UTSA falls to Texas State for the first time ever in a game that was never really in doubt
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Texas State got off the mat in the I-35 rivalry series by leaving UTSA sprawled out on it with a 49-10 slaughter of the Roadrunners on Saturday afternoon in San Marcos.
The Roadrunners entered the day 5-0 all-time against their rivals from San Marcos and after intercepting the Bobcats on their first possession seemed in a good spot to grab an early lead. UTSA was unable to convert that interception into points.
"They played very good. We didn't make plays, and they did," UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor said. "Their roster was deeper, and they performed in a tough environment. Offensively we didn't do near enough to help out our defense."
Texas State's next drive reached the Roadrunner five-yard line but ended in a turnover on downs at the Roadrunner four.
The Roadrunners were forced to punt on their next possession and after a 10-yard return Texas State was set up at the Roadrunner 44.
Three plays later Texas State went in front 7-0 thanks to a 17-yard scoring run by quarterback Jordan McCloud with 6:19 left in the first quarter. It was just the second time in series history that Texas State led against UTSA. The previous lead was in the 2020 game in San Marcos and UTSA tied the score 25 seconds later.
"It sucks to lose to a rival, and it is what it is," UTSA tight end Oscar Cardenas said. "We have our 24-hour rule so we will watch the film and see what we did good, what we did bad, and go from there."
On Saturday Texas State's lead held up much longer than it did four years ago. UTSA had designs on tying the score as they got inside the Bobcat five-yard line with a first and goal, but the Roadrunners couldn't punch it in and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Chase Allen with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
That was as close as the Roadrunners got. The Bobcats scored 28 unanswered points before the end of the half to take a 35-3 lead at halftime. One bright spot for the Roadrunners in the second half was that they tied the Bobcats 7-7 in the third quarter.
Other than that, it was not a very good day for the Roadrunners in San Marcos.
The worst loss of the Traylor era
Saturday afternoon was complete domination for Texas State. The Bobcats offense put 504 yards on the Roadrunner defense. UTSA's offense only managed 334 yards against the Bobcats. Texas State threw for 309 yards and ran for 195 yards. The Roadrunners had 252 yards passing and just 82 yards rushing.
"When nobody is good around you your quarterback doesn't look good," Traylor said. "I didn't like the execution at all and that is on me."
Texas State won the turnover battle 2-1 but only one of UTSA's turnovers eventually led to points for the Bobcats.
The day was so bad for the Roadrunners that they even swapped out punters in the second half with Chase Allen coming in for Caile Hogan. When asked about it after the game Traylor said the reason was that Hogan was cramping up.
Before his cramps, Hogan was the top yard-getter for UTSA. That was how bad it was for UTSA on Saturday, the player of the game was the punter.
By scoring margin Saturday's 39-point margin was the worst for UTSA in the Jeff Traylor era. It was a marked difference from UTSA's last visit to San Marcos in 2020 when UTSA won 51-48 in double-overtime in Traylor's debut as head coach.
Back then the future was bright for UTSA. Now the Roadrunners will have to rebound from the clobbering in San Marcos with 10 games left in the regular season. Next week it is the trip to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns. In the preseason that was the game most would have picked as the Roadrunners lopsided loss of 2024.
Instead, it was the rivals from the midway point between San Antonio and Austin that handed UTSA its lopsided loss of 2024. It might hold that title for just a week until the Longhorns get their try at the Roadrunners, but the Bobcats will keep hold of the bragging rights with the Roadrunners until the two teams meet again in the Alamodome next season.
Before Saturday that was something that had never been. Now the I-35 series becomes a full-fledged rivalry. Both teams have won at least once.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
