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It was a numbers game in the Alamodome on Saturday as the Roadrunners put in their best performance of the season for a 45-7 win over Houston Christian. UTSA put up 536 yards of offense on the Huskies and the Roadrunner defense limited the Huskies to 177 yards of offense.

UTSA also set a school record for first downs in a game with 35 and Jimmori Robinson blocked a field goal in the second quarter. It was the first blocked field goal for UTSA since Tariq Woolen blocked a field goal against Marshall in 2018. After the last two weeks of blowouts along I-35 in San Marcos and Austin, the Roadrunners had something to feel good about at the corner of Montana Street and I-37 in San Antonio.

"They've had three weeks of rough, negative stuff, which we all deserved, but our kids handled it correctly. It's hard. Football is a tough game. You don't get to play -- I've said it a million times like basketball and baseball, that's what I love about coaching those sports, you get to go back out there again quickly," UTSA Coach Jeff Traylor said. "Football, you got one week of listening to all the experts tell you how terrible you are. It's hard enough on a 56-year-old man. You can imagine being an 18, 23-year-old man, or 25-year-old nowadays. They handled it well. They know we deserve it and it's fair and we responded, so I'm proud of them."

UTSA had eight players run the ball to rack up 269 yards on the ground. The stars of the ground game on Saturday were Brandon High and Bryson Donnell, who both finished with 74 yards. High also scored a touchdown that gave UTSA a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. Kevorian Barnes scored the other rushing touchdown of the day that one coming in the third quarter to give UTSA a 38-7 lead.

Owen McCown and Eddie Lee Marburger threw to 11 different receivers for 267 yards and four touchdowns in the air. McCown accounted for 226 passing yards and three touchdowns, with Marburger filling in late after the Roadrunners had the game won.

"I think a big emphasis this game was running the ball. It clearly showed. It helped open up the pass game, but getting those guys going up front, we executed well, and ya'll saw what happened," McCown said. "I know the (offensive line) had a chip on their shoulder coming in, and it showed Sunday after that game watching film last week. All we can ask for is progress, and those guys played their butts off."

UTSA's defense also had its best day of the season, limiting the Huskies to 50 yards rushing and 127 yards passing. The Roadrunners also took advantage of the Huskies only turnover of the day after Jimmori Robinson forced and then recovered a fumble in the first quarter.

"I feel like our team did what we were supposed to do today," UTSA safety Elliott Davison said. "Overall, as a defense, just continue to clean up on tackling."

On the next drive after the Huskies fumble, McCown threw his first touchdown of the day, a five-yarder to Devin McCuin that gave UTSA a 10-0 lead with 2:21 left in the first quarter. McCuin was the top receiver for UTSA on Saturday, with five catches for 43 yards.

"This was a big confidence booster going into East Carolina week," McCuin said. "We were pretty clean offensively and the offensive line was really physical and made big holes for our running backs. Owen did really well today and I'm really proud of him."

For the second time in the last three seasons, UTSA has completed the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 2-2 record. This year's looks a little different from the 2022 non-conference.

For one, this year, UTSA had home games against a team transitioning from FCS to FBS and a team that has been FCS for just a few years and had only won 25 games in 10-plus seasons of football. The Roadrunners won both of those games by double digits, but Saturday's win over Houston Christian was much more comfortable than the season opener against Kennesaw State.

The two non-conference losses this season came in the road games along I-35 as rivals Texas State got a win in the series for the first time and the Texas Longhorns used the Roadrunners as a chance to move from number two to number one in the national rankings. Both games were lopsided losses for the Roadrunners, but after getting a lopsided win against Houston Christian on Saturday, all that can be put in the past by the Roadrunners.

"It's been heavy. You know, yeah, it's been heavy. It has been. I wish I didn't care so much, honestly. You know, I've been here five years now, and there is a lot of really great people here that have invested a lot into me, invested a lot into our program from the administration down, to boosters, up," Traylor said. "You have a lot of families that pick you to come to school for you. You know, when you don't please people, that's heavy. We want to do right. We're not going to win every game. There is a certain way it's supposed to look. I just don't think it's looked correct. That's what's been the heaviest part of it."

Two years ago, after starting the season 2-2, the Roadrunners closed out their run in Conference USA with nine straight wins, eight in conference to finish the regular season 10-2 and one in the conference championship game. Even last year's team that started 1-3 was able to turn things around with a 7-1 run through conference, with the only loss being the regular season finale against Tulane.

UTSA will be looking to replicate those conference seasons of recent years by starting on the right foot with a win next week at East Carolina. Get a win in that game next week and the October schedule has manageable games against Rice, Florida Atlantic, and Tulsa. It's not hard to see UTSA starting 4-0 in conference for a fourth straight season. Of course, all of that will depend on next week, but even a loss at East Carolina won't sink the Roadrunners too deeply.

"We'll clean up this film and getting right into those guys. ECU has a great defense, a great team. They mix up a lot of looks," McCown said. "We'll definitely have our hands full, but we just got to take it day by day."

That is for Sunday and Monday. For a little while on Saturday, the Roadrunners were able to enjoy something they didn't have the last couple of weeks. Being on the positive side of a blowout.

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way