UTSA's second visit to Austin ends in a 56-7 loss to the number-two ranked Texas Longhorns
Free 30-Days | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
UTSA's visit to Austin on Saturday night went about as expected. The Texas Longhorns scored on their first drive and never really felt threatened by UTSA on the way to a 56-7 win over the Roadrunners.
The Longhorns put up 614 yards of total offense on the Roadrunners, the most yards given up by a Roadrunner defense since Western Kentucky had 670 yards in October 2021. Texas had 427 passing yards, with Arch Manning accounting for 223 of those yards after coming in for an injured Quinn Ewers in the second quarter.
Texas also had consistency on the night, as they scored 14 points in each quarter. Manning accounted for five of the Longhorn touchdowns. Ewers threw for two, and the Longhorn’s final touchdown of the night came with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter when Ethan Burke intercepted an Eddie Lee Marburger pass and returned it to the end zone.
UTSA's bright spot of the night came in the second quarter when Robert Henry ran the ball 53 yards for a touchdown with 11:39 left in the quarter. Henry's touchdown came just 39 seconds after Texas had scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to DeAndre Moore. The deficit only stood at 21-7 for just 22 seconds as Manning broke through for a 67-yard touchdown run to put Texas up 28-7 with 11:07 left in the second quarter, two plays after Henry scored for UTSA.
The Roadrunner offense finished the night with 260 yards of offense. UTSA did have one victory on Saturday night. The Roadrunners won the turnover battle, 2-1, with a fumble recovery in the second half and an interception on the Longhorns second drive in the first quarter.
The Roadrunners run along I-35 concludes
UTSA's two-week sojourn along the I-35 corridor ended with two losses, both blowouts, against Texas State and Texas. There was some difference in the blowouts. The loss at Texas State last week was a combination of the Bobcats putting all of their eggs into the basket of beating UTSA and the Roadrunners folding up their tents after falling behind big early.
This week in Austin, the Roadrunners had few illusions about what would happen against the number-two-ranked Longhorns. UTSA put in a better effort against the Longhorns than they did against the Bobcats last week. The Roadrunners did put up the second-highest point total by a Texas opponent this season. Texas is a different beast this year, and, probably, UTSA won't be the last team that the Longhorns wallop this season.
Even though UTSA lost by 49 points, there were opportunities for UTSA to make it a closer game. The Roadrunners had two missed field goals and were unfortunate not to turn the two takeaways into points. Changing the missed field goals to makes and even getting one touchdown off the turnovers would have possibly made the final margin look similar to the 2022 game that Texas won 41-20.
Now, the Roadrunners turn their attention to the rest of the season. It begins next week when the Houston Christian Huskies visit the Alamodome. After that, the Roadrunners open conference play at East Carolina to close out the month of September. Then, the games in October and November will come and go.
All of that is to come. For now, the Roadrunners have made it through their tour of I-35 and emerged knowing that a win against the Huskies next week puts the record back to level at 2-2. The Roadrunners won't face another team as good as the Longhorns this season.
That is a good thing.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
