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All season UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor has described each week as a different chapter in a book. Chapter Nine revealed itself on Saturday and it had more twists and turns than an O'Henry short story.

UTSA entered their game against UTEP with a lot of unknowns. Defensive Coordinator Tyrone Nix had been placed on administrative leave due to an internal investigation. Running back Sincere McCormick rightfully missed the game to be present for the birth of his child. Then there was the ever present COVID Pandemic which came close to costing UTSA a second game in a row.

"I don't think I could have taken one more offensive line hit," Traylor said after the game. "We totally social distanced those guys. We had bubbles around them all week. It was scary but we made it. I was proud of them."

On top of that UTSA was coming off an unscheduled bye week after their game at Rice last week was postponed. Despite all of that hanging around the program UTSA managed to come together and overcome a sloppy first half en route to a resounding 52-21 victory over the UTEP Miners on Saturday afternoon. Among the 6,243 in attendance was the father of UTSA football, Larry Coker, who watched the game from a suite.

UTSA has now won four in a row over UTEP and moved to 5-4 for the first time since 2016. The Roadrunners also improved to 6-4 all-time in Homecoming games.

The unscheduled off week certainly helped the Roadrunners as they racked up a school record 600 yards of total offense. UTSA had 312 yards passing and 288 yards rushing against UTEP. The Roadrunner defense was stingy as they held UTEP to 246 yards of offense. The Miners only managed to get 71 yards of offense in the entire second half.

"We have stacked a lot of great days on top of each other," Traylor said. "We have been gaining confidence. We've talked about this being a November to remember."

Two Roadrunners who certainly got November to remember off to a good start were Frank Harris and Brendan Brady. Harris finished the day with 22 completions out of 26 attempts for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Harris also ran for 43 yards and two touchdowns.

"It was a good game for me to come out there and get my confidence back," Harris said. "I had a fun time today. It was an unbelievable feeling."

Brady filled in for McCormick and set personal records for carries (26) and rushing yards (124). Brady was unable to score as the touchdowns scored by running backs came when the game was out of reach.

"I expected it," Brady said after the game when asked about his larger role on Saturday. "You have to kind of always expect these things and be ready for it."

Anyone who only watched one half of the game might have had different thoughts based on what half they watched. The first half was a back and forth contest of points. The second half became a coronation for the Roadrunners.

UTSA opened the afternoon with the ball first. Harris led the offense to the UTEP 27 before being sacked on third down at the UTEP 32. Hunter Duplessis stepped up and calmly drilled a 49 yard field goal to put the Roadrunners up 3-0 at the 11:49 mark of the first quarter.

The first twist in the story came on UTSA's next possession. Harris and the offense were driving down the field again. On a 1st-and-10 from the UTEP 46 Harris threw to an open Zakhari Franklin. Franklin appeared to be coasting to a touchdown but UTEP forced the fumble and recovered it in the endzone for a touchback.

The Miners took over at their own 20 and went 80 yards in six plays. The sixth play was a 52-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Hardison to Jacob Cowing. UTEP notched the extra point and led 7-3 with 2:22 remaining in the opening quarter.

On UTSA's next play on offense the snap went over Harris's head and UTEP recovered at the Roadrunner 11. It appeared the wheels had fallen off the Roadrunner wagon but UTEP was unable to get any points on the board as they missed a field goal. After UTSA was called for running into the kicker the Miners got another shot at the field goal but missed it again to end the first quarter.

UTSA retook the lead on their very next drive. Harris led the Roadrunners 80 yards down field in six plays and found Brennan Dingle open for a three yard touchdown pass at the 12:44 mark of the second quarter. UTSA would hold onto that 10-7 lead for nearly nine minutes before UTEP scored and the game saw its wildest run of twists and turns.

The wild and crazy started with 3:32 left in the quarter when UTEP scored on a one yard quarterback sneak by Calvin Brownholtz. The Miners went ahead 14-10 but the lead didn't last too long.

Less than two minutes later UTSA retook the lead on a 35 yard touchdown pass from Harris to Zakhari Franklin. Duplessis added the extra point and UTSA went ahead 17-14 at the 1:35 mark of the second quarter.

UTEP returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards and set up with a first and goal at the UTSA 5. Two plays later Deion Hankins rushed in from one yard out to give UTEP the 21-17 lead with 0:58 left in the half.

Harris then led the Roadrunners 70 yards in three plays. 35 of those yards came on the third play of the drive when Harris covered that distance to put UTSA back in the lead, 24-21 with 0:19 to play in the second quarter.

"We were pretty frustrated after the first half," Traylor said. "We had a lot of pre-snap penalties. I just told everybody let's calm down, let's play our way into this."

UTSA certainly came out calmer in the second half. The Roadrunner defense forced UTEP to punt on their first drive after the Miners had gotten to the 50 yard line.

The Roadrunner offense was able to increase the lead to 10 points by scoring on their first drive of the second half. Once again it was Harris who provided the points as he found Tykee Ogle-Kellogg open for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Duplessis continued his perfection on extra points and UTSA went up 31-21 with 8:26 left in the third quarter.

There was to be another twist in the story on UTEP's next drive. The Miners appeared to be getting something going as they completed a 20 yard pass on third down and 10 from their own 20. Rashad Wisdom had other ideas as he forced a fumble by the receiver and Antonio Parks recovered it to set UTSA up with the ball at the UTEP 44.

"We played to the level we hope we can play at a consistent basis," Wisdom said. "They scored on us in the first half and we would have liked to pitch a shutout. We just have to keep it rolling from here on out."

Harris and the offense certainly kept things rolling. It took nine plays for the Roadrunners to go 44 yards but Harris made it worth all the effort when he ran in from four yards out to put UTSA up 38-21 with 2:54 left in the third quarter.

UTSA pulled the starters after the third quarter and backups got quality action. The Roadrunners added to their cushion at the 11:05 mark of the fourth quarter when freshman Kaedric Cobbs scored his first touchdown of the season on a one yard run.

The Miners went three and out on their next drive. UTSA then put their final points on the board when BJ Daniels scored from five yards out with 3:16 left to play.

UTSA wasn't finished with big plays as DQ Henry strip sacked UTEP's Brownholtz and Christian Clayton recovered the fumble to set UTSA up for victory formation at the UTEP 12.

After the game Traylor seemed relieved at having been able to play the game and excited for how well the Roadrunners did despite missing 11 players.

"You can't explain it," Traylor said of the complete game by the Roadrunners. "Today it pretty much all worked."

Now the Roadrunners will turn their attention to next week when they head to Hattiesburg to face a Southern Miss team that is struggling to get through the season with a 2-6 record. One thing UTSA will have going for it next weekend will be a fresh Sincere McCormick as well as the other players who missed on Saturday.

"We're going to be fresh next week boys," Traylor said. "We had a lot of guys had the week off. If we can keep them healthy we'll be fresh as heck."

The Roadrunners will also have a boost of confidence knowing that whatever happens the next man will step up and do whatever is needed to help the team. In a year as wild as 2020 that is good news for the team and the fanbase.

NEXT WEEK: UTSA (5-4, 3-2 Conference USA) at Southern Miss (2-6, 1-3 Conference USA) November 21, 2 p.m.

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way