeks before the Wright Brothers made the first powered flight in human history, the Longhorns closed out their 11th season with a 5-1-2 record after a 29-6 win over Texas A&M.
Texas A&M became the next Texas school to complete an 11th season. Because the Aggies took off the 1895 season their 11th season didn't arrive until 1905. That year the Aggies went 7-2. Their only two losses were to the Longhorns and to the Pioneers of Kentucky University--which is now known as Transylvania University and not the University of Kentucky everyone thinks of. A fun fact of 1905 is that the Pioneers beat both A&M and Texas. No word on if they had "State Champions of Texas" shirts made.
TCU was the next school to experience an 11th season. The Horned Frogs 11th season came in 1908. TCU had taken a year off in 1900 after starting football in 1896. In 1908 TCU finished their 11th season with a 6-3 record. The Horned Frogs losses came to Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. It was quite a year for the Revivalry between TCU and Baylor. The two schools played three times in 1908 as a form of holy trinity of football. TCU also played Trinity twice in 1908 although that was before Trinity moved from Waxahachie to San Antonio.
Speaking of Baylor. They were the next Texas school to experience an 11th season. The Bears had started football in 1899 but did not play in 1906 so their 11th season came in 1910. Baylor finished 1910 with a 6-1-1 record. The Bears only loss was a forfeit to Texas after the Bears left the field of a 6-6 tie at halftime because of a dispute with the referee.
Texas State in San Marcos became the sixth of the current Texas FBS schools to start football. The Bobcats of what was then known as Southwest Texas State Normal School started playing football in 1904. They then stopped playing football from 1905 to 1909 before starting back up in 1910. The Bobcats 11th season came in 1918 and it finished with a 4-2-1 record. Texas State started their 11th season 0-2 before going on a three-game winning streak. Their tie came against San Marcos Baptist Academy. It was a different time.
A second six pack of Texas FBS schools experience 11th seasons
The first six of the current FBS Texans all began football within 11 years of each other. The next six had a longer stretch between them.
Rice was the seventh of the current Texas FBS schools to start football. Rice began football in 1912 and were founding members of the Southwest Conference in 1915. The Owls experienced their 11th season in 1922 and finished 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the SWC. Rice did not score a point in any of their four losses but their lone conference win was a 31-7 beating of Arkansas.
A year after Rice went through an 11th season it was the turn of North Texas. In 1923 North Texas became the first--and to date--only Texas FBS school to have a losing record in its 11th season. The football team from Denton started their 11th season with four straight losses before getting two wins in a row over Sam Houston and West Texas State. North Texas's third win came in the season finale against Southwest Texas State.
UTEP began their football team a year after North Texas but after not fielding a team in 1918 the Miners 11th season came in 1925. That year the Miners finished 5-1-1. UTEP lost its season opener against Sul Ross and tied the fourth game of its season against New Mexico A&M (now known as New Mexico State).
Also experiencing their 11th season in 1925 was the SMU Mustangs. SMU football had begun in 1915. In 1925 the Mustangs were in their eighth season as members of the SWC. SMU experienced a streaky season in 1925. The Mustangs started 3-0 and then lost back-to-back to Texas A&M and Oklahoma before tying back-to-back games against Texas and Arkansas. SMU won their final two games to finish 5-2-2. The Mustangs finished 1-1-2 in the SWC which earned them fourth place.
It was 1935 before another Texas FBS school experienced an 11th season. That year it was the Texas Tech Matadors (They became the Red Raiders in 1937) who played their 11th season. In 1935 Texas Tech was part of the Border Conference and finished 5-3-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play. A notable game from the 11th season at Tech was their road trip to play DePaul at Soldier Field in Chicago. It ended in a 0-0 tie.
It was 21 years before another Texas FBS school played its 11th season. In 1956 the Houston Cougars completed their 11th season. Houston went 7-2-1 in their 11th season. The Cougars only losses were a pair of shutouts on the road at Ole Miss and Auburn. Houston won the Missouri Valley Conference with a 4-0 record. The Cougars remain the only Texas FBS team to win a conference championship in its 11th season. Granted, only five of the 12 FBS schools in Texas were in conferences for their 11th seasons.
That now leads to 2021 when the UTSA Roadrunners took the field for their 11th season. UTSA has benefited from its timing in that it has 12 games scheduled this season. The shutout against Rice allowed UTSA to match Texas A&M and Houston for most wins in an 11th season by a Texas FBS School.
UTSA also became the first Texas FBS team to be ranked in their 11th season but then the first polls didn't begin until one year after Texas Tech's 11th season.
Last week's win at Louisiana Tech gave UTSA the record for most wins in an 11th season by a Texas FBS school.
There is still a few things the Roadrunners can strive for in their 11th season. With four more wins the Roadrunners will be the only Texas FBS to go undefeated in the regular season of their 11th regular season. Four more wins also puts UTSA in the Conference USA Championship Game. If they win that game they would join Houston as one of two schools to win a conference championship in an 11th season of football.
The rest of the Roadrunners pursuit of history will begin on November 6 when they travel to face UTEP in El Paso. One thing is certain. UTSA's 11th season has already been a memorable one.
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