Bird Brawl in the Alamodome

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The long and winding road of the season is moving closer to its conclusion. There are just three games left in the college football season for most teams. UTSA is one of those teams that still has hopes for a game beyond those remaining three games. The Roadrunners just need two wins in their last three to get bowl eligibility and if they win all three its almost certainty that they would be put into a bowl game.

It won't be easy. Starting with this week's contest against Southern Miss the Roadrunners will close out the season against three teams (So. Miss, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech) with a combined record of 21-7 overall and 14-2 in conference. UTSA will have their work cut out for them to win those games.

In addition to still having a chance at bowl eligibility the Roadrunners could still find their way to the conference championship game. It's a steep climb though. They would need to beat Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic and Louisiana Tech as well as get Louisiana Tech and UAB to lose one more time this season.

Don't bet the farm on it happening but its the kind of thing that if it does happen gets turned into a made-for-TV movie. (Notice I didn't say regular movie because I'm limiting the scope of the accomplishment. I'm also limiting the chances of the accomplishment because there are too many variables.

One thing that can be known for certain is that the Roadrunners begin their difficult stretch run with a home game against Southern Miss this weekend. So what do the Golden Eagles do well?

Well to answer that question. Southern Miss does a lot of things well. They put up points, averaging 30 points per game. They also give up 25.8 points per game. The Golden Eagles have the sixth best offense in the conference (421.4 yards per game) and the third best defense (346.3).

Last week they were a safety away from shutting out UAB in a 37-2 win before the home crowd in Hattiesburg.

Their passing game is the best in the conference with 298.3 yards per game and 16 of their 32 touchdowns this season have come through the air. The Golden Eagles rushing attack ranks near the other end of the spectrum. On the ground Southern Miss has the 12th best rushing game (123.1 yards per game) in the conference but there have been 11 touchdowns off of run plays for the gilded birds from Hattiesburg.

Southern Miss on defense has given up on average 238.9 passing yards per game which is ninth best in the conference. The Golden Eagles ground defense is much stingier, giving up 107.4 yards per game. Southern Miss has had 29 touchdowns scored on them, 17 of the 29 coming by way of the pass.

On the individual front the Golden Eagles have been led by redshirt Junior Quarterback Jack Abraham. Based on the conference stats, Abraham leads the conference in yards per game (292.7) and is tied for fourth in touchdowns.

Abraham has led Southern Miss with 2634 yards and 15 touchdowns on 195 completions out of 278 passes thrown this season. Abraham has also thrown nine interceptions so there is the opportunity for UTSA to get some takeaways in the air.

Abraham's favorite target this season has been Quez Watkins. Watkins has caught 37 passes and leads the Golden Eagles in receiving yards (784) and touchdowns (4). Watkins leads the conference in average yards per game (112) and is sixth on the touchdown list.

The Golden Eagles might be one of the best group of five teams UTSA has played this season. To beat Southern Miss the Roadrunners will need to have a near perfect Saturday evening and have a little bit of luck. On the other side the Golden Eagles will have to slow down the Roadrunner offense that has started to get some rhythm in the last two games.

For UTSA the keys to the game will be getting Sincere McCormick going early and testing the stingy Golden Eagle run defense. Another key will be Lowell Narcisse and the passing game making the most of the opportunity against a lower end pass defense.

On defense the Roadrunners will need to find a way to take Quez Watkins out of the equation and make Abraham feel as unwelcome as possible in the Alamodome. Getting pressure on Abraham could lead to some passes ending up in the happy hands of a Roadrunner.

The Roadrunners will also need to limit their penalties, taking a delay of game to get Lucas Dean more room to punt is one thing but other penalties could prove costly.

So if the Roadrunners can carry over their offense from the fourth quarter at Old Dominion and expand that for all four quarters on Saturday they have a chance. To increase their odds of winning it might behoove the Roadrunners to slow down the Eagles pass attack and when opportunity for a takeaway is presented they clutch that takeaway like its an early Christmas present.

There is a lot to say the Roadrunners could win this game and there will be the hunger from the Roadrunners to notch win number five. I would like to say its going to happen as I said the Roadrunners could come back on Saturday and win 24-23. I just don't see a repeat performance. It will be a close game but Southern Miss will find a way to sneak out of San Antonio with the win.

Prediction: UTSA 21 Southern Miss 24

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