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After a 28-16 win over Kennesaw State in week one, UTSA turns its attention to I-35 rivals Texas State. Texas State had its hands full in week one as it had to hold on for a 34-27 win over Lamar.

The Roadrunners and Bobcats will meet on Saturday afternoon at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos. It will be the sixth time the two schools have played each other on the football field.

The first five games of the series have played out like the famous Peanuts cartoon. Texas State in the role of Charlie Brown has gone in hoping to kick that football and beat UTSA only for UTSA in the role of Lucy Van Pelt to pull the football out before ol’ Charlie Brown can kick that football of victory.

Last season UTSA won 20-13 in front of the second-largest crowd in the Alamodome for a Roadrunner game to improve to 5-0 against the Bobcats. The game in the Alamodome had an added ingredient to the rivalry as it marked the first time Texas State head coach GJ Kinne faced off against his high school football coach, UTSA's Jeff Traylor.

The last time the two met in San Marcos was in September 2020. The Roadrunners had a new coach that day as Traylor made his coaching debut with the Roadrunners. That day the Bobcats took their first lead in the series with a touchdown on the opening drive, but the lead lasted just 25 seconds before UTSA tied it. The Roadrunners took the lead and held it until the Bobcats tied the game at 41 in the fourth quarter. Texas State had a chance to win the game, but the Bobcats kicker missed the extra point that would have made the score 42-41. Instead, the game went to double overtime with Texas State missing a field goal in the second overtime to set up UTSA for a 51-48 win.

UTSA is hoping to make it six of six this weekend which would also match the number of times Texas State has changed its name in its 125-year history. The most recent name change came in 2013 when Texas State University-San Marcos dropped "San Marcos" from its name to become just Texas State University.

This year's game has added importance because the winner will boost their odds of being the G5 representative in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. Regardless of how the rest of the season goes the winner on Saturday will have the bragging rights on I-35 until the two meet again in the Alamodome next September.

The second meeting of Traylor and Kinne will be the first for the two against each other in San Marcos. Traylor's Roadrunners make their third trip to San Marcos on Saturday looking to move to 3-0 in games played in Outlet City. For the first time in the history of the series, both teams enter the game undefeated after both won in week one.

Texas State held on to beat Lamar 34-27 after leading 18-0 at halftime. The Bobcats offense picked up 486 yards against the Cardinals last week. It was a balanced offense for Texas State last week as the Bobcats threw for 273 yards and ran for 213 yards.

Lamar's offense was able to put 288 yards up against the Bobcat defense. The Cardinals had 237 yards passing and 51 yards rushing.

One area the Bobcats struggled with last week was penalties. Texas State committed 16 penalties for 156 yards against Lamar.

UTSA also had issues with penalties on Saturday against Kennesaw State. The Roadrunners had 10 penalties for 109 yards. On offense, UTSA put up 416 yards against the Owls. The Roadrunners threw for 340 yards and ran for 76 yards.

Kennesaw State put up 253 yards of offense against UTSA in week one. The Owls threw for 202 yards and ran for 51.

THE PINE CURTAIN OFFENSE LEADS UTSA

UTSA's offense had quite an East Texas flavor in week one. Rusk's Owen McCown got the start at quarterback and completed 28 of his 38 pass attempts for 340 yards and three touchdowns. McCown's yardage was the 10th best in a single game in program history and the redshirt sophomore became just the third Roadrunner quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a season opener joining fellow East Texan Blake Bogenschutz (2015 against Arizona) and former teammate Frank Harris (2022 against Houston).

McCown's top target against Kennesaw State was fellow Cherokee Countian Devin McCuin. McCuin, a native of Jacksonville, Texas tied the school record for receptions in a game with 11 and racked up 79 yards and two touchdowns.

San Augustine boasts the Roadrunners starting running back Kevorian Barnes. Barnes finished week one with 22 yards on four carries to lead the team in average yards per carry (5.5).

NOTABLES ON TEXAS STATE

Texas State went with a quarterback committee in week one. Jordan McCloud led the Bobcats passing attack with 21 completions on 30 attempts for 238 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. RJ Martinez completed seven of 10 pass attempts for 35 yards.

The Bobcats top receiver in week one was Joey Hobert who caught six passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Leading the Bobcats rushing attack was Ismail Mahdi who carried the ball 28 times for 156 yards and a touchdown.

Five times the Roadrunners and Bobcats have met on the football field and UTSA has won all five times. That includes the previous two games played in San Marcos in 2017 and 2020.

All but one of the previous five contests have been close. The Roadrunners won in 2017 by a score of 44-14. The other games UTSA won by seven in 2012 and 2023, by four in 2018, and by three in 2020.

This has been a close series that UTSA has been fortunate to come away a winner every single time. Texas State has to win a game in the series someday. This is probably their best chance of the six all-time meetings. If they don't do it now it will hang over them for another year and UTSA will be able to print six-pack shirts to celebrate the 6-0 record.

Having the game in San Marcos will be a boost for the Bobcats but UTSA will not go down lightly. This one will be a knockdown drag-out fight like the 2020 contest was played at a similar time of day. That day the breaks went UTSA's way.

Will the sixth time be the charm for Texas State to get its first win in the series or will the Bobcats have to wait another year and try for the first win next year in game seven at the Alamodome?

It may not make me popular in the hills of oak and cedar, but I think this is the year that Charlie Brown finally kicks that football before Lucy Van Pelt can pull it away. This one will be close.

Texas State 29 UTSA 28

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way