Roadrunners roll past Southern in Home Opener

A week ago in Waco the Roadrunners had to fight until the final few moments before they could claim the victory.

On Saturday in the home opener against the Southern Jaguars the Roadrunners didn't have to wait quite as long to put up their second 'W' of the season on the board. The 51 points scored far outweighed the 17 that Southern managed. The win allowed UTSA to start their season 2-0 for the first time since 2012 when they got out to a 5-0 start.

"Anytime you can start a year 2-0 you are on the right path," Roadrunner Head Coach Frank Wilson said. "Certainly there is still a lot of work to go to get where we want to be."

Seven times the Roadrunners had possession of the ball in the first half and every time they ran or passed that ball into the end zone for touchdowns. The only blemish in the first half was a missed extra point by true freshman kicker Jared Sackett on the final touchdown of the half.

Even without the extra point, UTSA still went into the halftime holding a 48-0 cushion. It was enough cushion for the second and third string players to get a chance for most, if not all, of the playing time in the second half.

"We knew this was going to be our home opener, so we had to come out with a lot of fire for our fans," Roadrunner Wide Receiver Kerry Thomas said. "I think we did a great job of that."

Thomas got the scoring started first when he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Sturm with 12:07 left in the first quarter. It was the first of four touchdown passes thrown by Sturm who finished the night completing 19 of his 22 pass attempts for 292 yards. Sturm also scored a touchdown on the ground when he ran a 10-yard sneak up the middle in a run that looked similar to some of the ones that Eric Soza used to run into that same end zone. Thomas caught five of those passes for 75 yards.

"The line did a great job making me feel comfortable in the pocket," Sturm said. "It's huge being able to stand back there and know that I'm not going to get hit."

It would be hard to pin down an offensive player of the game. All five members of the offensive line would be candidates as they set the tone in the first half and opened holes for the running game and gave time for the passing game.

Sturm made a strong case but so too did Shaq Williams who caught three passes for 43 yards but scored on two of those receptions. The running backs also made their case as Jalen Rhodes and Tyrell Clay put touchdowns on the board.

On the other side of the ball the Roadrunner defense smothered the Jaguars in the first half. Southern had just 40 yards of total offense in the first half and were 0-for-7 on third down conversion attempts.

"We challenged the defensive line to take the line of scrimmage," Wilson said. "This team is built on toughness. I thought our defensive line did an outstanding job of keeping the integrity of their rush and really collapsed the pocket well."

The halftime show was one to remember as well. The Southern band, known as the Human Jukebox did not disappoint. In fact throughout the night, even as the score got lopsided the Jaguar band continued to play loud and proud, giving the game the atmosphere of a much closer scoreline.

There is not much to say on the second half. The Roadrunners threw the second and third string players out to get valuable experience. They learned lessons that will hold the team in good stead as the year goes along. Take the second half score of 17-3 in favor of Southern with a grain of salt. Nearly all of those points came on turnovers.

In the end the Roadrunner lead was large enough that they could withstand the turnovers but it still left room for improvement.

"We won a football game but right now we are not a championship team," Wilson said. "We didn't play a game the way we're capable. Our best football is still ahead of us. The good part is we have a lot of young guys that took the field. Our participation a week ago was 52. Today we were at 75 or so."

That the Roadrunners think their best football is still ahead is a scary thought for the teams that remain on their schedule.

The next team on that schedule is the I-35 rivals from San Marcos, the Texas State Bobcats.

"We look forward to playing them," Wilson said. "We'll show up and we'll be prepared."

It's likely they will have a lot of the Roadrunner family that shows up too.